Nairobi Streets - a story

On the 17^th  of January, we visited one of the bases in an alleyway.  Along 3^rd street we discovered that one of the survivors there by name Robert  Okwemba (nickname: Ndui) was suffering from burns which was caused by fire.  On  4^th January while he was asleep he lit a candle and  forgot to put it off.  At around midnight he was woken by smell of smoke and noise from the neighbors  who  helped  a lot by pouring water on his plastic and paper house. With this information we helped him by referring him to a nearby clinic.  MITS will have to settle his bills. The victim gets a lot of help from his friend named Joshua  who does a lot by cleaning him and fetching all needed drugs as prescribed  by the doctor. Currently he is faring on very well as he continues with the medication. 

by Byron Mugesiah

Robert at his base after treatment

Tim and Ann Visit MITS

The following is a report written by Tim and Ann Lewis after their trip to bless the Team and students at Made in the Streets Nairobi.  Tim is a board member and they are long-time friends of the ministry. The report has been edited for space.  

Tim and Ann Lewis - Kenya Trip Summary – October 2012

This is our fourth trip to Nairobi, Kenya.  It has been over three years since our last trip.  We flew on British Airlines and they let us take plastic trunks with about 50 lbs. in each bag.  Most were just for supplies that were needed at the Made in the Streets (MITS) orphanage.  We left about 6 PM on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and arrived the next day at 9 PM.  Jackton, Millie, and Kehl Omondi, along with Abdi Jackson (student we have sponsored for 4 years) were at airport to pick us up.  It was so good to see the faces of people we love.  They drove us out to Kamulu where MITS has a boarding school for teens we rescue from the streets. 

We stayed with our friends, Charles and Darlene Coulston, who started MITS 17 years ago.  The Coulstons were wonderful hosts. We ate most of our meals with them.  We ate toast, peanut butter and jelly most mornings with coffee.  Lunches were usually sandwiches. At supper we ate fish, chicken, burritos, hamburgers along with fresh vegetables and fruit from their garden: tomatoes, okra, onions, bananas, mangos, passion fruit, etc.  Ann made a deal with Darlene.  Darlene would do most of the cooking and Ann would clean the kitchen.  Charles and Tim helped, too.  In the evenings we usually read, called Micah and Julie, or watched a movie.

The first 4 days we spent in Kamulu.  Chapel each morning was at 8 AM with the students.  Then we spent time going to visit some of our new properties and working in the Learning Center where the students go to school.  Tim got sick on the plane coming over, so he missed much of those first days.  While he got out some, he stayed in bed much of the time trying to get rid of fever.

It was a joy worshipping with the church at Kamulu.  The singing is lively and Spirit filled.  Joel leads and is backed up by a worship team of ladies.  There is lots of swaying and clapping.  Two former students shared communion thoughts, one sharing in Swahili and the other interpreting in English.  A choral song by students and adults was sung.  Then Francis Mbuvi preached in Swahili and Jackton Omondo interpreted in English.  Both these men grew up in the streets of Eastleigh and the Mathare Valley slum.  Now they are leaders in the church and administrators at MITS. 

Bible class started at 9 AM.  Charles led the class in a small group Discovery Bible lesson.  We were very impressed how each person shared good comments.  The class started by writing out a chosen scripture.  Then each one wrote the scripture again in their own words.  Lastly each one shared what they intended to do that week to live out what GOD is calling them to do.

The first full week we were in Kenya, we traveled a lot with Charles and Darlene.  On Monday morning we flew to the town of Kisumu on Lake Victoria, which is the largest fresh water lake in Africa.  My niece, Sarah, her husband, Chris, and their new seven month old daughter live there.  Chris works with the Ring Road Orphanage in the slums of Kisumu.  Ring Road was started over 10 years ago by three Kenyan Christian men who realized something must be done for the children who live in the slums.

After three days we were back at Kamulu and MITS.  That afternoon was spent working at MITS.  After supper, Irene, who is the supervisor in the MITS girls’ dorm area, came by to visit us at the Coulston’s.  She plans to marry Robin, who teaches the skill of woodworking on our MITS staff, in February 2013.  She told us about how they started dating, how he proposed, and how many cows he was going to give her family in order to marry her.  We learned so much about the Kenyan tradition of marriage.

