WAYS TO HELP A STREET CHILD WITHOUT GIVING THEM MONEY/ GIFTS ON THE STREETS.

     Street children, are children on the streets, they simply must not all be orphans, some might have run away from home for different reasons.

  

While in the streets, they love begging for gifts or coins in the name of having not taken any meal, it is so common in 3^rd world countries due to the high level of poverty. In Kenya for example, Nairobi city as the capital of the country, houses so many street children, but here, life on the street is in a different level, poor mothers who live around slums, take their children with them in the streets, and children will beg and then give what they receive from the willing good hearted Kenyans to their mothers. It is a business that is profitable and it has interested more mothers hence the big number of street children in the streets of Nairobi.

     When children on the streets come to you begging desperately, it does not mean that they only need that coin that you just got as balance after paying for packing to a packing lady, no, they are desperate of everything that you got as a young child and can’t be gotten from the streets; they just like you need love, food, shelter, clothing, parental care, education among many other things, so, giving the child a twenty shilling coin, will not sort out his or her need for parental love.

• Share your time.

     Children on the streets are people who have had no time to play, talk too, or even walk side by side with people who love them. Instead of just giving that coin that will be in the next twenty seconds after your departure, taken away from them by the beg masters, spend some little time with them, ask them their name, what they love doing, their wishes, and if they are not in so busy street, share a game or two with them that you are sure, they do not know. Make sure the vice versa happens.

     If you seriously fill that those children need your help, walk to either a church, a mosque, or the nearest temple and as for a community based programme that helps the street children, from here, take your time and give all you can in the programme and you will have helped not even two, but a big number of children. You can even find non- governmental organisations that need your voluntary job on the internet so as to make the life of that child better, that is via internet again.

• Give them a smile and put it on their faces.

     Many street children will rarely smile, this is because they have either not eaten or they want you to pity them through the desperate look on their face. As they frown had, talk to them and make sure, your smart phone or digital camera is with you, take photos of you and them, doing something new in your life, be promising enough and walk into the nearest photo studio and give their image back to them in a hard copy, they will have had an image to remember you for.

• Share a meal with them.

     When these children come to you begging mercifully, telling you a drop line that is so common in all the world streets ‘I have not eaten’ take your few minutes as you show them love and care, take them to a hotel and buy them a meal, if you or that play boy, take you food as take away, seat somewhere in the open air with them and share the meal together, you will be more than a parent for that moment.

• Bring the world to them.

     Many of these children, are always from the slums, so, they have most probably never travelled beyond that town that houses their slum, or they have never been to a cyber cafe and tried to see the streets of London, Washington, Hague or even Paris, so, giving them such a chance through sharing photos or showing a video clip of the same through your smart phone, will give them a story for the day, hence happiness and well spent time.

• Learn from them as you teach them.

     Many of this vulnerable children, have extra ordinary talents, so, give them a moment to show case their talents to you, if possible, record that and may be, try to help the child get and avenue later as you go on with you duties in life. You should also spend some time there and show them what you know best.

• Communication is best by language.

     You might be from Brazil and if in Nairobi for instance, knowing how to speak to them will only be through gesture, so, it will be good if you learn the local slang, try to show them that you appreciate their language and may be, when you join them next time, you will not need to tell them good bye using your hands as if you were dumb, but you will talk to them.

• Everybody has a name.

     When your bosses call you by your name and not your job description, you fill more appreciated. Could you imaging someone always calling you a driver! It doesn’t fill good, not everyone made it to becoming whom they wanted to be in life, and you calling them a driver, only reminds them that, they should have been a pilot. So, if you are sure that you will be around that town for a while, be sure that you might meet with those children in another corner of the city the next day, so, please keep their names so as to let them fill appreciated the next meeting.

• Donate to the right institution.

     If it is a must for you to give money, or gifts, then there is always a better place for this- go to a local school in the slums and donates books, go to a children’s home and donate food, adopt one of the street children through the right process, and you will have done the world a favour, giving your money on the street will only make the drug lord that you hate so much only richer.

