When James learned he could help his nephew, he jumped at the chance.

As a clinician for a small private practice in Kenya, he already had a heart for helping others. But his practice was small and served a largely impoverished community, meaning that finances were always tight. Adding another family member who would need special care seemed out of reach, but Natori, his 12-year-old nephew, had recently been rescued from sexual exploitation and needed a safe place to live.

That’s where our small business solutions came in.

As part of his practice, James maintained a small pharmacy. Because his profit margin was so thin, he needed help keeping vital medicines stocked to serve the community. He’d always dreamed of expanding the pharmacy but could never get enough headway to upgrade. To help his business grow, our small business program, an extension of Natori’s Freedom Plan™, temporarily funded James’ pharmacy to finally get the medicine supplies he needed.

Once the pharmacy was fully stocked, James saw a difference immediately. The abundance of medicine boosted his practice’s ability to serve the hurt and sick, and the small business began to take off. His family was able to take in and care for Natori’s needs. The business’s success offered the opportunity not only to feed and clothe their new charge, but also to pay for his school fees.

Love in action

Financial desperation is the primary driving force behind child exploitation. Whenever possible after rescue, we ensure children live with safe family members equipped to care for their needs.

In Kenya, some survivors have been abandoned or lost their parents to AIDS. Without parents to provide for them and limited educational opportunities, children are forced to sell the only thing they have left: their bodies.

After rescuing these children, we seek to place them with vetted, established families who can provide them with a safe, stable environment. Fortunately, local church members have been stepping up to care for these dear survivors as foster parents. Many, like James, are eager to become guardians for family members who’ve suffered exploitation.

The response we’ve seen is nothing short of incredible. These families, many of whom live with little-to-no financial margin, exhibit radical obedience to the biblical call to “do justice to the afflicted and destitute” (Psalm 82).

Giving of what little they have, families graciously welcome these hurting survivors into their homes, tangibly demonstrating Christ’s love.

Funding freedom

As part of our mission to keep rescued children free, we do all we can to ensure that these amazing families are equipped to care for their new children. “These guardians are willing to help,” our resident business manager in Kenya, Joyce, said. “Most of them have their own family… (they) cannot provide everything to the child.”

One of the economic solutions that is particularly useful in bridging that gap is our small business program.

For many small business projects (about 60%), we help foster parents or guardians establish new small businesses. Joyce is inspired by her mother’s example of hard work selling second-hand clothing. She’s become a skilled business advisor whose business acumen and expertise in market principles are invaluable to new small business owners. But no matter how deep Joyce goes into the minutia of financial management, she never forgets the end goal of her efforts: “Businesses create long-term sustainability for the child.”

She works closely with each owner to get them started and then does regular check-ins in the following months, ensuring that things run smoothly. Whether it’s at a market selling food, clothes or boutique items or providing a service like hairdressing or sewing, we take the time to sit down with each entrepreneur to see what type of work they’d enjoy. From there, Joyce helps them make strategic decisions (such as selling in-demand products) with their ideas to make the business profitable.

Like in James’ case, about 40% of the businesses we help already exist. We give such businesses a temporary boost that will result in long-term growth. For some, it’s helping them move to a more profitable market to sell their products. For others, like James, investing in a specific aspect of their business will strengthen it overall. Our goal is to see these small businesses reach a sustainable level of growth that prepares them to provide for the survivors in their care indefinitely.

Foster parents and guardians alike are committed to caring for and loving the children in their care for the long haul—even after the children’s Freedom Plans are complete.

Bright futures

James says that the positive changes in Natori are evident.

With access to three meals a day, Natori’s health has improved noticeably. He can attend school again, and James is expecting to see an improvement in his grades as Natori settles into his more stable life. James is also a member of the project’s counseling team and is helping Natori process the trauma he’s endured.

Natori is one of many benefiting from the business expansion. James’ clinic, now better equipped to help the community, is having an impact.

By serving more people than ever before, the clinic is not only improving Natori’s life, but the community as a whole.

And with the success of his business, James is already thinking of ways to give back. “If we can get another opportunity to help any other child,” James said, smiling, “our answer is, ‘We are very much open now!’ Because we have seen that it’s possible.”

If you’d like to join James in creating new possibilities for these brave survivors, please follow the link to donate below. Your gift will fund our rescue efforts and the creation of life-changing small business opportunities transforming economic landscapes and communities even as they help children stay free.

Names have been changed to protect identities, and with that precaution in place, caregivers were proud to share photos of their businesses without visual identity protection.