HONOR TO GIRLS

WELL DONE, GREAT WOMEN OF MITS

While the writer of Proverbs has much to say about the foolishness of men, his experience also teaches him that some women are hard to live with. In 19:13 he writes of a wife's words that are like "continual dripping of rain." We presume that the rainy season was not a favorite time of his.

Our work in street ministry shows us how hard it is for some women to live together in peace. We have worked hard with street girls to help them recognize how they could 1) get off the streets, 2) take care of themselves, 3) make progress of their lives -- just by several of them living together in an apartment in Mathare Valley or Eastleigh, working when they can, pooling money to pay the rent, and so on. But the girls cannot seem to find agreement; they would rather depend on street guys to give them a place to sleep at night in return for intimacy. They cannot seem to break free of dependence on men, and they can't get along with one another well enough to make it work.

At Kamulu our girls live together in 3 small dorms (maximum 10 girls in a dorm). They do well, but occasionally there are arguments, fights, and even conspiracies against the dorm supervisors. From time to time we have meetings with the girls, let them talk, and teach them more about living in peace. Recently we did a class on communication, listening skills and non-violence. We asked them to practice what they learned, then we gave them an exam a week later.

Four of our girls did very well on the exam, answering questions as well as describing what they practiced during the week. Two of the girls, Eunice Wambui and Mary Waithera, are pictured here. The four girls received an award for their performance. We are proud of them.