About Us
The Budulica family from Australia founded Mission in Action Kenya in 2004. After they sold their family home and investments they moved to Kenya to help people in some form of crisis from poverty, hunger or disease.
Soon after arriving, they noticed an alarming fact - no one was taking care of the newborn abandoned babies. They started the first babies home in Nakuru Kenya from a small rented property soon after. They have now been working with the community for over 14 years, and have learnt much about how best to work with them.
With no welfare system, and no support network there is still a huge poverty crisis in Kenya. Many, many families are vulnerable to abandoning their children due to poverty, and these people we can help.
Our project concentrates on orphan prevention, family reunification and family strengthening.
It offers a ‘hand up’ approach rather than a ‘hand out.’
Economic – small business start up, skills training, mentoring
Education – full primary school education at Mission in Action School for pre-assessed children of needy families (changing the cycle of poverty)
Health care – clinic visits, community nurse visits, access to clean water via water tank donation
Donation of seeds for consumption and trade
Micro loan for business start up
Kenyan Team:
Damaris and Ivan Budulica
Damaris Budulica heads up our Kenyan Team. She oversees the running of our home, school and community projects.
Our Children:
In every country of the world there are children who live without their parents. The reasons are as complex and as varied as life itself. It’s the same in Kenya. The numbers are magnified in places like Kenya, as there are no welfare systems in place, to protect healthy families that are just too poor to look after their children.
Mission in Action Kenya has never accepted a child for reasons of poverty. That is the simplest of problems to fix.
Our Children come to us for a variety of reasons.
Infant Abandonment:
Many of our children have been abandoned as infants for unknown reasons. From family pressure, teen pregnancy, to poverty, no welfare support, mental illness. A newborn baby cannot tell a story. They cannot tell you about their Mother and the struggles she has had. They cannot tell you why she thought her only or best option was to abandon her baby: in a pit latrine, in a plastic bag and thrown on a fire, on a stranger's doorstep, in a paddock on the morning of his birth - naked. These are actual stories of our babies. These stories inspired us to start our community project One Tribe Mamas – which gives vulnerable Mamas a better option.
Older Child Relinquishment:
Some of our older children have come to us after suffering years of abuse at the hands of their parents. Some still bear the physical and emotional scars. These children will often know of extended family members. Our social worker works on re-integrating these children with an extended family member like a grandparent, aunt, or older sibling. This is not a quick process as we need to know our children are going to be safe and well looked after. We try to be as supportive as we can in this process. Assessing the needs of the family. Working therapeutically via the social worker over many months and sometimes years. Ensuring the child continues their education. Supporting the family with small business training and start up if necessary.