Home | Lifesong Kenya

Why We Start With Boys

We heal boys by modelling dignity, respect and honor and turning them into advocates for the safety of women, girls and every vulnerable person in their community because prevention is the most powerful protection there is.

Our Impact

From prevention education in schools and on football pitches, to trauma-informed housing and care and GBV prevention advocacy, these numbers reflect boys reached before harm happens and boys healed after it does.

14 Years of Service
5 Active Programs
1200+ Clients Serves Since 2012
20+ Boys Housed Since 2021
60 Boys in Our Football (Soccer) Program
500 GBV Prevention Participants
4000 Boys Targeted by 2030

The Question We Hear Most Often

“Why boys? Don’t women and girls need more help?”

They do. And that’s exactly why our work starts with boys.

For fourteen years, Lifesong Kenya has walked alongside the most vulnerable boys in Kenya — boys who have been abandoned by fathers, failed by systems, and written off as trouble and problems. Some come to us after surviving violence themselves. Others come to us before anything has gone wrong at all, through the schools and football pitches where we teach every boy — hurting or not — what respect actually looks like.

We do not do this instead of supporting women and girls. We do it so that women and girls will not need rescue tomorrow.

Our Theory of Change

We do not raise boys to be ‘good men’ as a side project. We raise boys and young men to be our advocates and primary violence prevention strategy, and we start before crisis hits, not just after it.

Untaught Boy

School and community prevention education and peer-led advocacy

Broken Boy

Trauma-informed housing, counseling, education, skills training

Healed Boy

Returns to their family and community as a mentor, provider and protector

Healthy Man

Marries, fathers, employs and treats everyone with dignity, honor and respect

Safe Community

Women and girls thrive alongside men without fear, abuse or violence

The Data That Drives Us

The Reality

70% of gender-based violence in Kenya is perpetrated by boys and men
Fatherlessness is the strongest predictor of male violence, neglect and exploitation
Boys who are in conflict with the law often cycle back to do more harm
The ‘boy-child crisis’ is invisible

The Cost

Medical, legal, trauma and lost education opportunities and economic productivity
Boys without positive male role models are 3x more likely to commit violence against women
Without intervention, 60% re-offend; with intervention, that drops to under 15%
Boys are less likely to report abuse, more likely to be criminalized, and rarely receive trauma-informed care

The Stories Behind the Numbers

My son used to get in one trouble after the other and was rude to me and his younger siblings. I sent him to Lifesong where he attended a Born for Greatness hike and he came back a different boy. He now helps his sisters and is no longer rude.

— Mother of a Lifesong beneficiary

Before Lifesong Kenya, I was angry at everyone. I thought being a man meant being hard because nobody cared about me. Now I know being a man means being there for my mother and sisters. I want to be a counselor one day.

— Christian, 16, reintegrated back to school

The Department of Children Services in Kajiado West Sub-County applauds Lifesong Kenya for enhancing child safeguarding, care and protection of the boy-child within the sub-county, the larger Kajiado County and the whole of Kenya.

— Cosmas Karera, DCS Nairobi

The work that Lifesong Kenya does with the boys through their football program and paying school fees for boys is enabling our boys to stay in school and learn how to treat themselves and others with dignity, respect and honor.

— Josephine W, Teacher

What We Actually Do

Reaching boys before crisis takes hold — through in-school curricula on healthy boundaries and consent, peer mentor training, and football-based positive masculinity coaching that teaches respect in a language boys already speak.
Keeping boys in school, building emotional intelligence and surrounding them with positive male role models through mentorship and community-based programs.
Providing coaching, counseling, and life skills training to replace old habits with new ways of being and doing, enabling boys to rebuild their lives.
Providing a halfway house, education support and ongoing Co-Active Coaching to ensure boys envision a future that is filled with promise and potential.
Advocating in communities — alongside the boys we train as peer mentors — to raise awareness of gender-based violence and its impact on women, girls, boys and other vulnerable community members.

We Are Not Alone in This Work

We are recognized by the Department of Children Services, Kajiado County. We partner with local chiefs, schools, social workers, churches, and women’s groups to deliver both our prevention curriculum and our care programs. We do not compete with organizations serving women and girls — we complement them. A girl who is educated and empowered is safer when the boys around her have been taught, early and deliberately, to honor her.

What We Need

The Ask

If you believe that ending gender-based violence requires preventing it at the source before it happens, join us.

Donate to house, heal and educate a boy who needs shelter
Volunteer as a mentor, tutor, coach or skills trainer
Partner with us as a corporate sponsor or to bring our prevention curriculum into your school or community
Advocate for boy-centered trauma care and prevention education in your community

Where Your Giving Goes

Your Gift Changes a Boy's Story Forever

Our organization has the capacity to equip, empower and transform the lives of more boys and young men. With support, we will be able to reach 5 more schools and train 100 more peer mentors.

When you donate in your currency, GlobalGiving automatically converts the amount you donate to USD. And you can donate as little as $5 in support of our mission.

Christian's Story

After dropping out of school, Christian found hope and support in our community. Access to housing, education and skills training is enabling him to blossom and it is a testament of the power of your generosity, giving and support.

Christian’s healing and restoration journey began after he arrived at our Halfway House. He was a young boy who was burdened with worries and problems. But, after arriving at our Halfway House, his new chapter kicked off.

Watch this video of our Halfway House and how we support young men

ANNUAL CHARITY EVENT

Half Way Cycle 2026

Join our volunteer cyclists from across Kenya riding to raise funds for our Halfway House for boys who are facing trauma and stigma. Every kilometre counts. Every donation changes a life.