“These are the children of Nanyuki,” Joseph, former street
kid now enrolled in school through the Simama Project said. He stood on a
stage, surrounded by Simama employees and former and current street kids. He
looked out into the audience, a mixture of Nanyuki citizens, street kids, and
participants of the Campaign for Street Kids. Though when he spoke, he spoke
directly to the citizens of Nanyuki. “These are your children. They are not
dangerous. They deserve to be fed, sheltered, and the right to an education.”
He paused for a moment. “I know,” he said, “because I was one of them.”
A few weeks ago, the Simama Project was invited to
participate in a campaign for street children put on by Mt. Kenya Activista in
conjunction with Actionaid. The idea was simple, but important: spark awareness
around the issue of homeless children who live in the streets of Nanyuki.
Volunteers, activists, students and community members mobilized and marched
across Nanyuki. Our voice was heard through chants, songs, and flash dances.
Our message was clear: despite them being the most neglected part of this
society, the street kids are members of the Nanyuki community. We should take
care of them instead of the more commonly used tactic, throwing them in jail.
As we marched and danced through the streets, the most
incredible part of the day happened. Street kids came out of nowhere and
everywhere, joining us. They didn’t know where we had come from or where we
were going, but the joy was obvious and beautiful when they realized that those
things didn’t matter. What mattered was that the very reason we were there at
all was for them. For many of these kids, this was the first moment in their
entire lives that they felt acknowledged, recognized, and respected. We waved
for them to join us, and join us they did. They marched, sang, high-fived and
danced with us until we reached our destination.
Mohammed, a boy who is in school but spends any free time
looking for scraps of food wherever he can find them, joined us. Confused at
first, he looked up at one of the Actionaid volunteers. I heard him say to her,
“This is for me?”
“It sure is,” she replied to him with a smile.
The parade ended in Nanyuki’s central park, home to about 35
of the town’s hundreds of homeless youth. The program with fully stocked with
skits, speakers, and even a dance competition for intermission (guess which
part the kids loved the most?). Actionaid members put on a short drama
highlighting common issues Kenyan children deal with that could potentially
land them in the street.
The Simama Project took the stage afterward. In the spirit
of the same solidarity the Project operates under on a daily bases, a large
group of us ascended to the stage. First to speak on our behalf was Joseph, a
former street boy himself who is now a very successful standard 8 student. He
looked out into the audience and found his voice, surprisingly powerful and
moving for a kid whose first public speaking appearance was at that very
moment. He called upon the citizens of Nanyuki to take action. He urged them to
embrace, instead of shun the street kids, to help, instead of ignore them. “We
must take care of our own,” he said, “and we must do it together.”
The audience was visibly touched by his words. He stepped
back into the group to an overwhelming applause.
Next to speak was one of the Simama Project’s founding board
members, Josephine. Josephine is a champion for children’s’ rights and
gender-based violence issues. After her, I had an opportunity to say a few
words. I introduced the project to the community at large, many of whom had not
yet heard of us. I encouraged community members to reach out to us. I offered
the Project as a vehicle for change. We are here to help, I said, and are
seeking to establish a relationship that is beneficial to the kids, which in
turn will help create a better Nanyuki.
As soon as we got off stage, two men approached me. They
said that they were part of a group of street kids that had listened to us
speak. They were interested in what we
do, and they had more than fifteen kids who wanted to go to school. I walked with him to meet the kids. I peered
into about 15 faces with both hope and sadness. These were kids who clearly
wanted to go to school. I weighed Simama’s mission against what we were immediately
capable of financially. Eventually, with proper resources, we would be able to
help them all.
Today, we could only afford to
help one.
I left the decision up to the group. The results were close,
between a small, young kid named Abdi, and Michael, a taller, slightly older
kid. Ultimately, after going through the process of a case study and tutoring,
Abdi became the newest Simama Project kid, and is now attending Il Polei with
Alfred and the other kids. Michael and
the other 13 kids are still out there.
We hope to be able to find the resources to assist them shortly.
The Simama Project is grateful to Actionaid for putting on a
successful event that built upon the momentum of what we have been fighting to
establish in this community. They took a serious cause and delivered an
important message through fun and a unique way of creating buzz.