 

     The above tips are only not 100% perfect but are only meant to encourage you, to fight poverty in the right way. If you fill that there is a point left out as a reader, please share it through the comments below this article and it will definitely be part of this article. All your guidelines are welcome.

                                                                                                                             Sar. Qobiqom

KEEP OUR CHILDREN CLOSE TO US, DON’T LET THEM RUN AWAY.

 

 

     Today, we have so many homeless children either on our streets, or in the slums but with no where to call home, not many children who are homeless today were bone on the streets.

     A very big number of the homeless children today once had a home from which they have ran away. If we take good care of our children, and avoid the points highlighted below, we will live with our children happily and even have a chance to help more homeless children have somewhere to finally call home.

• Don’t depart from them.

     When may be and God forbid parents of a child dies, you who is left as a relative, friend, neighbour, or even fellow human being should help give or play that parental part now that the child is an orphan, failure to you doing this, the child will not run that home that has been left by the parents. So, due to desperation, the child might even engage in drug and substance abuse and later this will lead to either them running away from home or selling the property let including the houses and leaving for the streets. A child being left alone may not only come through death of the parents but even long distance caused by early day of a new job in a new country of place.

     Be a friend to your child so that they can be friendly to you and always telling you what is happening in their lives. When a child is bullied in school or even in the village by an elderly person, or a grown up, they will seek refuge to their parents, but if you are so tough to your child, they will be afraid of telling you, thinking that you might beat them up saying that they must respect grownups, so the only chance that the child might be left with is running away from the area.

     Children do not have that grownup mind to handle pressure, so, when you are always on a child’s case, forcing them to do heavy duty jobs like in the poor families that do not even have piped water at home, forcing them to fetch much water, them wash their and your cloths, cleaning the house, and then cook for you, may be too much for a child. Watch out.

• Kicking them out.

     If you are used to beating up a child every time they wrong, note that it is not the best option to make a child obedient. If a child is beaten up and usually runs to the neighbours for help, one day, she/he might never go to the neighbours but will go, and never come back.

• Sexual assort or rape.

     Sexual assort and rape have contributed to many children abandoning their homes simply because they do not know how to deal with it, so, always show your children that they are secure with you so that in case and God forbid, they are faced by this inhuman act, they will trust you and be with you. Many even run away because the perpetrators of such acts in some cases are never punished for it and they keep on threatening the child not to tell about it or else they might kill them.

• Alcohol and violence.

     If someone in a certain homestead takes a lot of alcohol and then tries to be violent either to the child parent of to the children themselves, it is very easy for the child to fill unprotected and since they might not hold the pressure, running away from home will be in the top list of options.

• Verbal abuse and un appreciation.

     When one yells or screams at a child all the time for doing something wrong, the child becomes afraid and insecure. If the child does something that they think is a great invention of all times, them they need someone to appreciate them and guide them through what they are doing, so, screaming to them how wrong they are opts them to think of a place they will be appreciated.

• Being neglected.

Neglecting a child might not simply mean living them alone, it could also be inclusive of the things children need most. When a child is in the house, they need attention, if they don’t receive it, they will look for it elsewhere. Food and clothing is also something else that if a child lucks, they will fill insecure and neglected.

• Parental love.

     You must not be the biological parent of a child to show them parental care and love, no, you just need to listen to the kick, do to them watch they say and is right, and guide them through the right path in life for them to fill mothered.

• Un education.

     Not every child loves school, but if a child loves school and you do not give them a chance, I can bet you that at any point of such an offer or chance, they will live you alone and very fast run away from that home that became their hinderance to earning knowledge.

 

 

     It is us who make children run away from us, so, having read the above bulleted points, try advising others on what to avoid and what to do to keep our children with us.

     I am not a children expert, so, if I have left out a point that you fill is crucial for us to retain our children at home, please the comment box below is wide open for you.                            

