Peter, 8 years old, was born in a family of 11 children. Unfortunately, his mother lacking better ways to make a living, she went into prostitution. Peter, was a product of his mother’s escapades, and he doesn’t know who his father is. Unable to live with his mother, Peter was left under his grandmother’s care, from where he ran away and into the streets about four months ago.
I met Peter for the first time during my daily rounds to find needy children in the streets of Thika town. This was in the beginning of August, 2015. What touched me the most was the fact that he was deep asleep, with other street children, by the road side, completely oblivious of what would happen should a vehicle accidentally veer off the road towards them.
Out of the 10 – 15 Street Children in the group, each with a glue-bottle, Peter was certainly the youngest one, the least experienced in street life, and also the most vulnerable. This was the team with which I started the initial phase of the NGUVU Rehabilitation Programme.
Rehab Programme Activities
We met each morning at the LIONS-Children-Park grounds in Thika’s Section 9 area. This is a posh residential area inhabited by wealthy Indians. During the morning sessions, NGUVU Rehabilitation Programme provided the children with breakfast in form of a packet of milk, bread, and fruits. After this, we would start commence activities such as football, Rugby, cutting grass, and collecting garbage. The idea was to keep them sober and away from the negative influence of their glue-sniffing peers in the streets. Other priorities were Life-Skills (dangers of sniffing glue, as well as the importance of Discipline, Respect, Fair-Play, and Sharing with others etc).
The Street Children liked the activities, and the group started growing larger by the day. Peter was regular and very active there.
Moving to Kiandutu
At the beginning of November 2015, we were requested to leave Section 9 grounds by the owners. Since most of the Street Children came from the slum of Kiandutu in Thika, we relocated over there and continued our NGUVU Rehabilitation-Program in the slum.
Over there we found a safe and suitable place for children’s activities. I also met Life-Skills Oasis Sleeping & Rescue Centre - a congenial partner.
Working with Life Skills, we provide the extremely needy Street Children with full board accommodation. Peter was one of the first street children to enjoy this privilege. After three months of rehabilitation under the NGUVU Programme, we decided to find the whereabouts of his family, with a view to re-uniting them. Peter was agreeable to this, and he helped us trace his home about 60km away in Kandara, in the neighbouring County of Murang’a.
Home at Last
With the help of Stano, a social-worker from Life Skills Rescue Centre, we set off, on Friday, 13th November 2015, in search for Peter’s home.Nevertheless, Peter helped us to retrace the entire route back to his home.
At about 3.00pm we achieved the objective of our trip. We met Peter’s grandmother, together with a few siblings in their home at Kandara, and what a joy it was for them to see Peter back home once again!
As we found out, the grandmother lives in squalor, but NGUVU Edu SPORT Project will support the family, especially in educating the children. We however take pride in helping Peter return to his family with a clear conscience, with love and trust, healthy and as a young boy full of hope for a more promising future than he was in the streets.
Peter is the first successful product of the NGUVU Rehabilitation therapy. However, given his poor background and his experiences as a street child, we will keep in touch and visit them often to ensure that the new re-union holds.
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