Rafiki Foster Care is a non-profit making community organisation set up by and for local people in Nyeri, on the slopes of Mount Kenya. It grew out of a grass-roots movement more than fifteen years ago, in which a group of vulnerable women came together in a small scale farming project. This was organised and funded by Rafiki Home founder, Angelina Jalonen with seed money of just £300. Since those days, Angelina has gone on to develop and promote community-based sustainable projects which empower local people to climb out of poverty and improve their economic potential. Rafiki Home opened its doors in Nyeri in 2018 with many of the original group members running the new projects.
In spite of the relatively high standard of living for many Kenyans, unfortunately there are still pockets of severe deprivation where the majority of people are living below the poverty line, at risk of malnutrition and poor health, including HIV. Since it started in 2018 the centre has been running regular women’s groups and youth groups. More recently it has expanded to work collaboratively with vulnerable families in the region to provide residential respite care for their younger children, and foster homes to children without families.
