Let Us Have a Future

Kenya’s economy is slowly regaining normalcy. Majority of closed businesses are back in operation, cessation of movement has been lifted and schools were reopened in January, however people living below the poverty line are still feeling the effects of the pandemic. Most of their businesses are unregistered hence it is difficult to access loans from financial institutions. Some survivors lost their jobs and are still struggling to find new jobs.

Beneficiaries in our project are still struggling to meet their basic needs. However, the numbers have reduced compared to the previous three months. In this period, November had the highest number of needy cases,51, while December and January had 47. The most sought after need is therapy, food, business startup and medical aid.

From November 2020 to January 2021, HAART has managed to startup businesses for 24 survivors. The businesses are to help survivors afford basic needs for their families. HAART offers grants and knowledge to survivors for them to run a successful business. 24 survivors that need food provision were also assisted with basic food supplies to help them get by. There were also 10 survivors that required assistance to pay rent. Additionally, we managed to assist 22 survivors of medical need and offered 34 therapy sessions for those in need of psychosocial support. In January, we were able to support 2 victims in taking their children back to school.  Furthermore, some survivors required that we facilitate transportation, we were able to assist 21 survivors in need of transport.

The above mentioned assistance has had a great impact on the lives of our beneficiaries, as the majority of them were depending on well-wishers like you to be able to meet their everyday basic needs. With these donations, families have been able to have food on their tables, a roof over their head and seek medical help when in need and eventually, they have learned better coping mechanisms through therapy sessions.

Directly or indirectly the support has reduced the risks of trafficking and re trafficking.

 Asante.

The first case of Covid-19 was recorded in Kenya on 12th March 2020. The government response was swift with advice of suspension of public gathering immediately as well as including measures towards social distancing. In addition, the government imposed police curfew as well as locked some cities and towns and even some areas within cities (e.g. Eastleigh in Nairobi). Most of the survivors of trafficking in our program depend on small businesses for their livelihood. However, due to the partial lock down in Kenya, their businesses were greatly impacted because they could not operate. A heavy burden was thus left on these survivors to provide for their families; with businesses closed and their school going children being home due to the lock down. There is a risk of re-trafficking both during and after the Covid-19 pandemic as families are desperate looking for opportunities to avoid eviction from their homes, avoid hunger and pay for education for children.

This project aimed to offer temporary financial support to survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery in Kenya. The project sought to support 100 survivors and their families for five months in order to preserve their livelihoods. Through this campaign HAART was able to raise USD 44,583 (from both GlobalGiving and other platforms.

HAART continues to offer basic cash support for basic supplies such as rent, food and necessary items such as soap for the victims to be able to get through the current crisis. HAART managed to offer support to one hundred and sixty (160) survivors with basic needs services. Our support extended abroad to a group of 11 Kenyan women stuck in Saudi Arabia. We referred the cases to an external organization that will be assisting in their repatriation once the travel ban is lifted. In the meantime, we are providing them and their families with basic needs. We are also offering support to 1 victim in Iraq, 4 victims in India, 3 Nepalese,, 3 in Uganda, 1 in Tanzania, and 1 victim in Thailand- a mother with a young baby. With assistance from a partner organization, a survivor from Bahrain was repatriated back to Kenya. The three Nepalese survivors had been under the care of HAART and were repatriated back to their country last year. The three reached out to us due to the difficulties brought about by the pandemic.
In this season, HAART partnered with a local supermarket to provide a care package containing food and basic necessities for the survivors. We are also supplementing this with an amount to cater for perishables that need to be purchased on a daily basis. For survivors overseas, we offer food support by sending them about USD 50- 70. We have supported survivors living in different parts of the country and abroad with rent. We were also able to get temporary shelter for two adults before settling them back into the community. We had a survivor in India who had been locked out of her house due to rent arrears. All her belongings had been locked in and her passport was needed by a partner organization assisting with repatriation. HAART was able to settle her rent arrears and she was able to access her passport and finally move back to her house.

There has been a steady increase in the need for psychosocial support for survivors during the pandemic. HAART offered therapy through the telephone and online platforms to survivors. We ensured that survivors had airtime of USD 20- 30 for every session. The main reason survivors wanted therapy was due to elevated levels of stress and anxiety. HAART hired an additional therapist to assist with the high number of survivors in need of therapy.

We also supported victims with medical aid. The cost of medical care can be quite high, we had survivors enrolled into the National Health Insurance Fund. We walked with survivors through various medical challenges such as stomach ulcers, severe depression, dental care just to mention a few. We also enrolled our expectant survivors into the Linda Mama program. However, we had a Burundian survivor who could not fit into any of the local medical care programs and HAART facilitated her maternal care. She delivered a healthy baby girl.

Your donations have gone a long way and your continued support help touch the heart of a human trafficking survivor.