Port of Call LAST UPDATE September 12, 2006
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August 15, 2006 Mombasa, Kenya – Supporting the Children of Mtwapa
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A poster at the juvenile training facility
The earth in Kenya is an auburn red. Blessed with showers earlier in the day, the Mombasa air was clear and cool, and a sharp sun accentuated contrasts between color and shadow.

After an hour delay waiting for the Kenyan president’s entourage of tinted windows and AK47s to pass, 20 participants in four vans took a ferry across to the south mainland. We passed giant turmeric colored puddles and small villages on our way up to Shimba National Reserve, along a wide dirt road that eventually leads to Tanzania.

Following an idyllic glimpse of safari including wildlife such as giraffes, buffalo, baboons, and a buffet lunch at a tranquil lodge surrounded by forest and savannah, we made our way back across the channel and deep into the heart of the poverty that surrounds Mombasa, a city of one million, 60% of whom are Muslim, with Christians forming the next largest population.
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Detained boys at the juvenile training center. His shirt is from Japan and says, “number 1”
Our first stop was a juvenile training center where youth under the age of 18 who are convicted of various crimes are sent by the court system in order to be educated so that they can become upstanding members of society. We toured a number of the facilities in the vast compound including a detention classroom, lonely cement dorm rooms with bunk beds, and a large cafeteria where we met many of the detained boys who were gathered under a small TV to watch soccer.
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Isabel, John, and five girls in the Agape program
Second on our program was Furaha Coast Children’s Home, a rehabilitation center for orphans and street children. Founded by Michael Msyoka in 1997 with four boys, Furaha (“happy” in Swahili) now provides shelter, food, and individualized education to 40 boys under the age of 25, off of the streets where drugs, prostitution, AIDS, and other desperate effects of poverty can consume the future of a majority of the world’s youth who are faced with a similar situation.

As the sun set on our first evening in Kenya, we rolled into a compound where the voices of children singing could be heard through the darkness. Agape, a support center for street children was lit up with soft lights and surrounded by lush vegetation. The Milky Way above was thick. The children took our hands and danced us to the backyard. The permeating positivity was transformative. That night the children performed a mixture of spoken word, gospel, and traditional Kenyan singing and dance to convey their lives. Following are the lyrics from one such song.

Oh Africa!
What a lovely continent
What a place to be
Your beauty fascinates the world
You are my motherland
I am your child
A child of Africa
That’s who I am

I crave for love and attention
Without it, I am doomed
Cry not, mother Africa
When I’m learned
Poverty will be history
When I am educated
I’ll be a fountain to the world!
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The slums of Mtwapa

Founded (also in 1997) by Isabel (from Switzerland) and Kenyan John Omondi Opindou, the motto of the Agape program is “get them before they’re gone”. John explained, “a child alone becomes angry and then is lost. If the community becomes more responsible and takes care of them, the children will not fall into the negativity that surrounds them.” John and Isabel have started a program to support children whose families who cannot support them, as well as find foster parents for orphaned or abused children in Mtwapa, most of which is over-populated slum outside of Mombasa that has no running water, no garbage collection, little security, and where most people survive on under $1 per day. Some parents have the opportunity to work for Agape for a small salary. They also run a nursery in their home and provide the children attending Agape school with lunch every day.

After spending the night in the loft of Isabel and John’s home, we woke early in the morning for a walk to the Agape school and a tour of Mtwapa. Breaking into groups of four or five, we entered the labyrinth of dirt paths, passing crumbling shacks, kitchen fires, corn drying in the sun, laundry hanging, small fruit stalls, Coca-Cola billboards, children playing with old tires, piles of garbage. People stopped to look at us as we walked by and clicked photos of them and children called “jambo!” (hello in Swahili).
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Latifa, a single mother of four who takes part in the Agape program
Visiting the home of Latifa, a single mother with four children in a long house of 12 families sharing two toilets, we learned that her monthly salary of $25 is mostly spent on her $16 rent, water, and the rest on food and clothing, leaving little for education which can cost the average Kenyan child $15 per semester. Two of her children attend the Agape school, and she works for Isabel and John by helping to cook for the children.
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Peace Boat participant Yuu with John and Isabel’s adopted daughter Mary
Later in the afternoon, participants gathered for a discussion session about the experience. Some shed tears as they expressed their wish to help in some way. When asked how the children feel about our visit, John told us that “by simply holding your hand they feel there is someone who cares for them. This physical experience will stay with them into the future.” One older woman told us that she has eight and six-year-old grandchildren with whom she lives in Japan. “Every day is like Christmas for them,” she said. “Instead of bringing them back omiyage (a Japanese custom of bringing home presents from your travels) I want to tell them stories about children around the world.”

The Agape program is not receiving any funding from the government, and has been struggling to continue its support for street children. “For people in Mtwapa, the only insurance is faith in God,” John told me. “What little we have, we share with the children.” They welcome volunteers to work with them. Please contact them at opindoh{a}hotmail.com.