In a country where thousands of children live without the warmth of a family, the Lotus Project, housed at Strathmore Law Clinic, is rising as a beacon of hope. The project’s mission is bold. To challenge misconceptions, educate the public, and inspire more Kenyans to consider adoption and foster care as transformative acts of compassion. Through comprehensive research, public outreach, and strategic partnerships, the Lotus Project is redefining the landscape of foster care and adoption in Kenya.

Led by a dedicated team from the Strathmore Law School including Rasmeet Kaur, Jeremy Githiga, Tasneem Mohammed, Brandon Chisika, Nelly Irungu, Trevor Chege, Mukami Muchangi, Victor Kubai, Chand Kaur, and Johny Kitheka, the project has worked tirelessly to produce in-depth handbooks that outline the legal frameworks surrounding adoption and foster care. With guidance from Miss Thogori and Josephine Kairo, these handbooks serve as indispensable tools, demystifying the often-complex legal procedures and ensuring families have clear, actionable information.

In a recent collaboration with the Know The Law Initiative, the project took a step further by hosting an interactive webinar that attracted 70 participants. This event showcased the handbooks (Foster Care Handbook and Adoption Handbook) and engaged attendees with quizzes on legal processes, drawing enthusiastic feedback for its informative and hands-on approach.

The Lotus Project’s success in sparking interest within the academic community has fueled plans to expand their outreach beyond Strathmore University, reaching rural communities, places of worship, and public barazas to foster an inclusive conversation on adoption and foster care.

Despite this progress, the journey has been fraught with challenges. Developing the handbooks was no small feat, as many organizations were hesitant to share essential contact information. Additionally, much of the available data on foster care originated from foreign contexts, which complicated the creation of Kenya-specific resources. To overcome these hurdles, the Lotus Project enlisted insights from local children’s officers, ensuring that the content was both accurate and contextually relevant.

The Lotus Project confronts pervasive myths that portray adoption as a privilege only for “perfect” families or as a process that’s prohibitively time-consuming and costly head-on. The team’s message is clear. Foster and adoptive parents don’t need to be flawless, they just need to provide love, stability, and support. They emphasize that foster care extends beyond children without family, reaching children at risk of neglect who benefit immensely from temporary homes.

Looking forward, the Lotus Project envisions a future where every Kenyan child has a safe and nurturing home. Plans are underway for community workshops and larger-scale outreach efforts to dispel myths and inspire more Kenyans to open their hearts and homes.

With determination and resilience, the team continues to advance the conversation, aiming for a Kenya where adoption and foster care are celebrated, accessible, and widely understood as viable paths for creating a brighter future for vulnerable children.