•Saturday, May 13, 2006
they pounced on me again, the second time in a fortnight. this time they werent as vicious. it all starts with me attempting to join the other street through a dimly-lit alley. quarter way, i realise i can't make it to the other street through the alley courtesy of 'invading a full-house street family turf is out of question in the capital'. i hastily turn back to retreat but alas, the gang has already surrounded me and are already ravaging my four pockets, the shirt pocket, the two side pockets on the trouser and the back trouser pocket. the shirt pocket has my cards wallet, the back pocket has money notes, the left trouser pocket has my cellphone and the right has my keys and any coin money. my hair 'stands' awaiting marching orders to the gallows, my heart beats paul tergat and haile gerbreselassie on the marathon, my knee caps melts and a thin sweat adorns my brow. such helplessness! i dare not scream, noone would help anyway. fighting back or acting brave is a definite no no. it pays to 'be chicken' at those precious - longer than a minute - seconds. in this second dream however, the gangleader turns angelic and the 'standard raid' reverses midstream. he telepathically realises i am a business consultant and leads me to the den office made of cartons and shredded paper. he offers me a document to peruse. a street family business proposal. distributing boiled eggs within the capital! wow! what ingenuity!
in reality, i have been a victim of such attacks within the capital. twice, my shirt pocket has been ripped off. once i have had a bloody rusty knife placed on my throat while my pockets were emptied of my weekend's atm withdrawal. and have been gang-mugged once while taking an evening stroll along waiyaki way. but i found out its much more easier to BEG for the return of the myriad cards foraged from my pockets than getting police abstracts and going through the tedious process of being reissued wih new cards. obviously i have had no need to report. once it happened in full view of a traffic policeman.
street family rehabilitation has been one of my main themes during those mind boggling morning and evening 'jam-sessions' in the potholed capital. most of these are centred on making the street families engage in productive activities which generate income. i tried one of the crazy theories of taking the small ones back to school with one small boy who was very fond of my chips/milk and bread treats, and it backfired miserably, maybe i should have thought of a juvenile school. what if they were employed to clean the city at night and have a day sleeping place reserved for them at uhuru park? or the educated social workers come up with a conference on rehabilitation and call for papers on how to deal with the problem which will develop an implementable means of solving it. i am sure kenyans could happily and voluntarily donate to such a project, its more noble and safer than the involuntary one. what happened to kamlesh patni's 'philanthropic' multi-billion street family rehabilitation project? or the kenya government's rehabilitation programme started in 2003, why was it allowed to collapse? but since the government has no political will in such projects, i have never theorized on its help in this growing menace, you dont solicit for headaches early in the morning or late in the evening. for now, its survival for the fittest, me versus them (street gangs). at least i know who's winning so far and knowledge is power.
in reality, i have been a victim of such attacks within the capital. twice, my shirt pocket has been ripped off. once i have had a bloody rusty knife placed on my throat while my pockets were emptied of my weekend's atm withdrawal. and have been gang-mugged once while taking an evening stroll along waiyaki way. but i found out its much more easier to BEG for the return of the myriad cards foraged from my pockets than getting police abstracts and going through the tedious process of being reissued wih new cards. obviously i have had no need to report. once it happened in full view of a traffic policeman.
street family rehabilitation has been one of my main themes during those mind boggling morning and evening 'jam-sessions' in the potholed capital. most of these are centred on making the street families engage in productive activities which generate income. i tried one of the crazy theories of taking the small ones back to school with one small boy who was very fond of my chips/milk and bread treats, and it backfired miserably, maybe i should have thought of a juvenile school. what if they were employed to clean the city at night and have a day sleeping place reserved for them at uhuru park? or the educated social workers come up with a conference on rehabilitation and call for papers on how to deal with the problem which will develop an implementable means of solving it. i am sure kenyans could happily and voluntarily donate to such a project, its more noble and safer than the involuntary one. what happened to kamlesh patni's 'philanthropic' multi-billion street family rehabilitation project? or the kenya government's rehabilitation programme started in 2003, why was it allowed to collapse? but since the government has no political will in such projects, i have never theorized on its help in this growing menace, you dont solicit for headaches early in the morning or late in the evening. for now, its survival for the fittest, me versus them (street gangs). at least i know who's winning so far and knowledge is power.
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4 comments:
Pole sana, JP.
Your post is excellent and asks several pertinent questions regarding the ever-worsening issue of street children.
jaamaapoa u're not very lucky are you.
am not laughing at you by the way.
i thot the government hadtaken care of the situation. well I heard!
nice post
Pole Jamaa for the trauma - it must be a scary place to be.
Don'tlose hope even if your first plan backfired. Your heart is in the right place, and sometimes individuals need to take action because the "experts" and the govt. will take the next 10 years coming up with solutions.
@mshairi
karibu kwa hii blogi. i wonder whether its possible to eradicate the problem, definitely something needs to be done
@farmgal
lol, i have my vulnerable days balanced well with luck at least have not been bludgeoned in those encounters. the gava gave up after families started protesting for better living conditions at the social halls they had been housed.
@uaridi
my hat off to all those orphanages, children homes and other organisations that rehabilitate street children, its worse for the girls and women in general. hope one day to live the dream i had.