Battle for the Family’s Soul: Anatomy of the Orphanage Phenomenon in Kenya

Simon Njoroge - The Elephant

"While all the focus has been on [recent headlines in Kenya] and the ensuing drama," writes Simon Njoroge in this piece for the Elephant, "a more profound discourse concerning the suitability of the orphanage as a model of care and protection of children has been ongoing for some years among policymakers, practitioners and childcare advocates. Deinstitutionalisation or the gradual replacement of the orphanage with social services at the community level coupled with family-based alternatives like foster care and kinship care have been proposed." In this article, Njoroge explains the concept of deinstitutionalization, explores the growth of the orphanage care model in Kenya, and discusses the impact of orphanages on children, families, and communities.

Njoroge describes how several factors at the national and international level have led to Kenya's questioning of the suitability of orphanages and the shifts in policy and practice underway in the country. "With all the pushing and shoving, the deinstitutionalisation policymaking process is likely to produce on the most dramatic and interesting policy processes witnessed thus far. It can only be hoped that in the end, the best interest of Kenyan children will prevail."