On Thursday after chapel, we left for our safari to Lake Nakuru National Park.  We traveled with the Coulston’s north up through the famous Rift Valley.  It was a beautiful drive.  Darlene had fixed us a picnic lunch that we ate while we traveled.  We stopped at Elsamere, the home of Joy Adamson, who is the famous author of Born Free.

We arrived at Mbweha Safari Camp after dark.  The main lodge was lit by candle light and a large fire pit in the center.  A long half circle couch circled the fire pit.  We were taken to our stone hut with a thatched roof named Dik Dik.  A dik dik is a small antelope.  Our hut was beautiful.  Queen size bed in the middle of the room covered with a mosquito net tied at the four corners.  We ate our meals in a large, open air, thatched roof building next to the main lodge.  We were served five star hotel meals at dinner.  After dinner we would gather around the fire pit and enjoy chai tea before going to bed.  This was an awesome place for a great romantic getaway.

Friday morning after a wonderful buffet breakfast, we left for our “Coulston guided” safari drive in the Lake Nakuru National Game Park. We saw: a beautiful starling bird, lots of Impala, zebra, cape buffalo, Egyptian geese, baboons, Rothschild giraffe, pelicans, yellow billed storks, flamingos (hoped to see thousands but only saw a few because the salt water lake was too diluted), egrets, sandpipers, water bucks, vervet monkeys, Thompson and Grant gazelles. We also saw a male ostrich, an eagle type bird, some crowned cranes, maribou storks and one warthog.  Our most awesome surprise was getting to see 14 white rhino.

We enjoyed seeing Makalia Falls.   The students from MITS and the Coulston’s had camped near the falls a number of years before.  The boys had climbed the cliffs and swam in this creek until a park ranger told them there was a python that made its home in the cliffs.

Back at MITS on Sunday afternoon we went for tea at Victor and Angie’s home.  Angie served us Mandazi along with our chai.  Their two year old daughter, Kelsey, kept us entertained. Abdi came by for a few minutes and we gave him 400 shillings so he could buy supper (spaghetti) and breakfast for his family.  He lives in Mathare slum with his mom.  Eleven people live in his one room home.

A typical day at Kamulu:  Students get up and fix their own breakfast (bread) and then go to chapel (singing, scripture reading and a short talk by Charles) at 8:00 AM.  There is a short staff meeting right after chapel.  At 9:00 AM the literacy kids (13 to 15 year olds) go to the Learning Center for school.  They study English, Swahili, math, science and Bible.  The students all wear uniforms.  The skills students (16 to 18 year olds) walk to the Skills Center and learn a skill they can use when they leave MITS.  The skills are: mechanics, farming, tailoring, woodworking, cooking, cosmetology, and computers.

Lunch is served at 1:00 PM.  Brian, a former student, cooks for 80 students at the learning center every day.  Madeline cooks for about 30 at the Skills Center.  We ate Brian’s meals about three times and they were delicious.  He fixed beans and maize (corn) for one meal and twice we ate green grams (lentils), cabbage, and chapati.  That was our favorite meal.  They do not drink anything with their meals nor have dessert.

At 2:00 PM all the kids spend two hours working on the farm where they grow much of what they eat.  They also have 3 cows, about 10 goats, and 200 chickens.  They also have two tanks where they raise tilapia.  After working on the farm the students meet at the Learning Center at 4:30 for one more class.  At 5:30 the students go to their dorms, cook their own supper and have a devo before going to bed.

That’s a full day.  Ann used her time helping teach in different classes and also did some teacher training with our teaching staff. On most afternoons at 2:00 PM Tim had an hour of leadership training with the adult staff.  He taught from Joshua 1, the book of Jonah, Jesus style of leadership, and the way Paul solved conflict in Philemon.

On Wednesday we went to the Eastleigh slum with Francis Mbuvi.  We met our Eastleigh staff at the MITS compound.  A place for street kids to shower and receive first aid was out front and a shade cover has been added. We enjoyed Chai before we went out on the street to visit three bases.  Bases are trash dumps, or alleys where groups of boys and a few girls live.  This is where we meet most of the boys and girls that eventually come to our boarding facility at Kamulu. The first base we visited was Lilliput.  Some of the street boys there were members of the church.  Ann, Tim, and one or two of our MITS staff were asked to speak at each base.  The streets of Eastleigh are full of pot holes and mud.  There were lots of people walking.  We saw more Muslims than the times before.  If you ever read a travel guide of Nairobi, it recommends that you not visit the Eastleigh or Mathare slums.  Of course, that’s the area we feel GOD has called us to minister.

