We had only been with the street kids
of Eldoret for a day when we met Andrew, a former street kid and manager of Tumaini Center (Tumaini means Hope in Swahili). We
arranged to visit Tumaini Center and in a week we were sitting down
with him talking about what the center does to help street kids.
Tumaini Center, and other centers like
it, are successful at bringing street kids off the streets because
they function as something of a halfway house.
The genius of the program is it
provides gradual transition from the streets to a more stable
environment. Kids who come to Tumaini during their open hours three
times a week are encouraged by the staff to think about what their
life would be like off the streets. Slowly, as they come to the
center and build relationships with the staff they begin to hope in
something different.
This slow transition process was how
Andrew himself was brough off the streets. Andrew was brought off
the street by a similar program in 1991 after having been a street
kid for seven years.
“I didn’t just say, I need to get off
the streets,” he says. “It came gradually. I went to crusades,
dramas, different church meetings, and I started to get ideas. Then
someone offered the chance to get off and I said, ok, I’ll try.”
His addiction to glue was broken in
the same way. He was going to programs and events where glue was
prohibited, church, Sunday school, different training programs.
“You go one day without glue. Then
you go two days. Then a week. After a while you say, maybe I don’t
need glue anymore.” Andrew hopes the street kids will make the
same transition off glue by coming to Tumaini, where glue is
prohibited. However, if they try to force street kids to change all
at once, they would likely stay away from the center.
“What is the best way to help the
street kids?” we ask Andrew.
“First you provide everything. They
need places to stay, love and caring, food, clothing, and acceptance
that they are street kids.” As a street kid, they have a specific
culture, and like all cultures, they cannot be changed all at one.
Tumaini Center’s model of slow
transition off the streets is just one example of what’s being done
to help the street kids, but I think their model is very effective.
While this center in Eldoret is still very new, having just opened in
January, they will do much good.
To learn more about Tumaini Center,
visit their website.
