Journalists putting smiles on the faces of Mwingi street children

The scribes have joined hands to launch a community-driven Feed and Clothe Street Kids initiative that provides food and clothing to street children every week.

Last weekend,  over  100 street  children  were fed and clothed through  the journalists drive to touch the lives of the less fortunate.

Speaking during their latest outreach, the journalists revealed that they have been running the programme consistently for the past six months with a positive impact on the  beneficiaries.

According to the group’s chairperson, Linah Musangi,  there was a need to help reintegrate the children into society. She appealed  for support from well wishers so as to attain the goal.

She pointed out that a significant number of the children had expressed the desire to go back to school, while others wished to pursue income-generating activities to sustain themselves.

"Most of the children are out here because of squalor at home and hope to get well wishers to take them back to school," she said

"Over 70% of the street children are not in school since their parents could not afford to retain them in school due to the high  levies charged," she added.

Another member, Amrose Savali, supported the  idea  of  finding a lasting  solution to the dehumanising life the  street urchins  have to contend with.

He emphasized that without such concrete interventions, many street children  are more likely than not  to drift into crime as they grow older thus  becoming a menace to society.

Savali  noted that the initiative, known as Feed and Clothe Street Kids, is aimed at distracting  them  from crime and offering hope for a better future like any other normal person.

Shadrack Ilava, a veteran journalist, noted that the major cause of rise in their number is high  poverty levels. He said it was  high time  a good number of well wishers  came out to give  the desired  and much needed support.