African Child Day

June 16th was the holiday known as African Child Day. The day began with all the children from the area Orphanages gathering in town to listen to the District Children’s Officer briefly speak about the day. Then everyone began to march in a parade through town and out to the Kitale Stadium about one and a half miles away. Each Orphanage performed with skits, songs, and dances. They made posters speaking out about abuse, neglect, right to education and many other topics. One of the most impacting moments was seeing many of the older kids still living on the street chatting with our new kids we took off the street in February. As we marched through town the street kids joined in the walk carrying the glue bottles with them. One of the boys is a brother to Peter, whom I’ve worked with a lot since I’ve been here. All the kids had a great time watching each home perform. After the skits, the older boys of the Orphanages played a game of football (soccer to Americans) against the men staff. The day ended with some awards past out to each
Orphanage.



This is Peter and his brother I spoke of in the blog. I met his brother on the street back in January when I was looking for Sammy.


The three boys closest to the picture are from Challenge Farm. The all came from the streets at one time and struggled with a glue addiction. The boy off in the distance is still living on the street; he has glue up to his nose. This picture is so powerful to me because allows me to see right into these three boys' past.