Trauma, Kenya and Flying Kites Academy
The impact of early trauma and maltreatment is potentially profound and long lasting. Many early traumas faced in both rural and urban Kenyan communities are heightened by challenges related to poverty, such as residential instability, limited education, low income and earning potential, food scarcity, and limited access to healthcare (Shonkoff et al., 2012). A study by Karsberg and Elklit (2012) revealed that over 90% of rural Kenyan youth had been exposed to a potentially traumatic event (Appendix A). Thirty-four and a half percent of the studies total sample of 471 met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suggesting that more than a third of all Kenyan youths fulfill the symptom criteria for PTSD (Karsberg & Elklit, 2012).
Children who experience trauma are subject to chronic, toxic stress (Gronski et al., 2013; Ryan, Lane & Powers, 2017). Toxic stress is a continual activation of the physiological stress response system in the brain and can lead to negative physical and psychosocial consequences (Shonkoff et al., 2012). With a continually active stress response, children are unable to access self-regulatory capacities and ultimately unable to control the manner with which they process challenging experiences and stressors (Ryan, Lane & Powers, 2017). Furthermore, without the available support of a loving caregiver or a supportive environment, chronic toxic stress is potentially exacerbated (Gronski et al., 2013).
Flying Kites is an international 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Wellesley, Massachusetts and Njabini, Kenya. The mission of the organization is “to provide a competitive, Whole Child education and access to integrative services for vulnerable students in rural Kenya, inspiring lifelong learners who have the tools, skills, and growth mindset to positively impact their families, communities, and country as self-sufficient and productive citizens.” Flying Kites Academy (FKA) was founded in 2007 to provide vulnerable students receive a competitive primary education and integrative, holistic services. FKA has adopted the ASCD’s Whole Child Approach to ensure that all students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.
As of January 2019, FKA educates 111 students ages 5-16. These students live in poverty and the majority have faced abuse, experienced neglect, lived without food, water, or safety. Research suggests that, more than any other type of child maltreatment, neglect is positively associated with poverty and both neglect and poverty are associated with negative outcomes for children across multiple domains of functioning (Nikulina & Widom, 2014). The head of FKA and Executive Director in Kenya, Warucu Kijuu, explained that neglect occurs frequently, and students may not have support at home and receive little parental feedback; in this community sometimes raising the children, often because of financial burdens, “is not a priority.”
At FKA, the children are the priority and all teachers and staff have a passion and love for the students in their community. By meeting the needs of the Whole Child, the integrative programs offered at Flying Kites Academy provide students with the support and tools required to pursue their ambitions and positively impact their families and communities.
Gronski, M. P., Bogan, K. E., Kloeckner, J., Russell-Thomas, D., Taff, S. D., Walker, K. A., & Berg, C. (2013). Childhood Toxic Stress: A Community Role in Health Promotion for Occupational Therapists. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 67(6), e148–e153.
Jepkemboi, G., Jolly, P., Gillyard, K., & Lissanu, L. (2016). Educating Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Childhood Education, 92(5), 391–395.
Karsberg, S. H., & Elklit, A. (2012). Victimization and PTSD in A Rural Kenyan Youth Sample. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health : CP & EMH, 8, 91–101.
Nikulina, V., & Widom, C. S. (2014). Do race, neglect, and childhood poverty predict physical health in adulthood? A multilevel prospective analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(3), 414–424.
Ryan, K., Lane, S. J., & Powers, D. (2017). A multidisciplinary model for treating complex trauma in early childhood. International Journal of Play Therapy, 26(2), 111–123.