 Good evening and thank you for joining us on Y254 news today. We're talking about street life street families How do we get to rehabilitate street families? My name is Patricia Muriochi and with me in studio is Anastasia Kimbio We have Tiffin Zunsa and Desimo Clinton. These are people who are working with street families They have helped some of them get out of the streets get into activities that can benefit their lives They also have programs where they work with teenage People who have become maybe probably pregnant. We have drug abuse And so you can be part of today's conversation by sharing your views and comments on our social media platform That is on Twitter at Y254 channel and also at Patricia Muriochi so guys thank you very much for joining us and The first question that I'm gonna start with is When when we speak of when most people hear of street families They really when people go to help most people go to children homes Which have already been established by people and go and give their help there Not many people think of going to the streets and getting these kids together getting these families together and trying to help them So what motivated each one of you to work with our street families? Steve First of all I'd love to say my name is not Zunsa Okay, my name is actually Nzusa Nzusa, okay, I stand corrected It's a hard name, but I'm kind of like used to people saying Nzusa For me as a Steve and maybe the name that I kind of possess right now, which is Babayaw Mine is more spiritual connected to to necessarily what I do Because I think and I tell people I'm actually called to do what I do For the first time in my life actually saw my own classmate on the streets After quite a long while I met him along the streets He was picking papers and the like and by then I was doing a lot of orphanage visits Because I was dealing with orphans and widows And then I felt I'd necessarily deprived some people the essence to you know get life Just the same way we do for orphanages I kind of like you know took it up just like a leader would take up something and other people would follow And I ended up in the streets just to visit him, take food to him, take clothes to him And now which we are actually in my seventh year What I do is street families apart from other things I ended up taking it now as a role So I do a lot of street visits I've made a lot of friendship and family I would attend the streets in Gara In Mavari in Dandoram Kuru Kwanjenga, Dagoreti corner And it all started with one person So I felt the passion necessarily changed from orphanage to just the street families And also the reason I said it's more spiritual connected Is because reading my own Bible literally in James 1, 26, 27 Just says you know dealing with orphans and widows and the people that nobody cares about It's true religion So I decided to make it a religion By just going out there and doing good Without expecting anything back What about you Stanzer, because I can see you also have a program on teenage pregnancy awareness Can you kindly tell us what motivated you to work on such programs? I started teen pregnancy awareness in 2016 First of all it wasn't like calling you know this For him it's a calling, for me it came like just passion It came from nowhere And we would actually visit children's home once in a while And then now it came actually it became a calling So we would do children's homes once in a while We put it like Ibadah December We come together as friends and we do it So when I was starting teen pregnancy awareness You see I come from coast province, Taita to be particular You grow up knowing your place is in the kitchen You know as a woman you brought up in a society where you complete primary school Go maybe top of the technique do fashion design But then it was called tailoring And then that's it, get a husband, get married But my parents decided to go against the odds So I came to high school, finished high school Went to college, did civil engineering And that's where it started So for the street children I think I've just started this year A calling from the other side called this other side So we joined forces and there we are For you Clinton I understand that you have been a street kid You are once in the streets But currently right now you run your own foundation called the Social Action Network Africa Would you first tell us what are the reasons that made you Leave your home, leave your family, leave your brothers, your sisters and your parents And find yourselves in the streets of Nairobi For me it was first about a family break up My folks first did separate when I was in primary school And then we changed our lifestyle from Upper class to poor, poor, poor down And then I had to change schools And from there on I just thought that I'd be fine with Those children in the slums and all that I say that I didn't really have to be there But it was somehow a calling It was an assignment that I was being sent to do So I had to go first and experience And then come back and help people Because immediately after that I got saved in church And then I took an assignment I told myself that I wanted to go back and serve the teenagers Street children were not in part of my plan It came about as a joke on my 19th or 20th birthday When a few friends of mine just decided Let's do a party for him And then we just gave that And all of a sudden it was flocked to the street kids And then from there I thought Who actually takes care of these kids And from August of the following month Yeah, I just decided I'll be doing this every month And it's been going on since 2012 I started Sana Foundation 2014 officially When I started sharing out with guys that I do this I need people to come in and support Because not everyone thinks of the street kids And the street families You'll hear guys taking clothes and food to