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."
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