Jesus wept; we learn about 'feral' children ...

This is a terrible phrase describing children of which I learned the meaning at our last group session on Sunday.   We met with two of the organisers of HATW, and were discussing street children.  In Kisumu (and I expect other cities all over the world where children live on the streets) there are really two groups of street children.     There are those who come from extremely poor families where the children are encouraged onto the streets to beg ...  yet DO have somewhere to go back to at night, where there is some sort of inadequate family life.

Then there are the 'feral' children.   I could weep at such a word ... yet it describes what these totally homeless, family-less, love-less children are.   And they have to survive however they can; they are effectively the rats of the human population ... they live on the rubbish dumps, in doorways, in drain culverts ... I could weep.   I can't say any more ... its too upsetting to even think of any child, any children having to live like this. 


So the teenagers we will be working with and for whom the workshop will be for, are the first category of street children ... those who DO have some sort of family.    These are the street kids for whom there IS some hope if they can find work to support themselves and their families.  

We are being encouraged to go and meet the children of the night who have no homes, who steal, beg, eat rotting food, sniff glue ... I will find it very hard to do so ... and what can we do for them ?  Nothing ...

One gleam of light is that workers from Pandipieri Mission do go on patrol and bring any girls they find into the mission, to see if they can be helped or put back with support into their families rather than drift into prostitution and pregnancy.   But the hardened glue sniffers, like alcoholics here, have to WANT to change their lives before anything can be done for them.   Many if not all of them are orphans, many are HIV positive.   The mission cannot force them into accepting help; as with alcoholics they have to make the decision and come into the mission themselves. 


Please read more about the mission here ...

http://www.hopeforafricanchildren.org/New/Country%20Programs/kenya_orgs_pandipieri.html