homes Yet these guys have already enough supplies Especially things of the health of the street kids And things of their food How they clothes, how they shower And all this Okay So most people say that street kids or street families Make the decision to leave home Some say when you ask people around in the country They see it's out of ignorance But as we have heard from Clinton For him it was caused by their family separation So probably for you Stephen Amongst the kids that you've worked with The families that you've worked with What could be some of the courses That make these people to get to the street So that we can know how do we start by Making sure that these triggers do not happen again In our societies where we find people Come into the streets Out of the many stories There are quite good number of stories Some of them sadden Some of them actually bring a lot of grief Because necessarily I've been with a kid Who because of getting wrapped In the house Sodomization All through Had to run away from home Family issues in terms of Exactly what is shared About family breakage, separation and divorces Where by now the kids nobody else Is there to actually take care of them They end up in the streets I've actually seen a kid From Emma McCamber's house Whereby she used to be beaten all the time Actually after today We've drawn up, seven years later He's in the secondary school He's in Form 3 And he still has the marks The marks to show what he went through For me it's all about family values There's no day a kid just works up one day And runs away from home Unless there's something I don't know about that But I know the fact that When family values are lost within a house And many other things Compiled within the house and then breakages And then all these Pedophiles, sodomy and rep issues Start happening within a certain area And kids run away from home It's only in one instance That I actually met a kid who said I got bored Of staying at home I kind of got bored And digging a little bit deeper He also shared about the poverty at home And so he went like There was nothing else to do And then he was promised some good life In Nairobi And I think this is one of the stories That has ever saddened me Because this young guy The uncle called And went like Instead of him being there Let him come to Nairobi And offer a place to stay And he can start off with smaller jobs Then when we get money He goes to secondary school And when he came to Nairobi And he kind of like Dropped at the station Down there Up to today the uncle never came That is so sad Up to today, as we speak The uncle has never come So he's in the streets That crops up from there The feeling of being lied And to Hands up, you know These people becoming a little bitter And are in a way Aggressive in life And we end up misunderstanding them And I like the way he's put it Nobody wants to be on the streets There's just so many other issues underlying People out on the streets And if only we could Actually solve it From the angle of family values Or homestead or society level Because Up to today, as I'm speaking Just to share one more I remember A young guy in Kangemi Right now I kind of took him back the other day To a place in Kangemi This young guy The family Died via gunshot So it's sad because One of them died In a shootout to the police And then the police followed up And said this family is actually Raring thieves and thugs And they killed the brother And then The sister and the mum died In a road accident And he just ended again on the streets So there are many, many issues Okay, for you Apart from dealing with street children And providing clothes and food You have the teenage pregnancy awareness And I understand you just had like You had an event that was happening Like last weekend What can you say so far You've achieved in making sure that you're Trying to work with Teenagers, both boys and girls To talk to them about Teenage pregnancy awareness Where we have seen a very high number Of girls who really got pregnant During their examination period First of all This has been happening But nobody has been talking about it We all know there have been cases of teenage pregnancy You go to schools You just get the register For the attendance You'll understand the number of girls Who are missing out of school Because they got pregnant, they dropped But this year It was a different case Because everybody was highlighting about Teenage pregnancies in this country So this year alone I think We had three children homes We did like Four schools The last one was in a manga in July Then now We had the clean up We came up with the program In the informal settlements Where we are forming support groups Because we are dealing with a case Let's say now a typical case I'm dealing with a 19 year old Who is carrying her third pregnancy That's so sad Coming up with support groups Where we can be able to Inform these girls About the decisions they are about To make in life Failed, I would call But I don't want to call it failure Some of them are being pushed by poverty Too much information And nobody is regulating it So we need to talk to these kids So that they also feel They can make it in life As much as Or I felt pregnant at 13 At 14, but I can still make it In life We've seen cases whereby It has all been run on our TVs And we get to see it on blogs Where the government tries to Rehabilitate to take the straight kids To take them out of the streets And take them to habilitation centers But the problem, the question I have tonight is Is it really doing enough Because we see them do something And then after like We find the same kids back On the streets Clinton, would you say that the government Is doing enough to make sure that The street families have a place To call a home or have a place Where they can get a meal, a shower And probably even a glass of