Heshima was founded in 2008 by Eric and Tracey Hagman when they rented a small 200 Square foot metal roof building in the slums of Nairobi.  Their objective was to find the “hidden children” of Nairobi.  People with disabilities in Kenya are often hidden due to public shame.  As soon as word spread that the Hagman’s were looking for disabled kids and their mamas, they started coming to their small center. From there, Heshima hired a physical therapist and a teacher while providing the children two meals per day. Once the child joined the center, Heshima began employing their mothers – a cook for the center, a cleaner, a teacher assistant, etc.  In 2011, they purchased 1.5 acres of land in Nairobi and raised funds to build a special education and therapy center. In 2022, they bought another acre of land adjacent to Heshima and are in the process of building 40 flats that are 400 sq. feet each with indoor plumbing and electricity. This housing will be a huge benefit to the children and their mothers as they will include indoor plumbing, electricity and most importantly…safety. The families of children with special needs battle sexual abuse, physical abuse and overall mistreatment in their communities. 

The $20,000 grant from the Jake Cassell Fund will allow Heshima to build small shops, made of recycled shipping containers for their graduates to have employment, including a food and drinks shop, a hair and nail shop and a used clothing shop. These kids will otherwise not have any opportunity to work as Kenya does not employ people with disabilities.

The first storefront would have an area to cook simple foods and sell them to the community and will also include a greenhouse and planting area to grow vegetables to sell.  The second storefront will be used to sell used clothes and books.  Nobody in Kenya buys new clothes because they are so expensive and used clothing, many sourced from donations and visitors from the US.  The third storefront would be for a nail and hair salon. Kenyan ladies love to have their hair done often and change their hair each month as most of them wear wigs. Some of the older girls are being trained to weave and braid these wigs as well as do nails. Finally, a playground Area will be constructed for the Heshima and neighborhood kids which will include washrooms for the play area.

The activities and tasks that the kids will participate in will include learning how to clean and cook, learning how to communicate with customers, learning how to manage a store and keep it orderly and well stocked and learning how to give change and manage money, most importantly, these new jobs and activities will allow the kids to be seen as capable by the members of the community.