Future Stars Development Centre
Future Stars Development and Rescue Centre was founded in 2008 by Peres Agai Anyango better known as ‘Mama Aggy’ (pictured wearing blue as she walks alongside the centre’s Matron, Claris).
Chaffinch believes that local people are the best placed to create positive and lasting change in their own communities.
Because of this, Chaffinch partners with a locally-run project in order to deliver our aims of providing food, shelter, education, and the foundations children need to build a brighter future for themselves.
This isn’t about handouts. This is about supporting local people, with valuable skills, to achieve their potential for supporting disadvantaged children in their region.
Originally named ‘The Good Samaritan Centre’ it all began when Mama Aggy took two young orphans into her home. From there, it grew into the Development and Rescue Centre (registered as a Community Benefit Organisation with the Kenyan authorities), providing education to around 30 children and accommodation to 10, that it was when Chaffinch Founder, Sarah Woods, came across it in October 2013.
Today, the centre’s reach has grown even further and its work has impacted hundreds of children and their families. With a primary school, a residential facility, and a feeding programme, the centre can make a difference to many aspects of a child’s life. It has become a place of sanctuary and opportunity for some of the most vulnerable children of the slum.
Where is Future Stars?
Future Stars now (since 2024) spans two sites within the Kibera slum.
The first has been in use for many years and lies close to the Southern Nairobi Bypass. Â Here is the kitchen and the primary school (grades one to six plus staffroom) as well as a large storeroom and visitors’ room.
The second site is a fantastic new six-storey stone-built building a short walk away in the Soweto area of Kibera. Â This building is now home to the residential rescue centre and the pre-school. Â This building also provides accommodation for future volunteers, a main office, a hall for events and time together, a sick bay, a craft space, and a growing library.
Providing Education
Future Stars now operates a pre-school and primary school from playgroup through to grade six. Whilst contributions are welcomed, there is no obligation for any child’s family to pay for their education if they are unable to do so. Tuition and meals are provided free of charge.
The free school currently relies upon amazing teachers, accepting only small payments and often working a second job after hours in order to support themselves in Kibera.
It can be difficult for the centre to provide everything needed for effective teaching – such as up-to-date textbooks and sufficient quantities of paper and pencils. This is something that Chaffinch is committed to assisting with.
A Rescue Centre
The centre takes in orphans, abandoned children (those whose parents either can’t or won’t look after them) and also children at risk of abuse or neglect, or short-term in times of various crises.
Yet Future Stars is NOT a typical orphanage or children’s home. It is a largely a ‘rescue centre’. Upon notification of an orphan in need, a struggling family, or a vulnerable street child, an assessment is carried out, by both Future Stars and the area’s chief, and the child may come to live at Future Stars. However, this isn’t the end. Each child is given a care plan and pathway that focus on how the child can be placed in a family home. Efforts are made to find a true home for each of the children. Kenya is a large country and it can take a lot of time, money, and effort, to reunite families, but this process gives the children the best prospects for the future.
Obviously, there will be children who remain at Future Stars until they reach adulthood and we are committed to providing the best environment possible and a successful transition to independence. Yet such a centre can never offer the lifetime support that is available within a family, so it is important to explore the possibility of a family home for each child, wherever this is an option.
Supporting Alumni
When a child completes grade six at Future Stars, this isn’t necessarily the end of their contact with the centre. Â Thanks to Chaffinch’s Child Sponsorship Programme, we are able to fund continued education at junior secondary school and onward to high school. Â These children and young people maintain close contact with Future Stars where their additional needs can be continuously assessed and their progress monitored.
Ongoing support can include supervised and assisted homework and study sessions, access to additional meals, funding and support for healthcare needs, and general pastoral care. Â Alumni can also get involved with some of the fun activities at the centre such as movie nights and occasional excursions.
It’s important that children are not abandoned simply because they have completed the final class available at the Future Stars school. Â They remain some of the poorest and most disadvantaged children on the planet and supporting their ongoing education and development gives them the best chance of success and of building a life away from the challenges of extreme poverty.
With Lots of Love
One thing Future Stars is not short of is love. These children are cared for. Mama Aggy, the caregivers, and the teachers are passionate about what they do and they provide the best they can with what they have. Look at the photographs across our website and our social media. The smiles on the children’s faces speak of their resilience. After all, they are children. They may have very little but they still play, they still laugh, and they have a passion for life and for learning. Future Stars is giving these children a chance but they need your help if they are to succeed.
