KENOWA

The Kenya Navy Officers Wives Association (KENOWA) is a non-military, self-help organization that was initially established as a welfare association for the assistance of Naval families during bereavement and other challenges and also to share in the good times, such as weddings.

The Association has been in existence since May 2001 and is registered with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services. Its membership comprises of serving Navy Officers' wives and some wives of Navy Officers who retired in or after 2001, the year of Kenowa's inception.

There was however a concern about the prevalence and effects of the HIV/AIDS scourge among the Naval community and the group's concern was the children left behind after the death of their parent(s). The Association's vision towards this end was to undertake a multifaceted approach towards reducing the effects of the pandemic within the Naval community through various interventions. These would include:

• Sensitization and education of Navy Officers and their wives on HIV/AIDS in order to attain Behaviour Change Communication.
• Youth Programs for the Officers' children on HIV/AIDS for sustainability of Behaviour Change Communication.
• Formation of a Children's Centre to absorb Orphaned and Vulnerable Children.
• Other interventions that would be deemed within the vision.

The most immediate intervention, however, was to be the formation of a Children's Centre exclusively for the girl child. Due to the extensive effects of the scourge, there has been the need to extend the helping hand to other children from the wider society orphaned through AIDS and not only those from the Naval community.

KENOWA CHILDREN'S CENTRE

KENOWA was established with a mission to work with the under-served and disadvantaged children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS to improve their quality of life through sustainable development.

VISION: A community where all children enjoy quality life without discrimination or stigma regardless of their health status, social, economic and ethnic backgrounds.

GOAL: Mitigate HIV/AIDS through education and psycho-social support as well as mobilizing community response and responsibility.

The particular choice of housing the girl child only at the center was because there are several existing orphanages in Mombasa for boys. But apart from KENOWA, there is only one other, Amanda Marga, which particularly houses girls only. It is however clear that the orphaned girl child is vulnerable to dropping out of school to take care of a sick parent(s) and the younger siblings, becoming a child sex worker and getting married early.

The girl child is also exposed to a lot of domestic work in the home, which inhibits her performance in school and retards her health as compared to that of her male sibling. Sexual exploitation in the form of prostitution and sex trade thrives, particularly in Mombasa due to the tourism industry.

In addition, in these days, the breakdown of traditional family structures, which ensured and assured care for the welfare of needy children in our societies, is greatly detrimental to the child. The situation is made worse by the fact that most people in Mombasa are immigrants who come in search of employment and therefore so very few of these children have their immediate extended families in Mombasa.

Besides, not many people are able to assist the needy due of the high cost of living and priority goes to one's own immediate family before lending a hand.

It is for these reasons that Kenowa decided to address the plight of the orphaned girl child. Towards this end, the Centre has helped to rescue fourteen girls who are from varied backgrounds (two are abuse cases). This has given them the chance of getting an education which is a weapon that can be used to break the poverty cycle.

In addition these children now enjoy improved health and are safe from the risk of reproductive health complications, which would most likely have occurred due to their early involvement in sex despite their undeveloped physiology.

The Association temporarily has a house, courtesy of the Kenya Navy, in New Mugoya Estate on Links Road, just before the turn off to Reef Road. This house is currently being used as the home of the fourteen children who are affected by the AIDS pandemic. The children are housed, clothed and fed at Kenowa Children's Centre and they also attend primary school outside the Centre.

The Children's Centre first opened its doors to needy children in January 2003 and was officially launched by the First lady Mrs. Lucy Kibaki on 12 September 2003. Four of the children that are housed at the Children's Centre attend school at Kengeleni Primary School, while eight go to Mbheni Primary Schoo l and one is at SOS Herman Gmeiner Kindergarten. The youngest of the fourteen children does not attend school yet but the organisation is trying to get a sponsor to get her to a Kindergarten.

The transport arrangements have been such that the children use public transport to and from school. Kenowa also supports seven other children who are not residents at the Centre but are living with other care providers. These are surviving children of deceased Kenya Navy Officers. The support is mainly through the provision of clothing , education and medical care, including counseling. When necessary Kenowa makes arrangements for professional counseling for all traumatized children under their care at the Centre, including abuse cases. Read More