Progress in Eastleigh

The Conways again decided to take the mothers that come to the Monday program in Eastleigh for a treat. The mothers and their babies had a chance to see wild life and enjoy nature and each others company, they were escorted by Ann and two other volunteers that have been really effective on Monday programs. The two women volunteers are strong members of Kamulu Church.
In other news Josephine Martha, one of the mothers from the streets, started her own business just within Eastleigh, she now owns and runs a salon. Hollyie and the Eastleigh team gave her a boost in order for her to start the salon. A hair drier was provided for her to better her services to her clients.



The effort of providing Identity Cards for street youth has been fruitful, Joel and Anne managed to secure at least 6 National Identity Cards for the young men and women that live on the streets. National Identity cards help them get reasonable jobs that pay a good wage and help them get off trouble with the law, that is the police who keep on harassing them.

school uniforms.

just getting into the learning center, one can feel that some thing is different. Jack did a fine job and the uniforms were finished and now we finally can feel that truly this is a school. the kids started wearing uniforms this week and i must say, they look pretty sharp. in fact some of the neighbors have commented that the kids really look good when they are moving to their respective places to learn or work. this could not have come at a better time that we got new desks for the classes. some are also asking which college this is. many thanks to those who made this possible for us.
apart from that, classes are going well. this month we had Millicent back from her maternity leave and is now helping us in classes. as we wait early next month when the kids get to do their first end term exam which is a major step for them since the start of this year and after adding more subjects to their classes.from their response, they will do wonders in this.
we have also started the registration process for our thirteen fast track students who are aspiring to do the government test at the end of this year so be in prayer for them and we hope that all goes well.

by Phillipo.

Businesses, Rotation & Skills Students

Woo! it's overwhelming to see things happening the right way, last month when we re-opened the tea and coffee house i thought and said that this was the bad time for doing so with the turf economic that we are expressing at this particular time not only here but the all world. Even though i had all this thoughts running in my mind, the business has picked up and customers are coming in for food. Especially in the morning and lunch hours the number of customers is overwhelming, and we are forced to increase the food because of the demand which has increased and there is good despite the hard economic times experienced in the country.

We have many community students coming for computer lessons at the computer shop and more have come to inquire about joining others who started last month.
Shanon water, at the water selling point at the boys business is going on as usual but we are faced with a challenge due to many bore holes dug around the area more of the customers have gone to buy water where the prices are 2 shillings per 20 liters gallon and i and Ben saw that it was okay for us also to reduce our price to continue have Shanon water business going and provide community customers with water. Even though this is happening up at the areas near the boy's complex at the shop we have not reduced the price.


Time is a fact that most be considered in life, in the ministry this year we are having a massive students who are going through a transition in life and this year we are having a lot students who have turned sixteen and getting on to the next stage in the program and here in this stage is where they get a chance to through different skills area of learning for two months in each before they can choose one that they are going to specialize in life. And these are the students who turned sixteen this month George Mwenda, Elizabeth Wanjiku and the following months we are going to have more getting to transition stage in Mits program.


Posted By Victor

Exit students update!

It's astonishing to note how fast time flies, already three months are gone. Well after the graduation ceremony of Patricia, Mary Wanjiku, Halima and Moses Kung'u, comes the hard part of looking for jobs for them. Already Halima is employed at Narcisse Salon (a salon in town), and this month we went job hunting for Patricia and Mary. As the country continues to experience hard economic times, a lot of people are being laid off work. This has made it even harder for our students and other people joining the job market get work and it seems like it will take longer before we are able to secure jobs for the students. This month we were not successful but we hope that this coming month we will make progress. We will include Cugia in the list of job hunter too. Currently we are working on getting his ID which is proving hard because he has no supporting documents to do so. All the documents got destroyed in Mathare (slum area) a long time ago.As for the students in college, Anastacia has really impressed us with her performance. She will be finishing her first semester at the journalism college this month. She is very happy that she has been able to mix with students who have gone to mainstream school and perform as per their level. Susan is equally performing well and this is evident from the good hairstyle she has done on girls. As for Lucy Muthoni, we started having problems with her skipping school towards the beginning of this month and later on she stopped attending school. When we followed up on her case, we learnt that she had gone to her upcountry place and we have not heard from her ever since. Morris also has started his studies in Computer and is now staying with his aunt in Dandora(a mid-level suburb), coming only on the weekends to visit and get what he needs.Ken Wambugu, Joseph Wambua and Francis Wahome are all doing well at the various Auto mechanics garage in town where they are on attachment. We are seeing a lot of maturity and responsibility in them and if they continue like this, they will be successful in life.