The second base we visited was called Mlango Kubwa.  It is considered the worst base because of the evil that goes on there.  One old woman sells glue to the children so they will bring or steal the things she wants in trade for glue.  You can smell the glue when you walk down the street.  Most of the boys and girls have bottles to sniff glue so it will take away their hunger.  The old woman was meeting with some City Council members the day we were there. As Ann says “she was holding court”.   She was lying, telling them all the good she was doing helping care for the kids.  She asked Tim what he was doing and Tim told her he was helping the street kids, too.  She is very deceitful and enables street kids to do bad things.  We need to pray GOD does something to change this base.  Francis and Tim agreed that you could feel the evil in that place.

The last base was the Roundabout base.  It was on a trash dump behind a corrugated tin fence.  MITS had helped this base solve some problems in the past and they were very receptive to our visit.  There were about 15 boys and one girl with two small children.  We had a good Bible study with them.  We sang and one of the street boys led a prayer.  Ann sang “Jesus Loves Me” with the children.  We don’t think they understood English but it was the right thing to do for a five and two year old that lived on the street with their mom.  Some situations are heartbreaking.

We returned to the Eastleigh Center where we were served a delicious meal of green grams (lentils), beans, cabbage and chapati.  It was the best chapati we had ever eaten.  After visiting for a while with the staff we returned to Kamulu.  All our staff comes to Eastleigh at least once a month to work on the streets.  This experience keeps them aware of the roots of our ministry. 

On Thursday after chapel, John Wambu, our facilities manager, took Ann and Tim on a tour of all our facilities at Kamulu.  We saw the dorms, Skills Center, farm crops and tilapia fish ponds.  We are building a new tailoring building at the Skills Center so there will be more room for our expanding sewing business.  We make all our own school uniforms and we are now selling them to the community for their schools.  We saw new construction on some staff housing and also some new construction on the girl’s dorm.  We are also making a classroom out of a metal storage unit behind our chapel to be used in our Sunday school.  John is doing a great job.  I don’t see how he coordinates it all.

Thursday evening we were invited to the girl’s compound where we enjoyed singing before breaking into groups for a Discovery Bible study.  The girls made some excellent comments.  This was one of the highlights of our trip.  After the devo, Irene invited us for chai and snacks in her room.

On Saturday Tim went with Charles, Darlene, and Wambu to the acreage that MITS and Healing Hands bought for future development.  It was about a two hour drive.  The land is on the road to Mombasa.  Along the way we saw a herd of giraffe and a female ostrich. 

On Sunday the Coulston’s drove us into Eastleigh and we worshiped with the church that meets in our MITS compound.  A number of people who live on the streets were in attendance.  Some of them were people we met at the bases on Wednesday.  We were very excited to see Lucy, Mary and their babies.  Lucy and Mary had come through our MITS program.  When they left they made some poor choices and were living with family back in Mathare.  We were so glad they had been coming to church services and were trying to keep a relationship to the church and GOD.  Larry Conway preached and Byron led the singing.  It was very lively and joyful with standing and lots of clapping.  Of course it was all in Swahili but the Spirit of GOD was definitely present. 

Sunday night we ate a lovely meal with Jackton and Millie’s family.  Jackton’s niece and nephew, Nancy and Davis, were there.  Millie cooked a wonderful meal and we saw a video of Kehl’s progress with hydrocephalus.  Visiting was great.  We gave Jackton some Starbuck’s coffee and a coffee bean grinder.  We love spending time with this wonderful family. 

Monday and Tuesday were typical days with the students.  We loved eating Brian’s green grams, cabbage and chapatti again with the students on Monday.  Ann did some teacher training and Tim did his last class with the staff on Tuesday.  In the afternoon we did some packing for our trip home.  We ate supper with Francis and Mauryn’s family Tuesday evening.  We gave Francis some Starbuck’s coffee and a coffee grinder, too.

Our last day, Oct. 31, we went to chapel one last time.  Charles then drove us to the Skills Center.  Ann ordered some jewelry made by our MITS students and we ordered some wooden Christmas ornaments, too. Students gave us letters to be mailed to their sponsors when we return to the US.  In the afternoon we walked to a small store run by Wachira, a church member who is in a wheelchair.  He was shot by thugs a few years back because he refused to pay them protection money.  We ate supper on the garage roof.  Charles grilled us hamburgers.  Darlene cooked pan fried potatoes.  The flowers were beautiful and the honeysuckle gave off a sweet fragrance.  After we washed dishes, Joel and Angie came by to say goodbye.  We gave them some knit caps for their children.

