Educating street children in the Mathare slums

Hello Friend,

Allow me to share Vivian's (not her real name) letter with you with her permission. Its a passionate appeal to you to help not only Vivian but the other children we serve in the slums of Mathare.

Asante.

Dear Titus,

I hope you have been well and the program is doing fine.
Thanks for the good work you guys undertake to help those in need.

I don't know if you remember me but its Vivian and i was once a teenage mother in your teenage mothers project in 2015.

May i share a little bit about myself for you to remember and hopefully you can come to my aid because am at a point of no return Titus.

My name is Vivian, I was in the teenage mother program in 2015, after the program I enrolled myself back in secondary school where I had previously left when I got pregnant. I got pregnant at the age of 15 and by the time i turned 16, i was already a mother to baby boy and a wife! I can't say my life turned out better or worse because i had never been in a position of having anything good in my life, having been born in a poor family. I had already known the downs of life and the feeling of lack, even the basic needs like clothes and three meals a day which were considered a luxury in my family.

The only thing i depended on was my education which i believed would take me out of that life but when i got pregnant all that dream suddenly varnished because the only solution left for me was to get married for the sake and the well being of the child. I thought to myself - all was lost, but i gave myself some hope that the boy who got me pregnant would take care of me and the child because they at least come from a well established family.

After my baby was born i went to the boy's family as a fully fledged wife at 16 years. My thinking was - good things in my life have started not knowing what was waiting for me. But behold unto me.... the first day he laid hands on me was when my son was 6 days old!!!

I was shocked and terrified because i did not expect any of that, the next day he apologized and i forgave him, from there hence forth he would beat like twice a week. He had to leave a mark and blood had to flow for him to be convinced that he had disciplined me enough. A few times he beat me to unconsciousness and when i woke up he would have this bewildered look not sure if i was dead or not. Then he would start shouting that i go die in our poor village. The pharmacies around our house knew me as the girl with the black eye.

I remember the times he would throw us out with my month old baby and at around 6am before people started to leave for work, he would take us back in telling me never to repeat that again - ('that' being something i had no idea what i had done) I had to apologize everyday for something i had not done but that never stopped him from beating me up.

I did run away one day and went back to the village but seeing how mum and my siblings were struggling, i ended up going back to 'my husband'. The beatings continued but i had no alternative. I lived in constant fear of one day dying and leaving my son behind and prayed that he might change one day for the better. I made the mistake of telling his mum (she knew but i had never mentioned) and the beatings became severe. I was hospitalized, not once, not twice, many times and the mum would pay the hospital bills. The dad never liked me, we are from different tribes and he believed his son should not marry from a poor background AND a different tribe. He alleged that i wanted to poison him and he almost beat me up one day but was prevented to do so by his wife. Now i had a son and the father (lives in Canada now) hating on me. What could get worse? The family was good financially and nothing much would come from me reporting and he made it clear and known to me that i was destined to be poor for the rest of my life, "your from the gutter and will always be s**t" was consistently relayed to me.

Am an extrovert but those years made me an introvert. I had given lame excuses to people who asked why i had a swollen face, why i was limping, why i had a black eye until i had no more excuses. The best thing was to keep quiet and quiet i did keep quiet.

One day he beat me up and i was hospitalized for 5 days and that's when i opened up to a few family members and friends. One of them put me in touch with MCFpanairobi and that's when my life started for the better.

I trained on hair dressing, i met fellow young girls who had undergone what i was going through and some even were in worse situations than i was in. We had seminars, workshops on our self-esteem, communication, nutrition within our means, our rights among other areas. In 6 months i WAS a winner, i had a certificate, i could communicate what was going on my life, i had made new friends, my baby was gaining weight and when sick, we could access medical attention. He was afraid that i was now my own person. He knew that if he laid a hand on me, there would be consequences. I would attend GBV workshops and let him know where i was from. Oh yes i was changed - changed for the better. The fact that i could get a certificate from my training in cosmetology, i could make it back to school if i put effort in it. That's how i made a decision to go back to school.

I went back to the village, registered for my high school exams and went back to a day secondary school. How did i pay my fees? I had trained in hairdressing and beauty, i took a stool and invited women and girls to come have their hair done for a small fee and that is how i paid for my fees. I sat for my exams and passed with a B- and i was invited in the University to do a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

For the university fees, i applied for HELB and that is how i have been able to pay with a few hustles to make ends meet. Please remember i have a child to take care of and that's all on me. While HELB has come through for me, last year it stopped and i basically cannot meet the costs of fees and that of my child and this is where Titus i hope you and your organization that saw me start this journey comes in. It is my kind and sincere hope you can help me finish the last leg of this interesting journey of my life. I believe in myself as one who will be a success story.

I have 2 semesters to go, i have managed to raise KES 20,300 but its not enough. I have been calling off semesters and it can be frustrating but please help me to not do so this time again.

I have attached copies of my transcripts and the fee structure. Please Titus, let me do this and finish my degree. It is my humble appeal.

Sorry that its a long read but this email took me a while back but am not in a bad place as we speak. Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon.

Warm Regards

Vivian