By Joel

Wood shop and Sunday School.

We have been blessed a lot in the wood shop to have some new students in the rotation section and they are Moses Mwangi, Bernard, Josphat and Dennis. They have had the introduction topics also.
We have been busy in the shop building some kitchen cabinets for a customer and taught the students the basic steps of making a cutting board until the end product.
Full of joy since we were waiting for the container having the cargo for the woodshop and its finally here with us,we have been blessed a lot since we have some new machines added in the shop and they are a table saw, joiner/planner, lathe machine, spindle machine, dust collector, some hand tools along with drill bits and step down transformers, I thank every one who put in efforts to make sure that we have all we need to make our work easier, produce quality furnitures and more over give our kids a quality education.
Having kids in our midst always brings lots of fun to all of us here since we get a chance to spread the gospel through teaching them different lessons from the Bible and the kids enjoys a lot hearing intresting stories and more over having a chance to have an activity section of which they do coloring and drawing.

by Robin

Finally its here!

Francis managed to finally get the container. We were so excited when he called us from town that he was on his was with container. Back at Kamulu, we made all the necessary preparations for carrying all the goods to our own container and classes. The skills guys, that is Jackton, Robin and Nzioka smiled all the way to the 19acres, having their machines in hand, though extremely heavy, this was not a bother. Ben was more that excited with the new tractor, with its state of the art machinery, we were all buffled with the machine, including John Wambu with his new Kubota.

Classes now look neat than ever, the kids say the seats are comfortable. This has all come at a better timing when uniforms are now ready for students. The kids will start wearing their uniforms n MOnday next week. MITS will now look close to a formal school the only difference will be more love and familihood as compared to ther schools. A lot of gratitude goes to those who have made all this possible.

NEW shoes!

Tuesday10th the team took the kids to Bata Shoe Company. This is a shoes making company found on the outskirts of Nairobi town. The kids were all excited. We filled the whole shop, with the students trying on their new shoes. They all managed to get a pair each of gum-boots, (this will really be helpful in muddy situations when it rains.) In addition to this they each again got a pair of descent looking black leather shoes. So when the uniforms will be ready, soon they will get to wear their new attire with the new shoes.
The trip was successful and all the MITS community is really grateful to those who have made this possible.

We have another blessing that joined us, her name is Florence Aoko. She is 13 yrs old. She has been loving it here, and relating so well with the other girls. Though a bit shy, am sure she will get the hang of it.

Animal Park

We were so much priviledged to visit a game reserve found within Nairobi area. The boys were so excited about this, they wore their best for the occasion. We were picked up from town, a very rare kind of service the boys have ever had. As we were being driven to the game reserve the boys were so restless, others thought we were taking them to juvenile prisons/rehabilitations, because of the presence of a game warden dressed to the tooth, armed with a rifle, other were thinking we were taking them back to up-country, (where their grand-parents live) or back tho their various homes. None believed Kennedy when he kept on telling them we were out for a treat courtesy of Hollyie Conway and MITS.

The boys were of ages 12-13yrs living on different bases found within the slums and Eastleigh. They had lots of fun and were educated, on names of animals, both in English and Swahili. They were even taught some lessons on animal behaviours, foods, how to differentiate different types of antelopes, I was also learning, I never knew there were so many kinds of antelopes...and to tell the difference one has to be so keen.

Anthony and Kennedy have also put a lot of effort and I could note that they have instilled some principles and discipline in these boys.
Again a lot of gratitude goes to Hollyie for making this trip possible...Another is on the way!

Kehl’s and Amaria Report

We took Kehl back to St.-Mary hospital on the 26th of February 2009. He now weighs 4.8 kilograms, he got two vaccines. Oral polio vaccine, and diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis b/h, influenza. We will take him back on the 26th march 2009, for normal clinic. On the 5th of March 2009 we will take him for hydrocephalus clinic at Kijiabe Mission hospital, for check up’s. His is growing fast. The excess water is still being drained with the tube inserted in his head. Health wise he is doing fine right now, apart from stomach aches’, due to how he is suckling we have started giving him Nan after suckling since he is big and eats like his dad (Jackton). We are so thankful to God almighty for answering our prayers. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one & only one, who come from the father, full of grace and truth. Thanks a lot to our brothers and sisters in Christ who love us and are concern about us and our son Kehl. Now Kehl try’s to say something, but still you can’t tell. I call it Angel talks.

