Pascal

Kitale is a town that has many children living on the streets. For whatever reason they leave their homes and run to town. Life is hard for them. They beg for food and sniff glue to dull the emotional and physical pain that they face. My heart breaks for these children, but one little boy, Pascal, has broken my heart more than others. He is sweet, and has not yet become hardened by the tough life of those living on the streets. I would buy him a little food or take him to lunch when I was in town, but I didn’t have any other way to help him.

Pascal at lunch when he was still living in town.

He comes from an area of town called Mitume. I went with him to visit his mother a few weeks ago. She told me that his father died during the post-election violence in 2008 and she has been struggling to provide for her six children on her own every since then. Pascal had been in school, but she was unable to pay his school fees and after that he ran away in November and began sleeping on the streets of Kitale town. On our short little visit, Pascal seemed nervous and uncomfortable being at home and didn’t want to stay. He isn’t quite ready to talk about why he doesn’t want to be at home with his mother, but I learned that only one of her six children stay with her, so there is something going on there that makes her children not want to be at home.

Pascal with his little brother Japheth

Something that sets Pascal apart from the other children living on the streets that really grabbed my attention is his joy. His life is hard, he struggles to survive on the streets, but he always has a big smile on his face. His heart is so full of joy despite his circumstances. 

This week I met a couple that wanted to help a child get off of the street and send him to school. Pascal immediately came to mind and they agreed to send him to school. He will be going to Greenfields with Allan and Augustus. I learned that he also has a learning disability. He made it to 4th grade just being passed onto the next level even though he wasn’t retaining or understanding anything he was learning in school. So he will be going back to second grade and getting extra tutoring in the afternoon with Augustus. Hopefully this will give him the support and the little extra boost that he needs to be successful in school. 

With children who have been on the streets, there is always the risk of them running away. Life on the streets can be addicting and the children often have trouble adjusting to living with rules and conditions. So far Pascal is doing great and loves hanging out with the other boys at the house. Please keep him in your prayers that he makes a smooth adjustment from life on the streets to living with the kids and going to school. 

Pascal with his new friends!