Street kids’ dilemma

It is 6am on a chilly morning in Nakuru Town but Robert Kang’ethe seems immune to the cold. The 14-year-old smiles at us with a distant look in his eyes, earphones in his ears. His four friends get up from a dirty mattress in a corridor in  Pinkam House. They shove the mattress into a hole at the roundabout near Pinkam House before dispersing.

Kang’ethe has been living on the streets for four years. He ran away from his home in Molo with just his iPod  because “I was tired of living there, so I hiked a lift on a lorry that was bringing potatoes to the market.” He is listening to a Kikuyu song, Uhiki (wedding), by Mary Kihara and says he would love to find a fine woman to marry someday.

Kang’ethe is one of the more than 2,000 street children in Nakuru, Molo and Naivasha towns, according to a 2011 survey by Save the Children.

Notably, street people are very organised, complete with leaders and with their daily activities regarding who does what done  by consensus. So those below 18 years operate as parking boys in the central business district, while some beg from motorists on the Nakuru-Nairobi or Nakuru-Kericho highways. The older ones work as porters at the main market and selected matatu stages.

“This was agreed upon to keep the older people from harassing children as they try to fend for themselves,” Geoffrey Chege, who reformed and left the street three years ago, offers.

Chege, 25, takes us on a tour to see how they operate. Our first stop is Wakulima Market, where a group of youth aged 18 to 26 are assembled, eating fruits from a nearby dumpsite. They  work exclusively at the market, either as porters or sell plastic bags and sacks to customers.

“Those who find favour with the traders are sometimes given a little produce to sell. But it takes time for the traders fully trust them,” Chege reveals.

Chege adds that   every group has a leader who is responsible for the welfare of those operating under him: “If a person complains of having been assaulted at night, their leader verifies the claims and tries to find out who the perpetrators were.”

LASTING SOLUTIONS

He adds that they have a code of conduct that forbids negative behaviour, so those  who steal or cause trouble are run out of the town.

Efforts to get them off the streets typically involve the police rounding up the youngsters and taking them into custody, then to court, and thereafter to children’s homes or back to their original homes.

But Mr Abdi Yusuf, the county’s children’s coordinator, says this doesn’t work since the children run away from the homes or lie about where they come from. He says the children run away from home due to abuse  and inadequate shelter (especially for adolescents).

Mr Yusuf  stresses that unless parents, the police and the children’s department work together, the problem of street children will continue.

“A lasting solution could be remanding the children in police stations near their homes and contacting their parents or guardians. By the time they are taken home, the parents will be aware of their whereabouts. The parents could then be ordered by the court to take care of their children.” 

Interestingly, a research by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (Unicef) found that most street children are not orphans.

It noted that many remain in contact with their families, whose income they subsidise by working on the streets, while  others run away from home, often due to abuse. “Most are male, as girls seem to endure abusive or exploitative situations at home  longer, though once they leave home, they are generally less likely to return,” it added.

Chege says that the solution would be to take the young ones to boarding school and those above 18 to technical institutions.

John Mbiu, 15, and John Kiarie, 23 agree, saying saying they would like to learn technical skills: “Going to school will change my thinking and open doors for me that only education can open,” Mbiu says.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation notes that informal education is one of the ways  of educating these children, who are often treated as criminals and wary of institutions, authority and organised activities.

“They can see the adult world as inherently threatening. Non-formal education is one way to address these legitimate concerns while leaving the door open to mainstream education later on. The range of non-formal initiatives for street children is vast. Methods vary, from using dance, music and sports to circus and art,” says the report.