Today we visited a ministry in Kenya called Made In The Streets. This was a much anticipated visit, as in our training meetings Don and Dylan Hirata said that it was one of the most impactful parts of their trip to Kenya. Made In The Streets is a program that helps kids that are living on the streets that want to change their lives to be able to get an education and vocational skill to be able to have an opportunity to get a career. The program is currently divided up into three parts, the outreach center, the literacy center, and the skills center. At the outreach center, the staff reaches out to the community and provides opportunities to get to know the local street kids, some of whom are in gangs. Many of the kids are addicted to sniffing glue and jet fuel to get high. We made our first stop of the day at the outreach center and met the staff led by Pastor Joel. It was great to hear his heart and passion for the kids, how much he wants them to meet Jesus and transform the outcome of their lives. He was telling us about how they are trying to also reach out and strengthen the families, because that is the root of many of the reasons that kids are living on the streets. While at the outreach center, we were able to serve snacks and lunch, have some chapel time with the staff, pray for Pastor Joel, and play some soccer with the kids! We had lunch with the staff, and the young guys on the team really loved the simple beans and rice meal. Many of them went back for seconds!
After lunch we made our way to the literacy center and got a tour of where the kids go after the outreach center. In order to qualify to make it to the literacy center, the kids have to show that they are serious about changing their lives by regularly attending the outreach center, and trying to stay off the drugs. When they get to the literacy center, many of the kids have not had any education. The porgram is targeting kids that are age 12-13, so when they get to the literacy center they have to accelerate the learning process. The goal at the literacy center is to take kids with zero education to be proficient at a 6th grade level in 3 years. As we met with the staff at the literacy center, we again were able to see people who have a heart to see these kids have a future filled with hope. It was also great to see how strategic the whole program is, as they not only deal with the kids educational deficiencies, but they are very holistic in dealing with their spiritual and mental health needs as well.
From there we made a trek to the skills center where we met Moses who showed us around where the kids go when they finish at the literacy center. At the skills center, the kids learn a vocational skill. It was incredible to see how many different courses they offer, from welding, to auto mechanics, to catering, to cosmetology. Even more incredible is how different the kids are that were at the skills center than the outreach center. Made In The Streets is definitely transforming these kids lives. After getting a tour of the facility, Moses showed us what the future holds for the Made In The Streets campus expansion. They have been doing great work in the community, and it was cool to see how big their vision for the future is. We finished off this portion of our day with an opportunity to interact with the kids at the skills center with many of us helping them to prepare the grounds to add grass in very rocky soil. It was a good image of some of the things we have been talking about in regards to the theme of this trip, in order to plant seeds in good soil, sometimes we need to till it and prepare it. We finished off the day eating dinner together at a restaurant near our hotel. Some people on the team missed food from home, and got burgers. It was a long, but really good day.
