SINAM (Sisi Na Maendeleo a Swahili word for “we and progress”) was established in 1997 as a self-help group for people with addiction problems and to provide professional service in the field of addiction treatment and recovery that fist within the local socio-cultural context in Kenya. In 2003 SINAM became a non-governmental organisation. The change of status opened the possibilities for extending SINAM’s initial services to the whole of Kenya.

Since 1998, SINAM has been networking and collaborating with existing care-service-based organisations in Mombasa and in Europe, especially The Levi Trust, a UK Charity, and the Mathew Project in Norwich City, East Anglia through a series of Drug Workshops held for SINAM staff and other care workers from various organisations and institutions in Mombasa.

SINAM has also been closely associated with Stichting Arta Preventie (Lievogoed) in the Netherlands, whose philosophy and approach to addiction treatment has greatly inspired the work of SINAM in Mombasa and Kenya as a whole. This has been observed in the therapeutic approaches, whose results have proved successful when adapted to the local context and circumstances. SINAM has been able to achieve these milestones through work experience and insights gained from invitation of SINAM staff to the Netherlands and visits by some Arta staff to SINAM.