Homeless children in Africa find refuge, peace
With dirt-caked skin and tattered clothes, the street boys of Kenya, Africa, struggle daily to survive. Disregarded by society and with no social system to care for the children, many boys are left to fend for themselves in the unforgiving streets.
Some boys, like Sammy, were lost in the crowded city and separated from their families one fateful day. Boys, like brothers Alex and Amos, found themselves in the streets when their father lost his job and could no longer feed his family. Boys like Timothy saw their fathers die and their family property seized as mandated by tribal traditions. Boys like Dennis were abused and purposely starved until they ran away. Boys like Patrick went in search of a distant relative to care for them, only to be abandoned in the streets after failing to find them.
Some street boys have bonded together in makeshift families. The smaller boys beg for food and shillings while others search for scrap metal to sell. The older boys look in vain for jobs, for no employers want to hire a hardened, homeless boy, no matter how hardworking he is. Since meals are rare, many street boys sniff glue, getting high to forget the pain.
Fortunately, Christian mother and New York native Rev. Lynn Whitlock recognized this need and founded nonprofit organization Mothers on a Mission International (M.O.M.I.). Dedicated to removing children from the dangerous city streets, Whitlock teamed with Kenyan men: Carlson Okello and George Wesonga.
M.O.M.I.’s mission: to restore street boys to their families and a stable home environment, to enroll the boys in school, to purchase school uniforms, to clean up the boys, to buy them a set of new clothes and shoes, to immunize them, and to purchase a homecoming package with school supplies and immediate family needs, such as toothpaste, flour, sugar, salt, wash basins, mattresses and shoes.
A child is selected through an interview with Wesonga. The entire process takes approximately one week and costs 120 U.S. dollars. Each rescued boy is then sponsored for $40 per month through the completion of his academic education.
So far, the children removed from the streets have been those with family homes they can return to. In the future, Whitlock, Wesonga and Okello plan to establish a children’s home for boys who no longer have home they can return to. This home will also offer vocational training for older boys.
Wesonga, a former street boy himself, knows most of the Bungoma street boys by name and their personal stories.
“They’re good boys,” he said.
Whitlock agreed. “They just need to be loved.”
Since M.O.M.I.’s establishment earlier this year, several street boys have been rescued and reunited with their families.
This summer I had the opportunity to meet street boys and witness the positive impact M.O.M.I. is making in Kenya.
To donate or for more information, visit www.mothersonamissionintl.com.
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August 27th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
awesome article, ally! loved reading it!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Thank you Ally for writing this article on my mothers behalf. It is very inspiring And well written, you have obviouse talent in the art of expression.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:17 am
But what about street girls?
September 4th, 2008 at 7:14 am
This is not something that one wants to read, but you do a good job with example after example, hitting us over the head with different-sized, different-shaped realities in the form of ugly and sad examples that are specific enough that you won’t allow the reader to read right over them, and then you immediately go into a way to help. You don’t promise miracles, etc. You don’t show us a vignette of some smiling kid brushing his teeth for the first time in years–you simply lay it on the table, saying this is how it is. If you want to help, here’s how. Nice restraint, which makes the writing all the more effective.
November 16th, 2008 at 1:39 am
Thanks Ally
This article really spells out what is happening here! It has been hard trying to get some of the family members for this street boys because some are not wanted back home. We can’t wait to start the home here in Kenya
December 17th, 2008 at 11:53 am
i feel so sorry for these kids im doin a speech on homeless kids its so sad.