Amani Women's Shelter

The Amani House was begun in 2006 with the intent of providing a place where women from AMPATH clinics might be housed when revealing their HIV status resulted in husbands throwing them and their dependent children out of their homes.  The plan was housing would be provided until social workers could find a place for them close to their home communities.  Upon departure each woman would receive a blanket, mattress, jiko (stove), cooking utensils, and dishes as well as rent for several months.  Abandoned women discharged from the hospital were also taken to the Amani House.

As time passed, women who came to the Shelter with children died leaving children with no one to care for them.  Other children abandoned for a variety of reasons who were older than five years old (the age limit most children's homes set for entry) were taken by AMPATH social workers to Amani House.  The number of children who now call the Amani House home is approximately twelve.  The Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program pays for schooling at the Brook of Faith Boarding School for most of the children, but during holidays, the Amani House is "home" for them.