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Akina ('family' in Swahili) Ties operates in the Kisii area of Western Kenya.

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Akina Ties main purpose is to improve the lives of orphans, vulnerable children and women by:

  • Providing access to primary healthcare, education and clean water;

  • Advocating for positive cultural, social and legislative change; and

  • Improving access to welfare services.

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Akina Ties comprises:

Akina Ties Haven - a crisis emergency accommodation centre for abandoned and abused children and women.

Heart4Change Programs - are a range of community empowerment programs for vulnerable women and young girls from impoverished families.

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All Akina Ties projects are funded by a dedicated band of unpaid volunteers in Kenya, Australia, Germany

and the UK.

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Akina Ties Haven is a crisis accommodation centre for children, young people and women who have been abandoned and/or affected by violence in the Kisii area of Western Kenya.

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The centre is currently home to 18 children aged from 3-18 who are unable to live at home with their natural families or extended families, either because they have been abandoned by their families or because it is unsafe for them to live in their home environment.

 

This centre is not an orphanage and the children are not up for adoption.

The centre offers the children accommodation, food, education, medical and legal services and a witness support program. With extensive, professional counselling most children will return to their families and communities, if and when it is safe to do so. Unfortunately, in some cases, this is not possible and Akina Ties Haven become their home for life.

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Heart4Change Programs are specially designed programs aimed at empowering the local community. In particular it focuses on education and empowerment in the face of gender based violence.  The programs address self-worth, decision-making and economic empowerment and equip participants with the skills to make the best decisions for themselves and their families.

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Some of the Heart4Change Programs in include:

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Keeping girls in School

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  • Donating sanitary towels to keep our girls in school;

  • Sourcing sponsorships for bright girls who otherwise could not afford a secondary school education;

  • Running anti-FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) campaigns in local communities; 

  • Holding multiple 'Girlie Camps' (mentorship workshops for girls aged 10-17 years) throughout the year; and

  • Providing local schools with books to improve literacy amongst local school children.

 

Hygiene

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  • Promoting WASH programs in schools across the county; and 

  • Building private changing rooms for girls to change their reusable sanitary towels when required. 

 

Health

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  • Running the 'From Stigma to Compassion' HIV/AIDS awareness program; 

  • Organising free medical camps in remote villages with little access to healthcare;

  • Raising funds to pay for individual healthcare for people who cannot afford to pay for these services themselves;

  • Raising funds for cancer awareness programs; and

  • Obstetric fistula awareness programs.

 

Educational Programs

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  • Assisting schools in very poor areas to provide nutritious meals to undernourished students;

  • Promoting adult education at the Kisii Women's Prison;

  • Donating sports equipment to schools; and

  • Donating education packs to needy children.

  

Women's Empowerment Programs

 

  • Holding workshops for women in local communities on empowerment and self sufficiency;

  • Organising women's conferences and retreats for widows and single Mums;

  • Initiating self-sufficiency projects for women eg agricultural and financial skills; and

  • Helping women to access micro finance and other loans to set up businesses.

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As Akina Ties grows, we look forward to developing more programs to assist the women and girls of the Kisii area of West Kenya and beyond.

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