These two boys are brothers. The oldest one came to Emmanuel Center in 2003 at the age of eight, after spending three years on the streets. He has run away from home when his mother fell ill with AIDS. She could not work and there was no money for food, school fees or medicine.On the streets he could beg for food and so just barely survived until he came to Emmanuel Center. A year later he wrote a letter to the staff, asking if his brother could also come to the center as their mother was dying. Both boys would be on the streets if they hadn't found a loving home at Emmanuel Center.

The majority of street children in Kenya come from families affected by HIV/AIDS. AIDS forces families into poverty, so they are unable to provide for their children or send them to school. Consequently, the children end up on the streets - some are already HIV positive, having contracted the virus from their mothers. There are 890,000 AIDS orphans in Kenya.

Street children are a great risk of contracting and spreading HIV through drug use and because they are often sexual exploited. On the streets it is impossible for HIV positive children to get the treatment and care they need to stay healthy.