The Our Lady of Grace Children’s Home and School (OLGCHS) is located in South Imenti Constituency, Marimba sub-location in Meru County. The program is run in partnership with the Catholic Diocese of Meru, Action for God’s Love (AfGL), and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. As a Program, OLGCHS runs a Primary and Junior School, providing affordable basic education for boys and girls. Besides, OLGCHS also operates a residential Home for girls in need of care and protection, majority who are victims of neglect, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. OLGCHS has had a positive impact in the life of many children in South Imenti Constituency, especially girls in need of education, care and protection. Between 2022 and 2024, the Program has made considerable growth, especially in education. By 2024, it had 256 children in Primary and Junior School, 79 of whom were girls residing at the Home. 122 children were in lower primary (play group to grade three), 63 in upper primary (grade four to grade six), and 71 in Junior School (grade seven to grade nine).
The Program introduced the Junior School in 2024 with a special focus on Computer and Home Science as guided by the new educational curriculum popularly referred to as Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) following the phasing-out of the 8-4-4 educational system in Kenya. As an equalizer, education breaks the barriers of social stratification, and retrogressive social and cultural practices that dehumanize and marginalize children. Through OLGCHS, many girls have been rescued from undergoing Female Genital Mutilation, early marriages, and pregnancy; thereby giving them a renewed hope for a better future. OLGCHS has also achieved greater milestones in rescuing, rehabilitating, reunifying, and reintegrating at-risk children in need of care and protection. Many girls continue to suffer neglect, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in the hands of people they know and trust, often leaving them with life-long scars. As a place of solace, OLGCHS actively advocated for the rights of children, working collaboratively with Government agencies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and families to promote their safety and preserve their dignity. In compliance with the Government’s national strategy on Care Reforms, OLGCHS forged stronger partnership with the Government Directorate of Children Services (DCS), both at the National and County level, facilitating family tracing, reunification, and reintegration of girls back to family care. 11 girls were successfully reintegrated in 2024, three in foster care, one in kinship, and seven with their Families of origin, giving a total of 71 girls reintegrated since 2022.
OLGCHS stood out as an exemplary best practice organization in Care Reforms in Meru County, prompting the Department of Children Services and other partners to ear-mark it for benchmarking by other Charitable Children Institutions (CCIs) in Meru County. In preparation for a strong family-based care approach, OLGCHS worked closely with the County Department of Children Services to identify, train, and register three foster parents. MDO – ECAP YEAR 2022 – 2024 PROGRAMS OVERVIEW Our Lady of Grace Children ’ s Home and School (OLGCHS) These foster families are expected to play an important role in providing alternative homes for children who cannot be safely reintegrated back to their families of origin or whose families cannot be trace. OLGCHS’s strong ability to listen to the needs of the community further prompted the program to reach out to women working as labourers in the coffee and tea estates with the view to form them into organized Self-Help Groups for socioeconomic empowerment. About 20 women are currently in their formative stages towards the establishment of a Self