                                                                                                         Sir. Qobiqom

Really amazing

Relaxed in front of a camera with a smile on the face really deserves a good job(a good photo)

     What makes me smile than the lady on the photo is that the photo was taken by someone who barely saw it, that is really a good job.

 

 

When a camera is in the right hands…..

         it is good to look young and at the best part of it have visual memories.A good photo is as good and important to a photographer just like the camera in his hands.

With good use of a camera there is nothing like idle times

     Cameras,whether as a gadget or as part of another gadget(smart phones/computer) gives you enough reason to enjoy your free time as you take such photos.

5 REASONS WHY BLOGGING IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES IS SO CHALLENGING.

When it comes to blogging, one should if not must be an internet friend and if possible love you must make internet your number one friend, for without internet connections, you are as good a blogger as none. Creativity is not what you should think twice about, for if you have a photography blog, remember even a two year child can take a photo, if only shown the right button, but here is the question, what kind of a photo?. When we talk about third world countries, we simply mean places like Africa and the likes. These are countries with people who can hardly make one dollar a day.

     Very few people in the 3^rd world are educated, hence enemies to information, but to those that have been trying blogging from scratch, here are some of the challenges they have either met or over come on their way.

 

     I know, even the poorest person on earth do not like being called poor, but when it comes to journalism, truth must be told. Many of the people living in the 3^rd world countries are poor, poor to the extent of lacking some basic needs, those that might have gone for higher education, it is mostly not by the efforts of their parents, no, it is through churches, NGO’s, donors and even some working to educate themselves. With that in mind, you now know that to poor people, information or education, might be turned into a luxury and not a basic need. A community with these poverty line around them, might have someone in them wanting to blog and change the world, but they just can’t. Anyway, if you think they can, answer yourself this question ‘if you had 15£ with you, would you go for a smart phone, or would you go for food if there was no food?’

• Internet connections.

     In most of the 3^rd world countries, internet connections are a very big challenge. This is because, here, people are poor, so the money they make daily, monthly or even annually, is or enough for basic needs. Those that have taken the part of business people and started cyber cafes where one can access internet at a small fee, are only in big cities and bigger towns, you might not find them in the villages.

     Take this example; one day, I travelled to Kenyan upcountry to see my mother, yes I had my phone with me, but there was no network coverage, no cyber cafe, or anything that could help me access the internet, so, my small sister thought that because she could not reach me, and she did not know where I were, the best idea was to report to the police station a missing brother! You can guess what followed.

     If the internet connections are mostly found around town, then those living away from town will have to travel to the town to find it. how many trips can one make to the cyber each day just to respond to a comment on their story?

• Information barrier.

     No matter how much educated you are, you can not tell what current news are without see the headlines or watching/reading them extensively. In the poor countries, one might be fresh from college, just started a blog, and the whole family is waiting for him/her to get some good cash, God knows from where, for them to have their first television set, Radio or even a phone to help one surf well in the internet and be informed, information is not only in the internet, but remember blogs are.

• Job type or class.

     Many of the people in 1^st world countries, will find this funny, for they believe, you can blog actually you can post a blog while standing at a postal line, waiting to be served, yes you really can, now, take this example of Mwenda, who is a fresh from college, would wish to get employed. Mwenda finds it difficult to get a job and decides as he waits for a chance, he will join a building and construction work in the towns to earn himself a living. One must be at the construction site at 6am in the morning, and leave the site and 6pm in the evening, while at the site, God knows if one can stop caring blocks to blog, so as to answer to a comment while missing cement, sand and water! So, Mwenda arrives home at 10pm in the evening with a very exhausted body, and they should be up by 3am to try and reach the site in time since he has to walk to the site to save a coin.. What kind of a blogger will he be?

 

Conclusion.    