Jackton and Millie took us to the airport about 7:30 PM.  Our flight left at 11:40 PM.  We took three bags home with us.  We left on time and arrived in London at 5:00 AM.   Tim turned 63 on our flight.  Since we were flying west, his birthday lasted about 32 hours.  We had a five hour layover in London so we spent a while at Starbucks.  Tim had a chai tea latte and Ann had an iced hazelnut coffee.  Our flight left on time and we arrived at DFW around 2:30 PM.

Tim and Ann Lewis at Eastleigh Church

Direct Help to Street Kids

Made in the Streets wants to do as much as possible for street kids in Nairobi.  We want as much as possible of our money to directly benefit the young people who must sleep on the streets.  We want to make a future for them.  We want them to know God.  We want them to have joy and hope.  We want them to know they are loved and worthy.

In 2013 we want to do more than we have done in the past.  There are a lot of ways you can help us to directly benefit street kids.  Here are a few -- maybe one or more of these will resonate with you.  We want you to have the opportunity to be of direct help to kids in trouble....

• Plan now for December - each year we want the kids to have a Happy Holiday!  We plan many activities for these kids who cannot be with relatives in December, the way most people are.  We have a holiday meal, we have a day to invite relatives to visit MITS, we give food and clothing to youth sleeping on the streets, we take our students to the Water Park....it will cost about $6,000.  
• Student-Team Trip - we want our street kid students to know their country.  Each year we want to take a trip somewhere to experience the countryside, the culture and the sights.  A trip in 2013 - probably in November - will cost about $6,000
• Bread for the Streets - a friend to MITS gave money in 2012 so that our catering students can bake bread every other Thursday and our Team can take bread rolls to the streets on Fridays to give out to street kids, who never get enough food and who often eat garbage.  $2,000 for a year's supply.
• Protection - we want to have guards to protect the students and the properties they live and study in; two guards will cost $1,800 each for one year, starting in April.  Total $3,600 for 2013.
• VBS Trips - we train our students to serve and teach - if we make three trips to villages to do Bible schools for children, the cost will be about $1,000 a trip, or a total of $3,000. 
• Shopping Trips - we want to take our students on regular shopping trips - 6 in a year - with each student getting about $5; they usually buy clothes, shoes, personal grooming.  Cost: $500 a trip. 
• Video Setup - our students love movies, and it is a great way to learn.  A projector setup with screen, speakers and DVDs costs about $1,500.  
• Computer Studies - we have built new computer rooms.  An N-computing setup with computers and workstations and cables is estimated at $7,200.
• Library Growth -- we need shelves, tables, chairs and more books - Cost:  $1,300
• Sunday School classrooms - our students learn, and also help teach younger kids - 3 rooms with chairs, tables and supplies - $15,000
• Aggs for Christ - all new skills students in all areas will also study agriculture, from a Biblical point of view -- tools, seeds, water hoses, books - $2,000
• Skills Training Equipment -- we need more and replacement equipment for hairdressing, sewing, woodworking, auto mechanics, catering - $2,000 each - total: $10,000
• Intake of New Students -- more kids are on the streets, and some of them fit our criteria and can be successful - want to take in 20 new teens in 2013, average cost $200 - total: $4,000
• Graduation and Exit - we should have 15 finishing in 2013 - we have extra costs beyond the sponsorship involved with getting the youth in a job and a home and becoming self-supporting - about $150 more per person - total:  $2,250
• Meat for Lunch -- we want our kids to eat more meat, more protein.  Meat for lunch one day per week costs about $50.  48 more weeks in 2013 equals $2,400
• Bibles needed in several places - classrooms, residences, Eastleigh Center - need 260 Bibles at $6 each is $2,560
• Holiday Party at Eastleigh for youth sleeping on the streets - clothes, food, Bible study -- 400 youth at $4 each is $1,600.
• School Fees - for youth on streets who do not quality to live at Kamulu but would learn a skill - 6 month practicum - $200 fees, $300 rent, $200 food -- that is $700 per person, goal of 10 in 2013 for a total of $7,000
• Weekly Meal for Street Kids - we can provide a meal each week for up to 400 street kids at a cost of $1.25 per person -- per week is $500.  For the next 48 weeks is $24,000.  
• Come to Nairobi as a Mission Specialist - for 2 weeks to 2 months.  Train a Team member and/or students in your specialty - auto mechanics, woodworking, sewing, hairdressing, catering/cooking, masonry, electrical wiring, auto-electric, or _______________ .  Will cost you about $3,000 for the trip and expenses, more if you add a safari trip or have other personal expenses.
• Food on the Streets -- enable our Eastleigh Team to take food to the streets, to the bases - $50 for one time a week; rest of the year $2,400.  

