From surviving to thriving: Rebuilding young lives
Maybe the place he called home can no longer sustain them because of being too poor. Maybe his parents died and had no relatives to rely on. Maybe he had to take care of his ailing sibling or parent. Maybe his house got burnt down. Maybe he was picked up from the dumpster as a newborn, left for dead. Maybe he got into bad company and through peer pressure began using and abusing drugs and hard substances. Maybe he got into a life of crime. Maybe he thought home was too strict and harsh and couldn’t meet eye to eye with the home government, or maybe he did not think it, that was the reality.
This may be the thoughts shaping the life of a street connected child, especially the young boy: the one who had, or still has, dreams, ambitions and hopes for a brighter future for himself. Unfair circumstances and vicissitudes of life have forced the streets to be called his new home. All of the intelligent guesses that we can assume which forced him to live on the street, are connect to a deeper story, an in – depth inerasable experience. One that not only forces resilience because life has taught him so, but that which forces survival.
James (not his real name) is a former street connected boy, being sheltered at Makadara Children’s Center in Makadara, Nairobi. James meets with one of the team members from our organization AMEN, and he can’t keep his experience to himself. Viewing the mentor guest as a confidant, he decides to bravely share his life story.
I did not choose to be here
It was on the 30th March 2025 where AMEN hosted its first activity, a charity drive at Makadara Children’s Center in Nairobi. During the presentation of the donations and having a focused closed group discussion with the boys at the center, James has been observing and noting: timing for that perfect moment where he will have a solo session, away from all the other boys and from the supervision, to be himself and talk to someone who he feels understands him. James approaches and requests for a silent session, and promises that it will take less than 15 minutes to narrate. He needs someone to listen.
We look for a spot away from the buzz, excitement and the noisy distractions because of the activity. Speaking in almost whispering tones and rarely maintaining eye contact, James opens up with the first sentence,
“I did not choose to be here”
Intensively listening, I notice that James’s narration of his 16 years of life, how he was picked from a black plastic bag near a sewer trench, (as he was told), has shaped his life’s perspective. Trauma and shame from being unwanted and thrown away shows when he narrates how he has always been rebellious, hoping that because he was found in the street that the care givers in Makadara will throw him back to the streets where he thinks he belongs. However, he mentions that when well wishers started visiting them, he decided that although he had been rebellious before, that he will hold on and see what life holds for him. Then AMEN went to visit them and when we introduced our programs and how we plan to impact the boys through their cooperation, he knew that God had opened for him his door.
James continues,
“As AMEN the way you have come today, kindly don’t forget about us. I may be the only one who was brave enough to come to you and open up. We all have our different stories of how we got here, but none of us willingly chose to be here. You see that one there? (pointing to a young boy), he is an orphan. The other one there lost his home to a fire. All of these boys will hide their true stories from you, but we are suffering inside and we need help and guidance, especially from people like you”.
AMEN seeks to help these young boys rebuild their lives. They have been survivors of circumstances of life. James, who is one of the brave ones to share his story with us, had almost lost hope because he was tired of surviving. This is why we exist as AMEN, taking such burdens, ethically weaving them into the limelight so that we can all join in and support these boys from surviving to thriving, as we help them rebuild their lives.