J721N Afri-Lift Development Project

The Situation

Afri-Lift’s Osiligi (Maasai word meaning Hope) Farm is a centre for a rehabilitation program for former street boys aged between 15 and 18 years. This is a 2-year holistic program that seeks to rehabilitate the young men from their former lifestyle of crime, homelessness and lack of education to becoming invaluable assets to society.

These boys are rehabilitated and taught how to be self-sustaining through training in agriculture, social skills, and schooling. The educational side of the program has had success in enabling the boys to become literate & complete their primary schooling. The agriculture element of the farm gives them practical skills in all aspects of modern farming techniques including irrigation, machinery use and maintenance and animal husbandry. Other modules they study practically are biogas, electricity, basic building, and beekeeping. At the end of the program, the boys are given attachments at local farms from where many have found full-time employment.

In the future Afri-Lift will be looking at expanding the work to include an after-school learning centre where students can study safely, access the internet, a library and tuition programs. In children to attend school is a start, long term, students need to be still connected to their families but provided with a safe, secure learning and boarding environment. Additionally, there is a plan to build a boarding school based near Osiligi, which will provide the food for the students. While sponsoring children to attend school is a start, long term, students need to be still connected to their families but provided with a safe, secure learning and boarding environment.

The Objectives

1. To provide former street boys with primary level education including computer classes through onsite primary school
2. Counseling department: This is a vital aspect of the program as the boys joining the program have come from a life of hardship and crime. Counselling eases the transition between their past life and their new life.
3. Training in Agriculture: The boys are given hands-on training in crop production and animal rearing in all aspects of agriculture. 
4. All activities and programs are designed to improve the capacity and ability to gain future employment to put them in a position where they can become productive members of society. The project has seen great success with 100% of Afri-Lift graduates getting jobs