Small Victories and Big Heroes

First …. THANK YOU for all the lovely birthday donations. I can now buy my own herd of goats and fully equip the boys with study books – Asanta Sana.

Today I’m meditating on the small victories we’ve experienced at Emmanuel Center over the last week. I have to do this when ever I get discouraged, and today I am a little discouraged for no good reason. A few of the boys have been misbehaving at school, our van has problems and the staff at Emmanuel are looking a little over worked. So I become frustrated that we can’t pay staff more, that we can’t waive a magic wand to make the boys behave perfectly, that we can’t conjure a new vehicle out of thin air….. etc. So now that frustration has done me no good, I’ve decided to make list of our ‘victories’ over the last week instead. Here it is:

• Two of the older boys at the center registered for a driving course


• Paul, one of the first boys to graduate from high school, was accepted at the Catholic University of East Africa


• Our new chicken pen is complete


• I read a grade two level story book in Swahili and Kamu (one of the boys) read a grade two level story book in English!


• One of the boys we reintegrated with his family returned for a visit and is doing very well


• We took a child refugee from Sudan to the Australian Embassy so he can get a visa and be reunited with his sister

I run through this list a couple times and I feel better. In fact I feel great. We may not have won any major battels, but the boys and staff at the center are certainly victorious heroes.

A Special Birthday Wish List

July 22nd is my birthday! I’m planning to escape Nairobi for Lake Naivasha to relax at Fisherman’s Campsite where they have delicious food (including great Swahili fish stew and chocolate cake) and monkeys that provide more amusement than YouTube. But I will really miss all you folks who are on the other side of the world – especially the drinks and gifts I know you would shower me with : ) But don’t worry, I have an idea on how you can still contribute to this special day. For example:
• If you are the lovely kind of friend that would take me out to the bar and buy me a drink, why not donate $10 to Emmanuel Center so we can buy another one of these really cool study books for the high school kids (the books are by subject and have practice exams and other fun stuff. The boys begged for them so I bought them the Math and Physics editions but we just don’t have enough for all the subjects. I would love each of the boys to have their own complete set of all subjects).
• If you are a close friend who is always so kind to buy me a gift, you could donate $40 to buy a goat, which the boys will have a lot of fun slaughtering and eating. Imagine it isn’t everyday you get to buy your friend a goat for her birthday!
• If you are one of my few rich friends or one of my relatives that spoil me rotten, you might want to donate $100 to help with the outreach center we are in the process of getting up and running.

I know this is a usual sort of Birthday Wish List, but I’m so happy to have this opportunity to spread some of my birthday joy to the children here. If you would like to share in the fun please donate online by clicking here (you will get to a donation page of Afretech Aid Society - the charity that supports Emmanuel Center. From the Fund/Designation menue select Emmanuel Boyz Rescue Center and fill in your gift amount. Afretech will send all your donation directly to Emmanuel Center.)
Thank you!

the Other Stories

He was wearing a jersey from my high school basketball team. I was shocked by the word ‘Sounders’ written across his chest in bright blue. I felt like two realities had collided. I thought of some happy peer of mine in the past, putting on the jersey before a game in a well lit gym, wearing Nike running shoes and going home to a loving family, and I looked at the dirty, barefoot, high, 14 year old boy now wearing the jersey in front of me….. the contrast was too extreme.
Mwengie, the street boy wearing the jersey, was given it by a visitor from my home town. That was when Mwengie was living at Emmanuel Center, free of drugs, eating three meals a day and going to school. Now he rarely eats, he sleeps on the streets, and he sniffs glue to forget the constant fear of violence and abuse. So what went wrong?
Sigh….. I don’t know. I like to tell people stories of Emmanuel children excelling in school, going on to further training, helping each other and so on. But there are other stories too. Not every child is able to quit drugs or adapt to a life of rules. It is a miracle that so many do when you compare addiction recovery rates at Emmanuel Center (over 75%) to North American drug rehabilitation centers (for many 50% is successful). But statistics don’t make a difference to the individual, and the fact is Mwengi is on the streets and addicted, instead of being safe and healthy at Emmanuel Center.
Mwengi ran away from Emmanuel Center after an argument with a teacher at his school. He never told the center staff about the argument, he just ran. His behavior is not uncommon. I’m not a child psychologist, but what I guess is that on the streets children learn to run from any conflict at a very early age – it is the only conflict resolution skill they have. So Mwengi ran, started sniffing glue again to forget his suffering and is now begging outside a shopping mall in a basketball jersey from my high school. Daniel will speak to him and see if he is able to return to Emmanuel Center. I’ll let you know if he does. If he doesn’t, try not to be disappointed. Daniel tells me when can’t help them all, that they have to chose to be helped themselves; to change their behavior. I try to gain this perspective. To just think of the 40 boys going to school, working hard and playing football as I type this, but I’ts hard. It’s very very hard.