Looking Back, Looking Forward
2024 -2025
Dear friends,
The work of Homes of Promise continued to grow and develop during 2024.
In March we received three new boys from the Ministry of Gender, one of whom was resettled with his mother shortly afterwards. We have succeeded in tracing the father of one of the other boys and meeting his stepmother and uncles on two separate occasions. We have had difficulty in finding any relatives of the other young lad and have asked the Probation Services for help. The boys are in primary school and doing well. They are now well settled and have both learned to swim. We had nine boys in primary school throughout the year. One lad passed his P7 exams at the end of the year and has started in Senior 1.
In December two of our boys left vocational training, having taken their DIT (Directorate of Industrial Training) examinations and are on internships. One is with National Water (plumbing) and the other receiving barista training (making coffees) at the local country club and helping in the kitchen (catering). We hope they will shortly be finding full time employment. Another of our boys, who studied hairdressing is training in a salon, he is back with his family and will be sitting his DIT examination this August. It is encouraging to see how these boys are settling into work and becoming more independent. We arranged and supported one of our older boys who had studied building a few years ago, to go back to college for a month to take further examinations, enabling him to join the army.
Four of our boys who finished their first year of vocational training are returning for another year and are all doing well. Two are on catering courses; one is doing an agricultural course and the other studying hairdressing. Our four boys boarding in Senior School were all promoted to the next year at the end of December. One boy in Senior 2 achieved A’s and A stars in all his subjects in his year-end report. The fifth, a young man who took his A level examinations, is awaiting results and hoping to go into university.
Twice during the year, we checked on the five boys who had been resettled, and all except one, who has no family support, are now well settled. This young man is back with us at present.
Some other highlights from 2024:
- We enjoyed a staff picnic and day out at the botanical gardens in February.
- Two members of staff attended a Graduation Ceremony for three of our past boys at Don Bosco in April.
- Two members of staff attended the Living Wisdom Course, also in April.
- Our 2023 accounts were audited in February after we had started using Quick Books.
- Some of the older boys have started “Life Story” books, writing and adding photographs of their time with us over the past seven years.
- There were management meetings in March and December.
- George‟s Place was checked by the Probation Officer and Health Inspector.
- We had visits in May and September from Dr. Alison and her colleague, Jilanne, giving advice to the boys on cleanliness, keeping healthy and drug addiction.
- In December, when all the boys were here, we had a talk on fire safety precautions and the boys learned how to use fire extinguishers.
In September we enjoyed our annual camp at Kachere Camp site. Twenty-six of us travelled to Lake Mboro and enjoyed three nights under canvas. Activities included a scavenger hunt, a boat trip, learning how to make sisal ropes from the plant and sharing and singing songs around the campfire in the evening. We also had close encounters with zebras, hippos, water buck, impala and warthogs. Football matches were arranged with local teams which the boys greatly enjoyed. The younger boys acted out a “parable‟ each morning and we were asked questions about what they taught us. This was a very enjoyable time.
In October we started the “mushroom project.” This entailed building a mushroom house and starting mushroom gardens. The boys and staff are enjoying eating them and we hope to start marketing our mushroom produce this year to raise funds towards school fees.
Among other activities in 2024, the boys regularly attended the football academy, enjoyed swimming and going for walks by Lake Victoria, playing basketball, football table game, ludo, card games and badminton. They also learned how to play rounders at the camp. The older boys were invited to the Christmas party and stayed for the weekend. Members of the Management Committee, staff, school representatives and doctors from the clinic also came along.
Looking forward
We are hoping to be given new boys in the next few months as our work continues reconciling boys from the streets with their families and communities. We are greatly encouraged by many of our older boys who have moved on from the project and have grown into responsible, healthy, hardworking young men.