GIVE ONLINE - see web side on "How to Help".  Or send check to Made in the Streets, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027.  All gifts are tax deductible, as Made in the Streets is a 501(C)3 organization.

Please write me at charles@madeinthestreets.org to let me know what you want to give for direct ministry to street kids.

A "base" of street youth listen to a Team member of MITS teach and encourage. 

Making a Home at MITS

Some street kids find a real home at Made in the Streets.  My last newsletter was about Lydia, who counts MITS as her home, her family (to read this Christmas Story, visit the web site, click on "MITS Media" and then click on "Newsletters" - hers is the December 24, 2012, story).  This extends to sharing New Year's Eve together.  Today we called Jackton Omondi, our tailoring and sports instructor, who was just leaving to go to the chapel (9 PM his time) where the Team and students would spend the next three hours in singing, prayer and fellowship, and welcome the new year together. After midnight various Team members and Nairobians reported that it started raining hard while the kids were praying, there was a power blackout in Nairobi, and the Team and kids had a great time together.

Darlene and I are having a quiet new year's eve at home.  She was taking a nap, but just now at 11:30 is getting ready for bed!  I'm staying up to finish this blog before midnight.

One of our students is Simon Nyangala - his sponsor is a group of older people who receive food from a congregation and meet together each week - they give a dollar apiece each month for Simon's support.  Like all of our other students, Simon has written his "life story" with the help of one of our Team members.  I think you will see where he has found a home. Read on for your New Year's pleasure.  And pray that our Team will continue to do as well with each street kid as they have with Simon.  Simon is one of the few who has both parents, but it reached the point where they no longer wanted him at home, even though they tried to have him stay with them.  We are glad to see that what we do with young people WORKS!

A STORY FOR 2012....and 2013

      "My name is Simon Nyangala.  I am seventeen years old (according to the dentist).  I am from the Luhyia tribe.  My mother is called Esther Anjiwa.  She lives in Mathare Valley.  She used to wash clothes for the Somali ladies when we were young, but my auntie persuaded her to stop because it wasn’t a good job.  Now she just stays at home.  My father is called Simon Nyangala also.  He kills chickens at a place called Highridge.  I have two sisters; Agnes is my twin and Doris is a year younger.  My brother is called Joseph; he is only six years old.  They all live in Mathare and go to school at Kiboro school.

      I went to that school until class six.  My dad provided us food and school fees.  Well, most times, the fees were in “arrears” and my parents had to constantly talk with the school to let us continue going to classes.  In the classes, the teachers were violent.  I got a beating every day for not performing well in class.  So I did not like school.  I ran away.  I decided I would run to a place where my parents would not find me and take me back to school.  So I walked a long way, to Parklands.  Then I jumped on the back of a  truck and rode until I alighted at a place called Ngara.  I was safe.  No one would beat me, no one would take me back to school.  I walked along the road in confidence.  As it got dark, I found a place that looked safe for the night.  I met some street boys who invited me to spend the night with them.  I was happy.  I had new friends.  Since I had not eaten that day, we all went to beg.  I got money and bought food and went to my new friends’ base.  My new friends were very nice to me and I felt “at home”. 

      Most of my new friends were high on glue and offered some to me, but I did not accept.  I spent my first night out in the cold, with new friends high on glue and msii (like petrol).  The night was long and cold; I actually slept very little.  Morning came and I was ready to move out of that base.  I ended up in another base in High Ridge.  But these people were not really very friendly so I decided to move to a place where I could just be on my own.  It was scary but better than unfriendly people.  I felt a little insecure but I did not want to go back home and back to school.  After a few days, I felt confident.  I would beg for money and buy some food and then go back to my lonely base before dark. 

