Nature: Child Labour

Location: Meru
Age: 8

"Hiyo ni 116? Nataka kuripoti kesi” (Is that the child helpline 116 service? I would like to report a case). The caller, a concerned neighbor, went ahead to report of an eight year old girl called Terry* who had been employed as a house help in their neighbourhood and was being mistreated by the host family. The helpline team rescued the girl and organized to reintegrate her back home in Meru. No one was prepared for the shock that awaited them at Terry’s “home”. They found Irene’s family living in the worst form of helplessness and poverty. The 9 (nine) member family was living in a shack-like house on the hill slopes of Laare division in Meru County. They had barely enough to eat and all the 7 children were not going to school.

Childline Kenya mobilized well-wishers and took the initiative to build them a decent house. The children were also enrolled in a nearby Primary School.