Welcome to Heshima Children's Center

Heshima means “dignity” in Swahili. Most children with special needs in Kenya live a life that is undignified and full of broken dreams. We at Heshima believe that Jesus Christ has a special purpose filled with dignity for children with special needs in Kenya. The Heshima Foundation believes that all human beings are made in the image of God, regardless of their outward appearance. Genesis 1:27 says "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female, He created them."

In Kenya, there are very few private institutions that provide services for children with special needs, but it is very expensive. The public school system offers nothing. What ends up happening to these children is that they either stay at home, often locked away due to public shame, or they end up attending public school without any sort of help. Most of the children do not have the opportunity to receive special education or therapy; physical, occupational or speech.

Heshima was started with the vision to meet the needs of these hidden children. We provide breakfast and lunch, basic educational instruction depending on the need of the child, as well as occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy. The program is free, aside from a monthly donation of $2-4 dollars by each family. We are located in a small slum in Nairobi called Ngando.

The Latest Heshima Video

Besides working with the children, Heshima also provides the mother of  each child enrolled with a job at Dignity Designs. This is a jewelry company that sells locally and internationally to help raise money for Heshima operations.

The community around the Heshima is also able to be blessed due to the a new water well at Heshima Children's Center. Fresh water is sold to the community below market value. This micro-business is called "Maji Kwa Heshima" which means "Water for Dignity".

Over the couple years, Heshima has been building a new facility that will some day support 75 children and their mothers. The constuction business is called Dignity Development Construction. This building project is providing valuable jobs for the local community.

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Directions to Heshima

Visitors are always welcome at Heshima Children's Center. Please contact us to schedule a visit. Follow the directions outlined below.

Several of the children at the new Heshima site.