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Winnie Barron is breaking the cycle of poverty through a community-based approach to the care, education, and empowerment of Kenya’s most vulnerable children. That is why Winnie is the recipient of World of Children's 2017 Humanitarian Award.
In 1997, Winnie Barron volunteered at a hospital in Makindu, a small, rural town in eastern Kenya where food, jobs, and education were hard to come by. To complicate matters, AIDS had taken the lives of countless parents, leaving the community with a large number of hungry and sick children, orphans and other vulnerable children that they simply could not support. Most were left to fend for themselves on the street. During her time at the hospital, Winnie met several of these children and became determined to change their situation. Shortly after her trip, she founded the Makindu Children’s Program to develop an innovative approach to re-integrating children living on the street back into the community.
The Makindu Children’s Centre offers high-protein meals, education, income generating projects, and treatment for acute and chronic medical needs, including HIV/AIDS, for the most vulnerable children in Makindu. Instead of being housed by the Centre, orphaned children are placed with local elders, known as Guardians.
Thanks to this collaboration, Winnie has successfully ensured that children who were once marginalized by society are now valued and no longer viewed as a burden. Today, the Makindu Children’s Program and the community can celebrate the success of each child together, many of whom have now completed their education and are self-sustaining citizens giving back to the community they grew up in.
World of Children will DOUBLE MATCH up to $10,000 of all donations made through this page between September 15 and October 25. That means your $10 donation could become $30, or your $100 could become $300!
