People with a mental disability in Kenia (approximately 2,9 million) face extra challenges in their lifes. Many Kenyans still associate people with a mental disability with black magic and witchcraft and little has been done to combat this stigmatization.

Most people with a mental disability have a mild to moderate mental retardation. However, they can learn and are capable of developing skills throughout their lives. They have a wide range of talents that can be discovered at any moment in their childhood.

One of the major shortcomings of the current educational system for (young) adults with a mental disability is that they are too old to be enrolled in a primary school, but mentally not capable to attend a normal secondary school. Currently there are 734 primary schools with special units for children with a mental disability until the age of 16 years. After primary school a lot of these children drop out of school because there is no place for them to go. The result is that they again have to stay home where they often are left idle. We are focussing on people with a mild to moderate mental disability from the age of 16 till 50 years. Establishing a training center for this group, gives them and their parents hope for a better future.

The importance of establishing this training center is confirmed by the most prominent and influential welfare organizations in the field of mentally disabled in Kenya and the Kenyan Ministry of Education.