Blog
Celebrating 25th Anniversary
In 1999, we spent a lot of our time praying and preparing to launch Tumaini Kwa Watoto in Kenya. We interacted with people working with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). We had visited many children’s homes and orphanages, attended seminars for stakeholders seeking
to address this huge problem in Kenya. We found that many of these stakeholders were not interested in working with the families of these vulnerable children. They felt that their job was to help a child not the family. Towards the end of 1999, we felt prompted to visit the streets. We ventured into the streets of Nairobi with many questions on our minds. Why were children on the streets? How did they survive the harsh environment on the streets? What can be done to help? Who is helping these children and young people? Where do you find them and where do you take them? We were armed with only God’s word: ‘God sets the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy…’(Psalm 68:6). I don’t know who was more fearful, the children or us. Child trafficking is common, and one can understand the suspicious looks we got on the streets when we stopped to talk to the children. Watch this space for the date of the celebration of this momentous milestone!
A Family of 15
We were introduced to this family by their local administrator who was seeking help for some children. The children were loitering on the streets without going to school. Others were stealing food stuffs from their neighbors’ farms due to lack of food at home. Things were getting out of hand. The villagers were getting agitated and had threatened to take action to deter the older boys from stealing. Tumaini team found a destitute family when they visited at this home. The accommodation is a dilapidated 1 room house made of old timber in Nyeri County.
It was hard to understand how they managed to organize themselves at night in such a small space. We were told that they slept on the floor with no blankets or mattress just rags. The little ones seemed happy to be back home with a promise of going back to school. But poverty in this home was glaring at Tumaini team. There was no hiding that they desperately needed help.
One of the older daughters has 3 babies at only 20 years old. She said that she was married but separated with the father of her two children. She then got into another relationship and was left with another child (2 months old now). She is also in this homestead without a job and their mother provides for all 13 children. The girl in a blue dress just completed class 8 and she will need our support towards her education to join secondary school.
Back to school: After their rescue, we made sure the children are back to school and they had enough food for a few days.
This family needs an extra two rooms to provide stability and an income generating activity for their mother.
A Family of 15
Chira’s uncles chased his mother from the land and subdivided it among themselves. This meant that Chira’s mother was disinherited of their land. She had to rent a room in the nearby shopping center and made it their home. Life was not easy for the family and these frustrations forced their mother to turn to alcohol. She started living with a man who was also an alcoholic. The man became hostile to Chira forcing him to run away to the streets. On the streets, he was introduced to drugs which became part and parcel of his life. Chira almost lost his life due to drug addiction.
Chira’s uncles chased his mother from the land and subdivided it among themselves. This meant that Chira’s mother was disinherited of their land. She had to rent a room in the nearby shopping center and made it their home.
Life was not easy for the family and these frustrations forced their mother to turn to alcohol. She started living with a man who was also an alcoholic. The man became hostile to Chira forcing him to run away to the streets. On the streets, he was introduced to drugs which became part and parcel of his life. Chira almost lost his life due to drug addiction.
Chira did not want to go back to primary school but had a desire to do a course in agriculture.
We found an institution for vocational training where he is now learning the basics in agribusiness management. He is hopeful that he will be empowered and become an example for the rest of his siblings.
