Exit Students Update

Its hard to imagine that we have once again come to the end of another year. Time has flown so fast, it feels like just the other day we just started the year, making our goals as usual. Other than that, it has been a good opportunity to work with such a promising group of students in the exit stage, who have showed commitment to what we both set out this year for them.

This is an update of students in the exit stage:

1. Moses Kung'u :- Finished his attachment this year and was able to get a good job in a restaurant in town as waiter. currently .He is living in Baba Ndogo(a suburb located within Nairobi city).

2. Mary Wanjiku: - Finished her attachment this year too and got a job in a small bakery where it did not work out for her, later opted to open a small business with some of the savings she had saved selling second hand clothing. (we learnt that she was re-called to her previous place of employment, that is the bakery)

3. Susan Wambui:- Graduating this November 2009 from Lo-real college, ready to hit the job market in 2010.

4. Joseph Mburu:- Got a job downtown in shop called Ibrahims eEectronics, dealing in computers sales and other electronic devices. He is ready to move out and look for a place in December 2009.

5.Francis Cugia: - Just finished his attachment in woodworking company called Rosewood furniture and has a job offer in the sister company of Rosewood. He is however having problems getting an identity card which means he has to wait before he can enjoy having a job until he gets the card.

6. Ken Wambugu:- Finishing his attachment downtown next month, ready to go driving school and then a job. We are thinking of keeping him.

7. Joseph Wambua and Joseph Wahome: - They both have just finished their attachments in 4 wheelers and Down town respectively the next step is to get him into the job market.

8. Anastacia Njoki:- She is very excited that she has finished her first year in college, she told me that it was tough for her but she was tougher. She still has a half to go before she finishes her studies.

9.Grace Wahu, Brenda Odhiambo and Mercy Wanja:- enjoying their
attachments in restaurants downtown. They all are learning that working is also challenging and interesting at the same time. Hope to finish in December. This month they are doing their final exams in the MITS catering school.

10.Morris Gitonga:- will be finishing his studies in computers in February 2010. Currently he is starting with his aunt in Mwiki, which is located 30 minutes from our Kamulu farm.

We thank all our good friends who have supported us, encouraged us and also prayed for our success and the success of the students.

Joel.

The Choices we Make!!

One thing we have always done in Made in the Streets is give the children a chance to mold a good life for themselves with the help of the teachers. Every Monday is always a joy for us to visit the streets and have an opportunity to evangelize and make a difference to someone's life. We visited the Lilliput base where I had not gone for almost a month, I was so touched the previous Monday when one of the guys from the base insisted that I should visit them. You don't get that in the streets, most of the time they always have this expression in their face like,"Please just say what you want and let us be!" Not everyone but some, so you can imagine the joy when the guys in the streets want you to visit them, it has that effect.
After Lilliput base, we went to the next base which was Mlango Kubwa (big gate). On the way there I met Mboito who used to be a student in MITS. He was so glad to see me and had a lot to tell me after a long time of not seeing each other. It was sad to see that he had a glue bottle tacked inside his jacket and years of drug use has left him looking untidy, confused and not coherent. Memories rushed to my head, remembering his best friend James Afanda. They both enrolled in our program, how he (Mboito) had progressed well and was well ahead of James. Unlike James who struggled a lot in learning how to read and write and also in his english speech.
But at that time I realized that the choices we make determine where we will be in the future, James chose to work hard and now he has a good family of two children, a job that takes care of his family, whereas, Mboito chose to give in to his old ways of using drugs. They both had the same opportunity, he only needed to stretch out and seize it.
After the visit from Mlango Kubwa, I shared that with Larry on our way back to the Eastleigh center and he told me, "choices makes oneself" life is all about choices.

Joel.

Garbage cleaners.

Everyone was fired up and excited especially because we were going to do something good for our community and the environment. We paired up in two's and had a big Gunia( sack). Our mission--collect all papers, fill our bags and burn them. This was an important exercise for both the team and the students because most people in our community throw papers all over. Even polythene bags litter our streets and choke plants.
I was paired with Frederick and we walked a distance of about 500 meters. Within such a short distance, our bag and two others were so full. While we were collecting, some people from the neighborhood would pass by and comment that we were doing something good. Some of the comments were encouraging as a group of women who said in Kikuyu--" Nikurathera "
(meaning--Its really getting clean). They had seen all this trash and it seemed not to bother them, but when we picked it up, they really did see a difference.

If anything, just to hear that we made our community cleaner was good enough. We hope to keep finding more opportunities to make a difference.

Mbuvi.

Xmas mood!

