Dany is back home

Six months ago, 11 year old Dany came off the street to the Kimbilio outreach center for the first time. His father had died. The poverty at home was extreme, Dany was not in school, and he left. At the outreach center, after hearing his story, Kimbilio's social workers felt it appropriate to have him reside in the boys transit home while the effort to reintegrate him into his biological family proceeded. Now, after extensive counseling and mediation work with his biological family, Dany is living with his mother and younger siblings again, 25 kilometers from Kimbilio. He understands that this is in his family's and his best interest. Kimbilio will continue to stay involved with the family to ensure the best outcome possible. Among other efforts, Kimbilio will be paying fees for Dany to attend school near his home, and if it makes sense Kimbilio will offer a microgrant to Dany's mother to enable her to start a small business to generate income. These are photos of Dany on his way home, and then in front of his home with his mother and Kimbilio's accompanying social workers.

The outreach center is often the first encounter Kimbilio has with a street child. It is where children come in off the street for a meal, bathing, medical attention and camaraderie. In a previous blog post, we introduced Elisée - one of the social workers at the center. That's Elisée in red in the photos above. While many children come to the center repeatedly, each month there will typically be up to 20 children that are new to Kimbilio. The staff takes the opportunity to focus on getting to know these children, and their needs, on a personal level. Every child, and every child's situation, is unique, and Kimbilio acts accordingly. In Dany's case, reintegration with his biological family was viable and desirable.

We look forward to a brighter future for Dany.

#DRC #DRCongo #Lubumbashi #Luowoshi #streetchildren #streetconnectedchildren #reintegration