A Night On The Streets

This is Morris>>>
After hearing from Morris that the street kids had asked him to bring me with him to see them at night, I didn’t know whether that was the best idea. I’m thinking hmmm.. they want me to come to the street?? For those of you who don’t know, street kids in Eldoret live a terrible life. Not just because they live on the street, but because of how the police treat them. Many of the kids are orphans, kids who lost their families in the post election violence in 2007, kids who have run away from abusive homes, and kids who are simply thrown out by their families… and they have nowhere to go.

So, thousands of kids walk around the streets begging for money or whatever people are willing to give them. They have no shelter. Many of them sleep and live in the dump on the edge of town. They sleep in the piles of garbage for warmth. To many, street kids are seen as a nuisance. Authorities have been ordered to find a solution to the problem. So, they were given an old warehouse in the center of town where the kids could go for shelter at night and sleep. But that didn’t last long. The police here are miserable men. They are so corrupt. Many of them are drunks with terrible tempers. So- instead of protecting street kids and the people in Eldoret, they make their lives a living hell and everyone fears them.

At night, many of the policemen are drunk so they torment the street children. Now, all the policemen carry guns. Not guns that they have holstered- massive guns that they carry loaded and ready at all times. They chase the kids away from the shelter and beat them. The other day, a young boy was shot on Sunday at around 10am- in broad daylight. Apparently, he was selling phones and the police accused him on selling fake ones and so they started beating him. As he tried to run away, one of the police shot him in the back of the head. I’ve met the young guy and he had left the streets and had newly married and a newborn baby. Hearing about this was really difficult. How can a police officer shoot a young man in the back of the head and get away with it??!—That’s just a glimpse of what the street kids have to deal with.

I was a bit nervous, but I decided that I should go. So, Morris and I went to town last night and I was blown away by what I saw. I had heard about the terrible things that happened and I thought I was prepared. But, seeing it made me sick to my stomach. As we pulled into town, kids immediately spotted us and ran up to his car before he could park it. It was as if they wanted to climb through the windows. Morris told me that they were afraid of the police who were chasing them and they didn’t know where to go. At first, I tried to shrug it off and blame it on the glue –I thought to myself, they’re not thinking clearly and they’re just paranoid. But, as soon as I looked behind me, I realized I was wrong. Here came a group of kids running through the street with four police chasing after them with their guns pointed. I froze.

Morris and I got in the car and drove to another street and talked with kids and tried to help them find places to hide from the police. As we were walking Morris pointed to a place in the alley and said, “I used to sleep there to hide from the police when I was a young boy”. I looked over and realized that what he was pointing to was a bathroom stall. Can you imagine? He laughed because I had no idea what to say and said, “it’s ok because it kept me safe”.

We found a few more kids. Several knew me and told me how happy they were to see me and asked me why I hadn’t been to see them in a while. They’re fun, sweet kids and they can make you laugh so easily. But Morris told me that he couldn’t figure out where everyone was.. he said there was usually hundreds more. So, he asked two little boys where everyone was. That’s when the whole night changed. They told him the police had arrested them all. After we gave the kids some bread and milk Morris asked me if it was ok with me if we went to the police station.

I said yes without hesitation. I wanted to see the awful people who had arrested the kids and tell them a few things. We got there and most of the police knew Morris and so we were told we could feed the kids. Now, this is because the police don’t feed them and they can hold them for however long they want and there’s no real reason for arresting them in the first place—Absolutely ridiculous!! I’m like- YOU CANT DO THAT!! But they don’t care..

Morris requested to go in the cell to see the kids and surprisingly they let him. At first I didn’t want to go in, but for some reason I just followed him in. As you turn the corner, I expected to find a hallway and cells on either side. Not exactly what I found. A long, thin hallway and one main room at the end and it was packed and I mean packed of kids. I literally could hardly squeeze my way through. I stood there and the smell of urine and the state these kids were in was overwhelming. There’s no bathroom so they just go on the floor. Morris quickly pulled me out but as we walked out the young deaf boy, Brian grabbed my pant leg and gave me the thumbs up. Morris told me that he always asks about me. But I asked him how he knew because the boy is deaf and cant speak.. he said that he moves his hand along his face indicating long hair and then a thumbs up and that his motion for me. I turned to the guard and asked him why this boy had been arrested. The guard gave me an empty look and I knew there was no reason.

The truth of what was happening is a policemen recently shot a street boy in the back of the head. They know the street kids have the ability to cause a problem and kill a policemen in return… so they are locking them all up. I feel completely hopeless in how to help these kids..