At the orphanage the other day it was really muddy since it has been raining every day here. While slowly walking around the place by myself, trying to stay as clean as possible, my flip flop broke. The thong part came up so I pushed it back through the flip flop and completely got my hands and foot all muddy. After fixing it some of the kids called me over and they served me so well. I couldn’t have even imagined for children to observe their surroundings and think of others the way they did. They gave me a bucket of water and soap and took my flip flops and scrubbed them as I washed my feet.
So on our day off I bought myself some new flip flops for about $1.50 for when I cannot repair mine…and that day is soon if it continues to rain. Later in the day, while still in town, a boy walked up to me and with very little English pointed at his feet and said, “shoes.” In Kitale there are many children on the streets for many reasons. Normally the children put their hand out and ask for food but this boy asked for shoes. I was soon surrounded by a group of children and teenagers as we waited for our ride home. Others were able to interpret for me as I asked where the boy’s parents were. They said that he had no one and that he didn’t know where to find an orphanage to stay.
This very well could be the truth because the Kenyan government does not enforce any regulations on street children and there aren’t enough orphanages (or the orphanages themselves are corrupt) to care for all the needy children. Further, many of these kids choose to live on the streets and once they are on the streets it’s a lifestyle that is difficult to move beyond.
A few scenerios include:
1) Kids living with one parent or relatives but their relatives can’t afford to feed them so they spend the day on the streets begging for food and go home at night.
2) Kids without family, or family that is far away and unable to care for them, are being sponsored to go to boarding school but when the holidays come the kids have no where to go but on the streets.
3) Further, kids are being sponsored to go the school but their sponsorship drops and they have no where to go but drop out of school and live on the streets.
3) Kids have been in an orphanage but the orphanage treated them badly (i.e. no appropriate place to sleep or no food) so the kids run away and live on the streets.
4) Kids become orphaned due to both parents dying or not knowing where their parents are and they fend for themselves at a young age on the streets.
5) Kids have a family but run away and live on the streets after having friends convince them that there is good money to make on the streets.
Once on the streets kids develop deep bonds with other street kids, this becomes their family. The young ones are beat up by a group of older ones and any money or food they have obtained throughout the day is taken. The kids begin their addiction to sniffing glue to erase any feeling of hunger. The many years of freedom from living on the streets makes it difficult to move into a controlled environment like school or a home when someone tries to help them, and even results in them running back to the streets.
…The boy’s name is Simon and Simon helped teach me something today.
I cannot help all the kids on the street. I cannot help all the homeless people on the streets. I cannot feed and provide clothing for everyone on the streets. I cannot send all the children to school and find them a loving home. So how does a person know what they can give and to whom? This day I decided to buy a pair of flip flops in preparation for when mine break fully. This day I was confronted by a boy, not asking for food, but asking for shoes. Shoes! Today I knew that although I was surrounded by a group of street children, God had a plan for me to help THIS one. My flip flops fit him perfectly.
My last week in Kitale I was sitting on the side of the street hanging out with some of my favorite street boys and Simon comes walking up….big smile on his face…wearing his new flip flops.
