Becoming a Child Again

Becoming a child again

Grace (not her real name) joined the SOS Street Children Programme (SCP) in Nairobi in April 2004. She was then 13 years old, extremely shy and lacked self-esteem. The foul odour from her body was a mixture, perhaps, of many days of not having washed, bed-wetting and a lack of clean clothing to change into. Her hair had a reddish brown, unhealthy look and she wore different pairs of coloured sandals, not quite her size. All the same it did not seem to bother her when I met her for the first time. Grace was beautiful, especially when she smiled; her eyes were warm and brown in colour. On the day we met at an open-air market she was picking up spoiled fruit and vegetables from a heap of garbage that was awaiting collection.

Grace was not in school that day, like other children. She told me that she had not been to school for a year and had dropped out of primary class three. The few years in school were characterized by irregular attendance due to a lack of school materials such as books, uniform and imposed school levy charges. She was from a family of four siblings none of whom were in school. As a first-born child from a single parent family, she had been pressured into going out to the streets to look for food, while her younger brothers rummaged through waste in search of metal and plastics. This was my first experience of encountering children from an entire family surviving on the streets.

Grace explained that her mother was sick and her small fish business had collapsed. Hunger pangs, she recalled, were her greatest challenge while she was in school and she lamented that other children teased her that she resembled a boy child.

Grace moves to the streets

When at home Grace was often beaten by her mother for straying out of the house, as her mother preferred her to stay at home and attend to domestic chores. On the other hand, staying at home for Grace meant pains of hunger and so she would venture out to the street despite the expected punishment if found out. At times, Grace rebelled and gradually found herself sleeping out of her mother's house for two or three days a week. Those days became weeks and she later stopped attending school. Her behaviour affected her brother Lawrence and he too left school and began a street life.

Renewing her self-esteem

When she came to the SOS Social Centre, Grace was an easy child to handle. With so much will to transform her life her image changed as she became the proud owner of new clothes from donations distributed by the Street Children Programme at the SOS Social Centre. The morning hot showers at the facility accompanied with a light breakfast made her concentrate her energy on other disturbing and pressing issues in her life. By the end of two months, Grace had renewed self-confidence and the bed-wetting stopped. She wanted to go back to school and asked me to meet her mother.

When I finally met Grace's mother at the SOS Social Centre she was surprised and sceptical about Grace returning to school. The programme had done its work: Grace was empowered to make a positive, informed decision and turn around her life. The programme provided the uniform and stationary required, talked to the director of Galileo Primary school to provide the school place and this golden opportunity was affirmed.

Grace joined the school and has since picked up academically. Her sceptical mother has been proud of her daughter's performance and is happy knowing that she no longer sleeps outside the home or wanders the streets. School meals are catered courtesy of the school director, and this has greatly supported Grace in school. Her brother has now joined boarding school sponsored by another NGO after his case was referred to one of our partners.

Grace's mother also transforms herself

The Street Children Programme at the SOS Social Centre has provided Grace's mother with counselling sessions for herself and opportunities to attend parental workshops organized by the programme. These sessions have had an impact on the way she handles her children's issues and created for her awareness on many issues such as law, health and child welfare. She is an active member of the programme and has been an inspiration to the new members. Her health has greatly improved through medical care supported by the SOS Medical Centre and she is now able to earn an income from a horticulture green house working as a labourer.

Grace, on the other hand, has integrated well into school and has new friends. Her keenness to remain in school shows that children found on the streets and out of their home safety net are in search of basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and a sense of belonging. My last school visit to see Grace in school reminded me that she represents the girl child who has the desires to access education and develop herself but is met with challenges and the pressure to become a domestic helper.