Jackton and Millie

Simon and I thank God for this great bundle of joy which he has increased in my family. Angel Amaria is now 4 months old, and we are going to bring her up in the ways of the Lord. So that when she grows up she may not turn away from it. May God gives us wisdom and grace to do so.

Renee Mbithe

Basework and teenage mothers programs

This time there have been a little change and from the Bible to have motivational lessons and in each week there is a theme to teach about because at times we teach them different themes everyday they do forget easily because of the drugs they use and so if there is much of repetition the lesson sinks in their minds. The team has also been visiting the new bases that we found the previous year. This is to strengthen the relationship that was formed then. The base work has been challenging because of the hot sun and too much dirt but we still visit them. The encouraging this is that some of those we do visit are changing from their lives and its because of the encouraging words they hear from the team members.
There have been good improvements with the mothers who stay at the centre in education and also in discipline. Their children have also grown up well and healthy they keep learning great things from teacher Jane they have learned to bless food before they take it and also be in good discipline. It has not been easy but through God’s wisdom He has brought them this far. We are still looking for more teenage mothers and most we come across are those at age seventeen. Millicent who is now seventeen will be joining the college in the month of March. She very exited about it. Elizabeth has been doing great with her children Purity and Larry although her mother passed away she has been sick.

Boys and Girls Programs

The teenage boys program is growing in number although there are still more boys in the streets The male team members is to be having crafts with them in the month of March, later on the team will be taking them to see animals.
There have been a challenge of getting teenage girls from streets to come to the program. Although we have managed to bring three girls to boarding program i.e Ann Wambui from Grogon base, Jane from mlango through networking with Catholic Church priest and Florence Aoko from Mathare slums and she has been coming to program at Eastleigh. There were other older girls coming to the daily program and they have been sponsored to go college: Mariam, Mary, Fatuma, and Lucy Wambui they are in hairdressing course.
The older boys in the soccer are also been doing well with help of Kennedy and Anthony .There are five of them James in dressmaking, Peter in mechanic, Brian in ICT, Wambugu in ICT and Steve also in auto mechanic. These are men who have already stopped taking drugs. It has not been easy but it’s a choice they made and it’s a good one. In the previous year there were six of them in college but two of them did drop out but the rest four did the grade skill test three did pass and they were rewarded to do the driving test.

Mother's program

The year started so well but very busy if we can start with mothers programs which take place on Mondays we have had so many mothers coming to the programs most of them would come with a motive to get material items like food and clothes but we are trying to change that. We are teaching and encouraging them to be able to depend on themselves and most of all depending on God.
We have come to realize that most of them don’t appreciate what they have and what God has given them it could be little and not enough but good than not to have for example we are making them understand they have a mind, hands, legs and life which is also a blessing from God. Most of them do not love themselves such that they have always been depending in men in the name of being married to them. Most women have more than one ‘husband’ for example a woman would have like four men in her life and she would also have children from those men each man each has a responsibility one would a father to provide daily bread another would pay the rent and the children grow knowing they are their uncles. The women are in a position where they do not love and appreciate themselves and yet they have so much potential in them.
We are teaching them to start from humble beginnings and to have patience in whatever they are doing we are making them realize they can make it in life if they can just learn from their down falls and move on and most all have hope in God. Most of them work for Somalis i.e doing house hold chores, others they borrow money from other people although we are trying to discourage that and encouraging them to work with their own hands. There are those who have had good life before which was with less struggles but something wrong happened along the way like losing a good job, having wrong friends who introduce them to drugs and alcohol then downfall comes into their lives, others get married to bad men who take advantage of them, others lives have become difficult since they became HIV positive.
In addition to that we are encouraging them to change their bad characters and to be women of noble character like the woman in proverbs chapter 31 in the bible and many other examples of good women in the bible. In the previous year the ministry did sponsor three women to go to college and it was like a good reward of their good change of their character they are Teresiah Mbuvi, Josephine Martha and Timar Omar all they did a course in hairdressing and did graduate this year . Alice who is HiV positive did catering, she always says she was from the dust but God lifted her up through the ministry. If I may talk about Josephine Martha, she was very sickly after being taken to college it came a time it was difficult for her to go to school. I took her hospital because she was very ill and from their we came to learn that she was HIV positive, she did deny it. Josephine did suffer a lot because she is believer in Christ what she knew is that she was faithful in her marriage and so she got the illness from her husband, she was so angry, bitter and in great denial. Later she went and talked to her husband what happened to her and the husband did deny and infact it ended up to be a blame game. She did come back to us and the only thing I told her is to accept it and go for treatment and we assured her we were there for her. She decided to go home to her biological parents and she had never been there like 6years and truly I thought she would die. After four months she was back and she was different healthy and good looking she asked if her chance was still there to continue with her course and it was there right now she is living alone she has finished with her course ,she is working at a market called Gikomba where she sells clothes for someone and she is paid and also she braids for money. At this moment she is grateful the ministry did give her hope of life when she needed it. This year five mothers were taken to college ;
a)Sarah she is doing catering. She is HIV positive and she used to sell drugs; later she was taken to jail because of it but she has learned to get clean money
b) Monicah Ndunge is in dressmaking.
c) Monicah in dressmaking.
d) Alice is also in dressmaking.
e) Joyce is in hair dressing.

