Last year Makena spent 270 days sleeping on the streets, alone.

Makena is from Kenya, she is 10 years old. She is one of many children across Africa forced to live on the streets because of a lack of parental care, violent conflict, extreme poverty, abuse and neglect. They have nowhere else to go. Life on the streets of Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya is very dangerous, particularly at night. Many children choose to sleep in the relative safety of the drains and sewers under the slums of Africa’s major cities.

On the streets these young, homeless children are exposed to violence, abuse, hunger, cold, illness and disease. They are denied their basic human rights; their right to be protected; to access health care; to a roof over theirheads; to go to school; and their right to life. As their lives are consumed by the street they are robbed of their innocence and their childhood.

These children have been forced onto the streets by circumstances beyond their control, they do not have a choice but you do.

Since 1994 Retrak has been changing the lives of children on Africa's streets, one child at a time. Many have been able to find a real alternative to life on the street. These are the lucky ones who are now protected, loved and supported, and have access to medical care and school. They have been helped to return to their family or find an alternative home they can call their own. They now have a chance to complete their childhood and build a future away from the street. We believe that every street child deserves the same opportunity.

Retrak is working towards a world where ZERO children are forced to live on the streets. We know this will not happen overnight but every child we help takes us one step closer to this critical goal. By donating to the Retrak ZERO Appeal you will help us to transform the lives of many more street children and their families in Africa.

Now you can make Double the Difference: If you donate between 6th September and 5th December 2012 your gift will be matched £1 for £1 by the UK Government, at no extra cost to you.

Make a Monthly Donation: a regular donation of £15 every month will be doubled by the UK Government between 6th September and 5th December and can cover the cost of a street child receiving all the support they need to find aplace they can call home.

Make a Single Donation (that will be doubled by the UK Government):

• £15 will become £30 and can help two street children start their journey home
• £20 will become £40 and could provide counseling for two abused street children
• £50 will become £100 and is enough to provide a vulnerable child with food, shelter and care for two months
• £300 will become £600 and could enable a older street child to learn a skill or trade so that they can earn money and support themselves into adulthood
• £1,250 will become £2,500 and would allow Retrak to train and employ a social worker who will work to get hundreds of children off the streets every year
• £1,750 will become £3,500 and is the cost of a nurse and the medical equipment needed to care for 250 children living on the streets

Please donate to the Retrak ZERO Appeal from 6th September to 5th December 2012 and you can make Double the Difference.

To donate or for more information on the Retrak ZERO Appeal and UK Aid Match Funding please visit www.retrak.org/zero, call +44 (0) 161 485 6685 or email zero@retrak.org