GUA Africa currently supports seventeen young people in Nairobi and Uganda who have all survived against unimaginable odds. Some were forced to fight as child soldiers in Southern Sudan, two survived the genocide in Rwanda which claimed the rest of their family, and all have trekked hundreds if not thousands of miles under desperate conditions to seek safety in the UN refugee camp at Kakuma, NW Kenya. Most of them are orphaned, and have no homes they can return to or extended family to support them.

GUA has linked each of them with an individual sponsor who pays their school fees, and all of them are studying hard to catch up on the years of education they missed. Because they have missed so much, they are often attending school with children much younger, but they have such a thirst for education that this does not deter them. They know that if they can finish their schooling they stand the best chance of either making a new life for themselves in Kenya or returning to their homeland with the skills to help rebuild their former communities. Several hope to proceed to university, if the financial support is still there. Paying for their education is only part of the story however, and GUA Africa needs your support to pay for their housing, food, clothing and other basic living expenses.

There is no welfare system or free medical care in Kenya, so they are totally dependent on GUA Africa to support them in every way, and if we fail to do so adequately all our and their efforts will have been in vain. With your donations we are able to rent a house for them in a safe part of Nairobi, from where they are able to travel to school, college or university. Our aim is to guide them into young adulthood not just through education but by helping them acquire the life skills needed to forge new relationships and find means of supporting themselves.

This all costs a lot of money, so in addition to our usual fundraising events we have set up a Support Fund to receive either regular or one-off donations. Any amount, no matter how small, will make a real difference to the future lives of these young people. For those of you who commit to a regular donation, we will happily supply regular updates on their progress and facilitate communication if you would like.

On the next pages you can read testimonies from three of the group, plus appeals for sponsorship from people we would next like to help.

For more information please contact
ruth@gua-africa.org