By Ann

Uniform update

Jackton had meeting with Josper academy manager, talking about selling of school uniform to them at whole sale price in 6 pieces per size and they pay me when sold.They came to an agreement to start the business in the beginning of second term. Right now we are in the final stage in making of the MITS uniforms. The plan for this time of the year is to go to schools and try make deals with them. In the beginning of next month that is March MITS will be dressed in their school uniforms.

On the container, we are almost getting it, just a simple error that was in the letter that Francis recieved, he has gone to work on that today. So by the end of this weeek, we might be hearing good news.

Goals for 2009

1. Find teenage mothers in need of reform and rehabilitation and include them in our teenage mothers' ministry. grow the wednesday girls program.


2. Help more youth acquire Identity cards, empower them by educating them, get them skills training and if possible small businesses.


3. Network with more organizations in Nairobi and beyond for purpose of learning and improvement.


4. Register the second group for the Governement exams - Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.


5. Add more subjects to our literacy classes (science, social studies and Swahili); enforce English speaking at Learning Centre. Follow the disciplinary measures laid out, ensure proper filling of documents and Awards achievers in all areas (P.E., punctuality, behaviour, hard working and performance with certificates.


6. Add one more lady team member to help with the girls, intake 5 girls and 5 boys, increase our supervision of students when they cook, eat, read or work.


7. Ensure students learn as much as they can in preparation for exit i.e. they are ready for national grade tests.


8. All the team members to be refreshed on first aid, fire drills, security measures incase of fire or otherwise. Learn from all visiting groups coming this year -- farming, making ovens, bible lessons etc.


9. Re-open the tea and coffee house - this time allowing students to run it.


10. Target a larger market, increase production and improve on a quality on the sewing and woodshop items produced.


11. Work on our crops rotation such that all zones have crops all year, start open yard irrigation as well as use modern farming methods for increased yields.


12. Try and have one time maintanance on our properties that will last and try to get electricity installation at the 20acres.

Graduation ceremony

On Friday a group of our older kids, that is those who were in college doing various studies, Catering, Salon and Hair Management. We have others enrolled to the same college from the streets who are being sponsored my MITS through the Conways and the Eastleigh team. Some are in Auto mechanics, and are progressing well. The ocassion was graced by so many parents/gurdians and supporters of the college, the chief guest was a well known lawyer and great orator PLO Lumumba. The assistance chief guest was a former student of the institution Grace who also happens to be the sister to Anne Mwangi. Grace was one of the first students who attended the college as it was being opened. She was also in the same class with our own Laurent Mugambi. Now she is a successful business woman managing her own company.

The graduants were Moses Kung'u with a catering certificate, Mary Wanjiku - catering, Patricia and Lucy who were both studying salon management and beauty.

More youths from the streets (both mothers and older guys) are also undertaking various courses in the school, we have developed a good network with this school as it close to us and relatively affordable to us.