I love protecting poor children

Reverend LEAH AMBWAYA almost missed out on education as she worked as a baby sitter. Today, she advocates for the rights of children and has been awarded the Humanitarian Prize of the Feather Awards by the US Embassy. She also has a Head of State commendation for being a child rights advocate. She spoke to PHARES MUTEMBEI

My childhood wasn’t easy, but it was also an opportunity to rise above the limitations.

Poverty is just a situation, meaning you can get out of it if you determine to work hard. Widows, single parents and others should not use that to become beggars.

I have now been involved in child advocacy for about 20 years. It is my way of helping those who are faced with the same predicaments I faced in my childhood.

I have been on the board of Street Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund since its inception in 2003.

I also have worked as the Executive Director of Childlife Trust, an umbrella body of organisations that works with disadvantaged children from all over Kenya.

When the Government worked to get children off the streets, I was heavily involved because of my experience working with Undugu Society, Don Bosco, Goal Kenya and other children rights organisations. It was a massive project and I wanted to help in getting the children away from the streets.

We assisted them with shelter, clothing, food and other requirements. And we took some back to their families.

We also initiated The Other Side of the Street, an art exhibition to showcase the talents of the street children in performing arts as well as photography, painting and other artwork.

We involved the street children in structured arts, music, acrobatic shows, drama, puppetry and all art. The exhibitions were held at the Sarit Centre and afforded the opportunity of the lowest and upper class to interact.

Transformation

For the public, it was an opportunity to talk with street children without winding up their car windows. We wanted the street children to know that if they embraced reformation, they would be embraced by the rest of society. It is one of my success stories.

Some of them ran away back into the streets but many acquired skills and became productive. There are many in schools around Kenya and some are the best students.

We took a big number to different children institutions where they got care, while we were able to reintegrate others with their families.

Some of the youth went to be trained at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ), after which they were employed. Some former street children have even started their own families. There is a couple for whom we built a house in Kilifi and they have a son.

It makes me happy when I witness such a good transformation. We should all try to make a difference, even in one person’s life. At the moment there are about 300,000 street children in Kenya. If a similar number of people decide to assist one child, we would have no more street children. We need synergy. We should accept collective responsibility for the sake of our disadvantaged children. We can get all street children off them and nurture whatever strengths they possess, may it be in sports, academics or arts.

At Independence, there was nobody called ‘orphan’ in Kenya. Even if children lost both parents, the rest of the family cared for them as their own. Times have changed, but they should not for children. Kenyans should give children their rightful place in families, not in institutions or the streets. I am not happy when I have to put a child in a rehabilitation centre. It is just a stop-gap measure while we try to trace their families.

The number of street families is going up because of various factors, including poverty and diseases. We are taking some of the street mothers to St Joseph’s Mlolongo, where they get trained and absorbed by EPZ. Another group of mothers has been taken to Kayole Social Hall for training in jewellery and beadwork. We give them start-up kits as capital for business. They sell their products at markets and are earning a living.

We are taking a section of the street fathers to National Youth Service and equipping others with vocational skills. We then give them equipment to start them off in business. It is not always easy because resources are not enough.

Versatility

Kenyan children have a lot of promise. Last year Kenya was ranked third in child participation in national, regional and international conferences.

Kenyan children are versatile and possess unique qualities that endear them to others. That is why they get chosen as spokespersons for delegations at international events. At the UN General Assembly Special Session for Children (UNGASS), Yvonne Maingi was chosen by the world’s children to address Heads of States on their behalf. Other Kenyan children are always being elected to represent delegates from Africa and other regions of the world. Many of the child participants later get to hold positions of responsibility in institutions.

I am proud to have started the Children Voices forum, which gives Kenyan children a platform to influence policy decisions and national debates. The children identify and discuss a theme, break it down and come up with recommendations, which are then passed onto the relevant government bodies or agencies.

I facilitated the children to contribute to the process of reviewing our Constitution during the Yash Pal Ghai-led process at Bomas.

The children have already made their input in the State Party Report to review the performance of Government in protecting children’s rights because the Kenyan Government is a signatory of UN and AU charters on children’s rights. The aim is to identify what has been achieved and what has not been done, then make a report to the UN.

Kenya is still faced with children issues such as FGM, early marriages and street children among others.

On the academic front there are issues such as corporal punishment, workload and lack of books in libraries. There are no materials for fun reading.

The children have handed numerous memorandums to our leaders, including the President and the Prime Minister. In 2009, they presented a symbolic earpiece to the president, because they want to be listened to. They don’t want the memorandums to gather dust in shelves like many other documents.

Apart from my advocacy work and the support I offer street children and street families, I am the founder and director of Terry Children Foundation in Machakos. I pay for the upkeep and school fees of the children, 80 of whom live at the centre. We assist 2,000 children in the community, including provision of educational materials. The schools provide us with information on the students who need help.

I also run a centre for those who have been rescued from child commercial sex work and children who are HIV positive.