Unfortunately my base was near a street where my father walked on his way home.  He saw me and dragged me back home, not saying a word even when we got home.  My mother asked me why I had run away.  I told her how bad it was at school.  She was concerned and she talked to me about going back.  I refused.  Then she told me just to stay home, not go to school.  My dad still was not speaking.  The next morning he left without talking to me.  My mother left and said to stay home.  After they left, I decided this was a  trap – they were planning to come back and take me to school or maybe just beat me.  So I ran away again.

This time I went to Eastleigh to a base near Garissa Lodge.  There I started begging for food from the food kiosks and small cafes.  The only food I was given was “jombii” (leftovers from customers’ plates).  I just ate it anyway.  Sometimes the people I begged from were really mean.  There was so much evil going on in the streets of Eastleigh, lots of violence, robbing, drugs, and stuff.  Just after a week there, I saw a businessman being robbed at gun point.  The thieves shot the man and took his bag with money.  They were so heartless; even after they shot him they beat him.  After this, I talked with some of my new friends; I was ready to go home.   They weren’t listening; they were all high on glue.  During that night I decided to go home and apologize to my mother. 

When I went home, my mother did not talk about school again.  She let me stay home while my sisters went to school.  I decided I wouldn’t sleep on the streets, but I would go collect plastics and metals to sell and just stay around home in Mathare.  Out working, I met Simon Vukoma and Ian Thiga; they were living in the streets and they were also collecting stuff to sell.  They introduced me to new places to collect.  Together we would make quick money and then have time to go watch movies.  We watched movies in a place at Mlango Kubwa.  The movies were not good at all.  They were mostly explicit movies, but they only cost us five shillings.  We could watch them for as long as five hours daily.  Watching these kinds of movies changed me.  They stuck in my head and every time I left the place I could not wait til I could get a girl and practice what I had just seen.  My body was out of my control; it didn’t matter who I chose to sleep with.  My friends and I would pool our money and spend as low as fifty shillings to have sex with a girl.  I did not choose a girl I wanted; I just wanted to have sex – with any of them, and not just one.  Some of the girls would assume that I was their boyfriend but after we had sex, I felt no commitment or attachment to them.  Afterwards, I wouldn’t even remember I had sex with them.  And once, two girls fought each other because of me.  I felt so stupid because I did not want any of them. I asked them to leave me but they wouldn’t. 

Later, I got into drinking chan’gaa (moonshine).  That changed me even more.  I couldn’t deal with people.  I knew my mother would not tolerate my drinking, so now I would not go home at night.  Then I finally sobered up and thought about my family, how they worked to provide a good life.  I decided to change my behavior.  I thought about people who go to school and learn.  I wanted to be like that.  I went home and talked to my mother about going back to school. She took me to another school; I was put back a year but decided to carry on. But it was not good.

Later on, I saw a friend from the streets, named Paul Njoroge.  He told me about MITS.  I started attending the programs and I like them.  I really liked MITS because the teachers were friendly.  They seemed to understand us even when we were not behaving well.  They taught us about God and encouraged us to turn our lives over to God.  I decided I would go with MITS; I could do this.  I learned God forgives us and he loves us.  This encouraged me.  After some time attending the programs, I was chosen to go to Kamulu Center.

I was so happy with the Kamulu center!  I liked the teachers and the students.  I was thrilled to know that I would get school lessons and even job skills.  The teachers here are wonderful.  They treat us well, they encourage us.  For the first time in my life, I am able to play and joke around with my teachers.  One of the teachers, Ben, has taught me how to take care of chickens, cows and goats.  I enjoy the clean environment around here and I always feel secure and safe.  I have grown a lot since I came to MITS.  I no longer watch porn because the teachers have taught me to keep off and taught me how to live a responsible life.  They have taught me to live a pure life until I get married.  My view of girls and women has really changed and I am willing to treat girls with respect and not just for satisfying me.  I am willing to wait for the girl I will marry and will treat her well.  The teachers here have also shown us how to live in non-violent ways, by treating us not with violence but with love and concern.  As a result we are slowly changing to be like our teachers.

I am also learning computer skills; I never knew I would ever work with a computer but I’m grateful to the teachers and sponsors because computers are now a part of my daily life!  I feel well equipped here and I know that when the time comes for me to leave MITS, I will fit in the outside world.  I have no doubts.  I thank God and MITS for all they are doing to give us a beautiful life."