water Just that I haven't personally been To that particular Place Though I hear that They have a rehabilitation center Out of the stories That I've had From the kids that I talk to The agenda Is just To see them off the streets But It has nothing that actually Helped them Because They still Go there With the same problems Sometimes I've been told that the food is Usually You come first, you get If you don't You go hungry They are not treated As humans They are treated as prisoners Which is very unfortunate Because even the prisoners Are also human beings And these are kids So for me The difference of the government Apart from Maybe a prominent guy Of a new Ketu town With A street boy then He or she Will go and talk about it Yell about it The next thing city council They hold it With the kids They are back on the streets They don't solve a problem They need food, they need clothes They need school Out of experience, I can tell you this There are kids that have dreams Just like any other person I have talked to So many single moms That live on the streets With their kids Some that actually were born on the streets So them They have That is the only life You know, begging Food And all that So for me I'm not feeling the influence But the government is in a position That it can help And When we were introduced To This Devolution I tell people that it is the best gift That I think the constitution came But It is not really Solving the problem that we thought It could be So now for you Stephen We know really gaining trust From a street child Gaining trust, walking into that child And telling them Like I just want to have a conversation with you It's not something that is very easy For them to be able to open up to you And share their stories with you What strategies can you say you use How do you approach these kids So that maybe someone who is out there And has always wanted to work with street kids But is scared Like these are thieves They are going to steal They are going to beat me So someone who is out there And has always had dreams of working with street families What advice would you give them On how to approach them So that they can be able to help them First of all These are human beings It's only situations That have brought them to this level of life And Like any other relationship It has to be created on trust And I remember I can talk about what happened in Ngarra In Ngarra this is what happened I had to get someone as a point of entrance Bonoko Actually the famous Bonoko Get a radio When we talked I told them So I deal with street families But in Dagorati and the other places How do I get to talk to the street families Where you came from because he was once a street boy So what he did is that He arranged an event Where the street families were there And he told me come with food He actually told me in Swahili I asked him later food Believe me So I organized with Ari Krishna And we brought a lot of food For more than 300 street families And I remember it was a whole batch by itself And so after the food What happened is this is the young guy That has brought all this food From there on the name Babayaw Kind of like stuck in Ngarra That Babayaw brings food So I literally continued doing that Bringing food and bringing clothing Until now they were Able one by one Approaching me now to tell me What brought them into the streets So down the line We had sessions with them To just sit down now in a group And then we kind of like talk For those people who would want to really Actually work with the street families It's as easy as to gain the trust You see that young boy That passes at the estate That young boy that comes and picks trash That's the first boy to start with You have to show them you're human enough To share something that you are They don't have with them Share the lead to that is actually there I said, share it person to person Don't wait until an event is there Approach this person Ask them the simplest question Okonanja From there the answer is always As easy as yes If you have food directly Or you can go buy food for them Food is an eye opener Or it's a relationship Builder for them And apart from food I've seen whereby We did a medical camp And I'm talking about their needs If you're able to solve a need That they have You're able to cross the bridge to their life Because literally as I'm speaking now I'm actually able And I take my time even off work To go stay with them where they are To just talk To share and the like Because at the end of the day now The bridge I've crossed to the other side Because I'm able to deal with food Clothing to them I bring medical camps to them And now it's easier The trust is there I'm going to get one last comment From Anastasia To people out there who want to work With street families It's the festive season If anyone wants probably to work With you guys Maybe they are far and watching us From somewhere around the country And they feel like they want to do something How can they get to reach you We can get Anyone can get any information From our Facebook page We have a contact number there We also have our email which is Teen Pregnancy Awareness K-E-H-G-M-A-L dot com Our number is 07-2-4 4-3-9-1-1-5 Yeah, they can actually get Or they can get from steps 2-5 7-0-9-2-7 Thank you very much guys For really sharing that with us It's too much to talk about because Like every child is special Every street family is special And their courses and their triggers Are different from the others But all I can say is that It's the festive season whereby All we have to do right now Is love on other people Is share whatever we have with those who do not like And I'm not only saying that But I also always share it when it's Every other time of the year That's all we hand for you tonight on Y254 news My name is Patricia Muriochi Do have yourselves a very good night