Cittadinanza Onlus and Fondazione Irma Romagnoli in Kenya

Paolo’s Home is a rehabilitation center for children with disabilities in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. Run by Koinonia Community in partnership with Cittadinanza Onlus, it has received an annual contribution of €10,000 from Fondazione Irma Romagnoli for several years.

The development of Paolo’s Home in Nairobi has gained steady momentum in recent years, thanks to the solidarity and commitment of many staff members and supporters. In 2019, the Kibera premises were renovated and expanded, while staff began providing rehabilitation services to children with disabilities in Riruta, a low-income area a few kilometers from Kibera where a strong need for support had been identified.

The Riruta physiotherapy clinic, initially open two days a week, now operates four days a week, while all Paolo’s Home programs are available in Kibera:

• Physiotherapy
• Day care
• Speech therapy
• Psychosocial support for families
• Family economic empowerment program
• Support for school inclusion
• Medical support
• Awareness-raising and information for families and the community

In the first half of 2021, 62 children attended the Kibera clinic, including 19 enrolled in the day center.

The opening of the clinic at Koinonia’s Kivuli Centre in Riruta enabled a further 79 children to benefit from the rehabilitation program.

A total of 40 children received medical care, including two who underwent surgery. Six received assistive devices.

Meanwhile, 113 parents took part in counseling, awareness-raising, and training activities.

Seventy of them currently belong to three officially registered, self-managed rotating savings and credit groups, supported by Paolo’s Home.

Local costs for running the center and providing activities and services amount to approximately €70,000 for 2021. In 2022, meeting the growing demand for support in Riruta will require more therapists. The center will also need to address significant pandemic-related price increases, particularly for medical supplies such as gloves, masks, cotton, and sanitizers, and equip the room used for speech therapy and sensory stimulation. The total project cost will therefore rise to approximately €100,000. In addition to Fondazione Irma Romagnoli’s contribution, the center has received funding from the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Waldensian Church, and private supporters of Cittadinanza Onlus.

Cittadinanza Onlus will also resume on-site visits in 2022, after suspending travel for the previous two years because of COVID. In the meantime, supervision of counselors and therapists has been reorganized through monthly online meetings with Italian volunteers—neuropsychologists and psychotherapists—and the sharing of clinical records and video recordings.

KENYA – Paolo’s Home Center – 2020

INTERVENTION STRATEGY

To help protect the rights to health and inclusion of children with disabilities from disadvantaged backgrounds in Kibera, Nairobi, Cittadinanza ONLUS supports Paolo’s Home Center, which assists children with physical and mental disabilities in Kibera.

The center was opened in 2008 by Koinonia Community and has since reached 845 children with a range of conditions: cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, varying degrees of developmental delay, autism, Down syndrome, and brain injuries caused by meningitis or complications during childbirth.

MAIN AREAS OF INTERVENTION

Day Center – Day Care

• During 2020, Paolo’s Home provided day care from Monday to Friday for 19 children, offering individual programs in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, art therapy, and various outdoor activities.
• Services were suspended from mid-March until the end of May because of COVID-19. In June, children from the day center resumed individual outpatient physiotherapy sessions, while individual speech therapy and cognitive rehabilitation sessions resumed in July.
• During the center’s closure and quarantine period, from March to the end of May 2020, parents received support in caring for their children.

Paolo’s Home Day Care

Outpatient Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Medical Consultations

• Outpatient services were also suspended in March 2020 and resumed safely in June 2020 for a limited number of children.
• Despite the suspension, a total of 110 children benefited from outpatient physiotherapy and occupational therapy at the Paolo’s Home clinic in Kibera and the Kivuli clinic in Riruta, Nairobi.
• During 2020, the center took on 83 new children.
• Forty-seven children benefited from medical examinations, consultations, and the provision of specific medications.

Outpatient Physiotherapy Services

Support for Families

• During 2020, 42 caregivers, mainly mothers, benefited from individual or group counseling sessions provided by Paolo’s Home’s psychosocial counselor.
• A further 37 families benefited from home visits and family counseling sessions. Common issues encountered during home visits included domestic violence, the risk of family breakdown, and difficulties accepting a child’s disability.

In the final quarter of 2020, two workshops were held for caregivers of children with special needs to provide up-to-date information on caring for, handling, and supporting their children. A total of 61 people took part.

Economic Empowerment

As part of the economic empowerment program, the two savings and loan groups involving 42 women continued their activities, maintaining weekly meetings. Members met in groups every Tuesday and Thursday, following COVID-19 protective measures.

Response to the Health Emergency Caused by SARS-CoV-2

• On March 15, 2020, the center had to suspend its activities temporarily following government measures to contain infections.
• Many families with children with disabilities already living in extreme poverty saw their incomes fall even further as a result of the ensuing socioeconomic crisis.
• Five children stopped attending Paolo’s Home services as a consequence of the pandemic, and one of them died during this period.
• In early April, Paolo’s Home staff contacted most beneficiary families by phone. Based on the information gathered, a series of emergency distributions was organized, reaching more than 70 families with food, medication, soap, and leaflets on preventing infection.
• A further 90 families with children with disabilities were reached through a new partnership with the German organization Sign of Hope.

Paolo’s Home Center: Emergency Distribution

THANK YOU TO FONDAZIONE IRMA ROMAGNOLI