     It takes passion, and much courage, determination and focus to be a blogger in the 3^rd world countries, but the above does not encourage them to stop blogging and wait for example, wait for Kenya to become like Canada where the governments provides free internet, it is for them to work hard and smart to fight their own problems and rise to be the best blogger regardless of the challenges. Remember running away from 3^rd world to 1^st world will not help the nation, but only you. My call is for you not to take 3^rd world to 1^st world but do the vice versa.

 

                                                                                      Sar. Qobiqom.

 

THE JOBLESS EMPLOYER OF FOUR.

If you are a Nairobi resident the bus station is not the space for you (a new place), right at the exit of the Nairobi bus station we meet Martin N g’ang’a allies Marto who regardless of him being a man is a very good nail polisher to whom most of his customers regard to as a friend and not just a business person.

Marto is a family man actually a father of four who lives at Huruma in Nairobi. Before starting the nail art job he used to sell clothes and did not have a business permit but could do the door to door delivery. Fortunately in the year 2012 as Marto was walking along the streets of Huruma he met two young men who used to do nail art but did not have a station so we could just call them mobile nail polishers. Marto had a lengthy chat with them and they inspired him to stop the clothes business and begin nail art which could at least help him deliver bigger ‘bread’ on the table each day.

It was not easy for him to decide to quit the clothes business, and start another business that he only theoretically understood. All in all for one to be a good entrepreneur he should be a risk taker, so Marto, like a soldier he stepped in the battlefield armed with only a place to start the business, his little knowledge of dealing with the customers as he had acquired from the clothes business and the most important ‘tool’ of his new business a friend who had the knowledge on nail art.

From the work at the exit of the bus station that Marto had acquired he graduated with the knowledge of nail art from his teacher and business partner Mwas. The two partners were now well equipped and ready to fight their way into the tough Nairobi market.” At first getting customers was harder than walking on water,” Marto told us. As days went on, they brought around brighter weeks, shiny months and finally each day began to be fruitful. They had no money to place any advertisement on even the cheapest community radio station of Huruma but they had the best marketing advertisement on earth which is tell a friend to tell a friend.

One and half years later, which is today as I and my friends pass by the exit of the bus station we meet Marto who today from his little business has managed to accumulate enough capital to even open up another nail art point you call it a branch if you wish so. Marto whom many do not know but have met him, regard as jobless for if you do not have a job in the Kenya of today many call you jobless. He is still called jobless for lack of a white collar job but he is a business man who earns enough to feed and educate his family and on top of that create jobs for four more Kenyans, and to my surprise Marto is even gender sensitive as the Kenyan constitution requires and has respected the one third gender rule in the constitution.

When speaking to Peninah Kawira one of the employees with a very satisfied smile on her face she said, ”I love my job, my boss is as nice as a father and I don’t see him as my boss for we work together with one goal, better our lives and grow our business.” And so happy again as if she was receiving her salary she continued with her work on nail art on her customer as if she had not even responded to my question. She had now made me feel so comfortable at the place that I almost violated my African traditions as a man and join my lady friends to have my nail polished.

By now I had taken a seat and just in front of me was Mary Kimani who after asking why she was wearing very expensively just like most of the Nairobi women but was still in that place having a nail art and not the uptown she told me, ”It all begins by the sense of humor, every human being wants to belong and the service of this place makes me feel as if I was having the nail art from the comfort of my bedroom .” But before I asked my next question she interrupted my thoughts by saying loudly and happily, “oh! The service is the best and cheapest in town, and the owner of this place is welcoming and good-hearted.”

It was now getting late and the equipments we had in our position (camera, stand and microphone) were to be returned to the office so we wished Marto all the best and thanked him for being an employer hence boosting the Kenyan’s economy. Just when we had finished packing our equipments Marto ordered Kawira to see us off to Tom Mboya street. On our way, Kawira had one message for the youths which she had always heard Marto tell them as his young employees, “Every youth of this nation must stop waiting for the government whether a graduand or not you should come out of the lazy world and work. A job is a job regardless of the class.”

By@ Qobiqom.