Friday 20th, the students were all gearing up for Christmas celebrations. We made stockings that will be used to store the gifts that the students bought for each other. They had a chance of going on a shopping trip to buy stuff for themselves and also for their friends in MITS. Darlene had lots of activities like crafts planned to put us all in the right spirit.
In the afternoon we also had a chance of going out to the community to clean up and collect trash laying around. This gesture was so inspiring, community members urged us on. We were all in blue t-shirts just to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the community. During the weekend, the Coulstons invited the team for an early Christmas dinner at their house. We sang Christmas carols around the fire, eating pop corn and roast maize. Sharing of how blessed we are to have children that we love and love God in our ministry. We went ahead and started counting our blessings, starting with each other. Plus we shared some stories of snakes and the difference experiences the team has had with the reptile.
Soccer tournaments are also underway, Kamulu tournament commences on the 26th of November till the 27th. There will be a total of 12 teams that will be competing for a prize. The Eastleigh tournament will start on the 7th of December, this will go on for 3 days. On the last day a part will be held in honor of the teams that played and the street youths.
Friends Sunday is also coming up in the calendar this coming week. The idea is to have a common meal together and have all the contribution given to the most needy person in the church.
Peace and happy thanksgiving.

Funfilled month!

Excitement and more excitement... we have so much in store for our kids this December holiday. The holiday planning committee has been meeting to plan and organize fun, educational activities for our kids.

Event List
ID	Title	Start Time	End Time	Description	Location
1	Shopping	11/19/2009		BUYING OF SWIMSUITS AND GIFTS	GIKOMBA AND TUSKYS (shopping areas within Nairobi city)
2	TOURNAMENT	11/26/2009	11/27/2009	TOTAL OF TWELVE TEAMS COMPETE FOR THE PRIZE	KAMULU (between our teams of kids and staff and local teams around the community)
3	FUN FUN FUN	12/4/2009		MAKING COOKIE HOUSES	L.C (learning centre)
4	PARTY	12/5/2009		CHRISTMAS TEA PARTY	L.C
5	PARTY	12/6/2009		CHRISTMAS TEA PARTY	L.C
6	JAMHURI DAY	12/12/2009		CELEBTRATIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT	L.C (this is Kenya's Independence day, we are going to be celebrating it in style)
7	TR
8	WESTERN KENYAN TOUR	12/15/2009	12/19/2009	BOYS TAKE A TRIP TO TOUR 5 TOWNS IN WESTERN KENYA	WESTERN KENYA (trip across five major towns and site seeing)
9	BEAUTY TREATMENT	12/15/2009		GIRLS WILL HAVE THEIR HAIR MADE OFF CAMPUS	UMOJA (a suburb that is found within Nairobi city, the salon is high class)
10	MOTHERS TRIP	12/16/2009		MOTHERS GET TO PLAY WITH THEIR KIDS AND HAVE A PICNIC.	CARNIVORE AND ABORATUM (an open garden area, that has both picnic sites and an area where the kids can play on)
11	MOVIE	12/18/2009		WATCH A MOVIE AT SARIT AND HAVE LUNCH IN TOWN AFTER THE MOVIE	SARIT CENTER (a shopping mall kind of place, which has indoor food courts, theatre halls)
12	COMPETITION	12/28/2009		GIRL COMPETE TO MAKE DOLLS WHILE BOYS COMPETE TO MAKE CARS.	L.C
13	TOURNAMENT	12/21/2009	12/23/2009	BASES COMPETE TO WIN THE CUP	EASTLEIGH (soccer matches between Streets homes/bases and the winner takes the cup home)
14	CHRISTMAS FAMILY PARTY	12/25/2009		EVERYBODY CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS AND HAVE LUNCH	L.C
15	NEW YEARS MEAL	1/1/2010			BOYS AND GIRLS COMPOUND (Breakfast and supper will be special, lunch will be together at the LC)
16	SWIMMING	1/5/2010			VILLAGE MARKET, KASARANI? (Water park located off the city centre, located near the American Embassy, shopping malls are a major attraction here. - Kasarani is a staduim that most of our international soccer matches are here, they have an indorr swimming pool)
17	HOME VISITS	12/23/2009			EASTLEIGH (on this day the kids get to visit their gurdians/parents, they will buy a gift for themselves, for another person in MITS, and for their family)

We continue to give so much gratitude to our sponsors, friends and family who keep uplifting us through donating funds so that these events are able to happen. The team has been in prayer about these events and God has really worked in your hearts to make available funds that is going to be needed. We especially thank Tim and Anne Lewis for their contribution towards the boy's trip. Despite the recession in the US right now, God is working miracles in all our hearts. I mostly am deeply touched by these acts of kindness. We made these events with Faith in our hearts, and surely God is indeed bringing us through. Kimberly and Keith Cox, thanks for putting a smile on Anastacia' face this morning. (she is one our new students - read other blogsite about her)

I am thankful that you all are a part of MITS and changing the lives of these young christians to know and love God.

