Ben Ndichu left home and went to live on the streets in 2007
when he was 10 years old, driven by poverty at home. His mother worked hard to
earn enough to feed the family, but his father, who was a carpenter, was an
alcoholic who contributed little but problems to his family. Ben and his four
sisters and brother were unable able to go to school and lived in slum
conditions.After
he left home, Ben remained on the streets of Naivasha for two years. At night he
was cold, and he spent each day scavenging for food from the remains of meals
thrown into dustbins by hotels. He lived in fear of being bullied by bigger
street boys.
One
Saturday in early 2009, as Ben was roaming the streets as usual, he approached
a passer-by and begged for food. The man gave him 100 shillings (about £1) and
told him to go and buy some milk and mandazi (Kenyan doughnuts), and to come
back with the change and share his life story.
Ben
did as he was told. The person he was talking to was Rev Simon Kinyanjui, the
director of our Sunshine street boys’ rehabilitation Centre. Having heard Ben’s
story, Rev Simon offered him a place at the Centre, and once he had settled,
enrolled him into the local school to resume his education. Ben loved football, and was soon a key member of
the Sunshine Centre team.
He
completed school in 2019, but, like most young people around the globe, Covid
disrupted his education and he had to wait until February this year before
commencing a vocational training course in leather and tanning technology at
Kenya Industrial Training Institute in Nakuru. The photo shows him heading off to start his second terms, complete with a laptop that is essential to access on-line lessons and information.
