another home visit!

The students got another chance to visit their families and relatives this month and this time it was so much different than my usual visits. this time round i had so much to learn. first we all assembled in eastleigh where we divided ourselves into groups.i was glad because my group members were very eager which made it easier for me. it was only a walking distance from the centre. i have never eaten so much in my life! in every home that we went to, there was something served. i had tea, roasted corn, chapati with meat stew, fries and so much more. i guess since our african culture tells us that it is impolite not to accept someone's hospitality, i stuffed myself with all that was served and believe me, coming back to the eastleigh centre was a great task!as first it was just bad luck after bad luck. first i went with edward and margaret, some of the students, and found their mother was sick, went on to mary waithera's place and she was told she had to attend her grandmother's memorial who died while she was still at the farm. i was really touched by the courage that these kids have. as i sat down with margaret's mother, i could not help but admire these kids who come from such humble backgrounds and are proud to show us their previous lives and open up even their hearts. i was glad that all the consent forms that i had were all signed and it was a successful day.


phillipo

Homeward bound.

On friday the team decided to take all the students back to their parents/gurdians to get their consents documents signed. It was fun though, I have never walked that far in my whole life. We divided up into groups while at the Eastleigh Centre. Then went on to the slums of Mathare Valley, suburbs like Eastleigh,Huruma, Dandora, South B (mukuru). These are all different areas that our students' folks live in. Students like Margaret and Edwin (brother and sister) went home to find their mom seriously ill. But it was luck that they went with Philip who acted immediately and left that home when the mom, who could not even come out of her bed, was strong and on road to recovery. Abdi Isaac one of our students from Islamic background went home to announce to his mom and step dad that he had changed faith, but his step dad said it was all nonsense, if Abdi has decided to changed his faith then he should make the decision renounce his family. So Abdi is not all to happy, he is at a criss-cross. We finally got Evans' mother to relax after she was looking out for her son, she never knew where Evans went and asked her neighbors of his whereabouts. When finally she came to know that we had taken Evans in our program, she wanted to know more about us. This was a good opportunity for her to ask me all manner of questions about our ministry. She always wanted the best for Evans and was really glad we got him off the streets. (Evans is one of our new students.)
It was a success and a good point and chance to meet the new students' parents and guardians. This is also a time which the team gets to make that special bond with the kids. Walking home and meeting our partly 'extended family' was amazing. I have come to learn that the kids open up more to us when they make this journey with us to their places of origin.

*The consent document is a legal document that shows the government that all the parties i.e. the student and parent agree that his/her son or daughter is in our program.

By the way the August Paper is out and looking good. Thanks to the team and the students. Here is a link to it. Enjoy!
http://www.made-in-the-streets.org/Street_News_2.pdf

HAPPY, HAPPY

Today is a totaly new day and the begining of new things for me. I feel very happy and proud to be in University now. I am mostly greatful to M.I.T.S and all those who are making this possible. I see a future where all the counceling needs of our kids here in M.I.T.S. will be taked care of professionally and thus making a great difference in their lives. I know it's a little bit early to be all excited but i will always keep this in mind every single day, in order to always remember the reason why i have chosen to study psychology, to give my services to those who according to me needs them most. The M.I.T.S. kids.

Sometimes when things are not going too well, We always think that we are all alone. During this time, for those who are strong in the lord, look back at the blessings they've had and draw strength from them knowing that God is in control.When that time comes, this will surely be one GREAT blessing that i will look back to and remember the promises He made. And my GOD keeps all his promises, fulfils them at his own time. Which is always perfect.

Irene A.

Chapel talk

Its one thing to start a song and another to talk to people and give out a talk. It is always a challenge to the students who gather the courage to speak to us during our chapel talks every morning. I am so much filled with pride when the students strive so much to talk in public or infront of their peers. The tremendous effort, work and preparation they go through before they give a chat is very encouraging. They go through great lengths to find inspirational stories in the bible and books in our library (thanks Darlene for making the Library so neat). I recently found one student reciting exactly what words she will use the next morning. It was awesome, so was the encouragement. All because she wanted the talk to be of great importance in our lives. The english might be basic and unstructured, but the good Lord really knows what is in the student's heart...and surprisingly, the message always comes out clear. We understand each other at MITS, we are a family, that is what we do, look out for one another.

God's idea!

Went to the streets on Friday and... what a day! We started of with 12th street base, found actually two boys, one younger the other older, said high then went on to Calif base. Apparently this is the base known to have celebrities. As in, they all want to become singers/rappers one day and make it big. Some dream ha! They are good and focused only the drug and circumstances are the problem. Each of the team gave an encouragement, Nzioka said to always be there for one another no matter what the predicament, Maggy emphasized on sticking so close to God all the time with the purpose of inheriting God's likeness and attitude, Robin was wearing a t-shirt labeled 'I am God's idea' thus he told the guys that they are not here on earth by just mere mistake and try to live up to their calling through God's eyes and be His idea. Abraham introduces himself as Abu, then went on to say that call on God's help in prime times of need and he will always come to your aid if you believe! Lastly Anthony gave a brief story just to put a spark of hope in their/our spirits. His story was of a street boy he knew who made it in life by not belittling the small avenues that comes with life's struggles, to always grab opportunities by the small strand that they comes with it.

Thats the way it is!!

Hola everyone! we always don't realize the impact that we have to children when we hear them and give them an opportunity to achieve the unthinkable.In Made in the streets they have that opportunity. God always opens a door and never tells you, "hey Joel! go through that door,It will take you to very good places!" No!it always by faith that you decide that this is the way i am going on matter what comes out.He wants you to go through it and see His wonders.Many of you don't realize that sometimes thats all that you need to do. It only takes your effort to reach out and encourage someone, to gave out hope to a lost one and his/her life will never be the same again. Thanks to all of you who reach out to us at made in the streets and shape ourlives in ways that are unimaginable.You make a life that is filled with alot of pain worth living, that i can do this because you are there. Well thats the way it is sometimes!You make a difference.
Joel

Photos!

We finially have our photos posted in the smugmug account, thanks to Darren Wilson. He says and I quote him,
"That's right, you can purchase any photo and it will be printed and shipped directly to you. Prints are available in sizes from 4"x"6 snapshots to 20"x30" mounted canvas prints. You will NOT be dissapointed in the print quality, so make your purchases knowing that the prints will be FANTASTIC and that ALL of the profits will benefit Made in the Streets."
The site to go to to purchase these photos or just to see them is http://www.madeinthestreets.smugmug.com/
Still working on the newspaper for the month of August with Anastacia, a students who believes in writing and wants to be a journalist. Her blog is tashanjoki.blogpsot.com. Putting up articles from the students and team. Its soon coming out.

the jugglers!

i remember the first time we heard that we would be having visitors in july and one of them is a juggler, my first thoughts were,' THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE'. i mean i have been to the streets and seen boys who are acrobats and some try juggling but i have never seen any with so much talent. josh really showed us some neat tricks and i never expected it to grow so fast with the kids that we have especially the boys. after he taught some of the boys, it has slowly become a new trend with the rest. lately some of them have exhausted all resources for juggling. they started with bean bags, went on to tennis balls, soccer balls, basetballs,rocks, shoes! i think i'll wake up and find them juggling cups and plates or maybe i'll be in class and they'll start juggling pencils and pens. anyway i'm really glad i got to meet josh this past month and i know he left a legacy behind. josh you're the man.


phillipo