Happy thanksgiving.

Base visits

Every other Friday, the team from Kamulu usually joins the Eastleigh team and we get to visit the guys living on the streets and I always find myself learning new things even though I have been working with them for years. Today was no different. We went around visiting the bases (the place where the street kids hang out doing their daily routine or where they sleep), and one of them....well actually two bases made my Friday. One of them is called Lilliput base. I love going to this base because they are always attentive and organized. The second base is Riddim. Maybe to explain more about this base, I could tell you what happened today...we were from the other bases and this was our last visit for the day. This base is located outside the perimeter wall of an estate and right next to the road and so the guys from the base saw us coming from afar and hurriedly tried to hide their bottles of glue because they did not want us to find them sniffing glue. Working with street kids is always a challenge because you always have to know how to approach them and so Kennedy and I sat them down as Victor and Benjamin chatted with some of them about their health. It has been raining for a few weeks now, so the ground was wet and very muddy. We found a few good spots and Kennedy immediately started with his lesson. After his lesson they told us about a friend who had been a victim of a hit and run. The vehicle left him with a broken arm, broken leg, and an open wound on his head where most of his skin and hair was missing from his landing on the pavement. The amazing thing is that the guys from this base collected some money and took him to hospital carrying him on their backs in turns, a distance of around 5 miles. Well to cut the story short, they brought him back because they did not have enough money and now he was deteriorating. We took him to a nearby clinic and he got the necessary dressings and his medication and also got him some lunch and his friends took him back. It taught me a great lesson on friendship and helping each other when in need. what lesson do you get to learn?

by phillipo

To our extended family - our sponsors

Words cannot express the love we feel for you, our sponsors. All the kids are forever grateful for the input you have in their lives. We have so much progress going on in all their lives. All are well behaved, despite coming out of the streets, all are really hopeful of making something out of themselves. God is at work here, with all the team and students. Everyday spent here is like being in a small heaven. We thank you for your everyday prayers, you thinking of us through our times of difficulty and times of joy.

We have 21 students in literacy program, Literacy A has students with capability of both reading and writing. Literacy B are students we have just taken in, though not really new, they are the ones on the road to perfection with writing, talking and reading skill being perfected. All levels of course have shown great levels of improvement in talking English. We have made it our policy to always talk English while at the Learning Center . Have in mind that some of our students had never been in a classroom and some had started school but due to some reason did not manage to complete. God being the top of our hierarchy, we absolutely teach the His teachings and His unending love for them, despite their background.
We have 14 students who are reaching the ages of 18yrs or have reached that age. Three of these students are in job attachment (entrepreneurship) in town. Two are in Beauty and Journalism colleges. The rest of them are in skills training that we have been providing for them in MITS. All kids are promising and do really work hard in their skill areas. A class has been created for them just to be ready for the 'outside world' once they leave us. We teach them money management, goal setting, business ethics, dating, getting a job among others units. The class has been an eye opener, and all the teachers involved in these classes have certainly made sure that the skills student get the best advice on life and living with God as a helper.
We have a separate group of kids in a class we call Fast Track. They are 14 in number and we have gone ahead and registered then to take the national grade 8 exams that other formal school take in order to go to high school. We believe that exams are not the final pointer to ones' life and grading is not the answer to one being smart or not, but to give them this chance both helps the students and us in so many ways. At the end of the exams whether passed or not, they get a certificate that helps us in getting documentation and sometimes helps in securing a job for them once they reach 18yrs. So please pray for this elite group as they prepare for their exams that will starting on Nov 9th 2009. They will be the second group sitting this kind of exam.

Eastleigh Center has seven teenage girls who have babies. Two of these girls have not yet had their babies but are expectant any day from now. They come every other week to the farm to be with the rest of the student body. We are expecting a new girl to join us soon as the Eastleigh team makes the finally arrangements.

As we enter the festive season, we want it to be a relaxing time for all our students. They are all so busy working chores, studying and living teenage lives. (it can be tiring at some points), we are having some thoughts of what to do this holiday season away from classroom activities. There is a committee set up just to handle this matter. If you have any ideas just to add to something we can do and extremely mostly fun. Feel free to share it with us, any activity, game, event etc.

We want you to be so much involved in the child that you sponsor, know how they are doing, tell them about yourself. Have some sort of dialog with them. We have set up an email account just for students, so that you can use to mail back and forth with them. Especially this coming holiday season, we will create a schedule as to have them all have turns to email you. Their email is mitsstudent@gmail.com As you write please specify the names of student that you wish to address the mail to.

The team is teaching these students how to love, forgive, live with one another and enjoy the company of having a large family. We pray for you, and again thank you for constantly praying for us. Thank you also for always finding time to come and visit with us at the farm and online.

Have a Merry Christmas and may God bless us all.