Two days ago, I bumped on one guy called Ali. He was used to begging money in the City center of Kenya.
I kept on looking at him more often and could not stop.Finally, he noticed and came straight to me and asked if I was in a position to buy him lunch. I told him, ”I do not have any money with me to give you at the moment,” he moved closer and looked straight into my eyes again,,, and laughed loudly.
”Do you think in my entire life, I have always been like this? ”he asked, putting on a stone face. I was lost of words and just looked at him, putting on an innocent look.
He introduced himself to me, saying,” My name is Ali,” I was dumbfounded when I heard him speak in English,though I already knew his name, what shocked me was that, he could speak in English. He continued saying that, it was not his wish to be on the streets but just , out of fate,destiny had decided so
He completed his studies and scored an average of C minus. When he was about to sit for his last paper,he received sad news on a phone call from his aunt telling him that his mother had got involved on a road accident and had been admitted in one of the city hospital’s.
”Two days later,I went to the hospital where my mum was.When I entered the ward, I got shocked when I failed to find her. Sad memories of my father’s death before I came to this world were still fresh in my mind. Who would I call daddy or even mummy?”
How he wished he could have died along with his mother.Immediately he moved in to the aunt’s place, he was given a cold reception as she always denied him food and said, she wished Ali would have died along with the mother. Besides, being denied food,he was to work tirelessly in the shamba,if he failed, he would be beaten up mercilessly with his uncle and aunt.
It is from there that he decided to run away from home and go to Nairobi. When he reached Nairobi, things were not easy at all. With nowhere to sleep, eat not even a cloth to cover himself,he was forced tobe sleeping on the streets, beg for money to meet his needs and it is from there, that he developed the habit of eating from the trash bins like a scavenger.
”I had to start sniffing glue as it could help me be high and be in a position to swallow rotten food and protecting me from feeling cold, as I always used the newspaper covers as mattress with nothing to cover myself with.” In order to survive I often beg, carry luggages or clean business premises and vehicles, ”he lamented.
Shockingly, almost hundred percent of the Kenyan youths on the streets of Nairobi, abuse drugs. They mostly sniff glue and smoke bhang (the slang name for marijuana). They are lon the streets as a result of trying to run away from poverty, violence and abuse.
