Fidel has been sleeping on the streets since he was seven years old. For two years he’s been afraid his father would beat him for skipping school to visit his sister in a neighboring town, so Fidel has scraped by and risked his life to avoid his father’s wrath. He ran away from home after his father found out that he skipped school to go and visit his sister in a neighboring town.
Fidel wakes up every morning before sunrise to go to the market, where he wanders through the makeshift stalls to pick up tiny pieces of charcoal from the ground. He puts them in a large plastic sack slung over his shoulder.
When he leaves the market, he finds some women selling charcoal on the side of the road. He sells them the little charcoal he has collected and walks to the supermarket. He begs for money outside the supermarket until a security guard chases him away, beating him with a club.
Fidel takes the dollar that he has earned and buys two pieces of bread, eating one, and stuffing the second in his pocket.
He walks to a tin shack, where he pays a man the rest of his money to sit down in a white plastic chair and watch a movie. He falls asleep. No one will bother him there.
Fidel’s family lives only a few miles away, but he lives in fear of his father finding him, and beating him for the mistake he made two years ago.
And until he met John two months ago, Fidel had given up on his dreams of finishing school and becoming an engineer. His new-found friend, John, began visiting him on the streets and talking about something that Fidel could barely remember experiencing in his former life--sleeping in a warm bed, eating hot meals.
Fidel is not the only kid in his situation. Fidel has friends experiencing the same life, and so now, five days a week, John talks with them all over a simple meal of rice and beans.They talk about their past, and about the day they will leave the streets.
And on March 31, Fidel and his friends will do what they’ve been talking about for the last month. They will have the chance at a new life. Fidel is one of fifteen boys who have decided that they are ready to leave the streets and go to Naivasha Children's Shelter. But Naivasha is not their final destination.
At the Shelter, a team of teachers and counselors will help the boys transition, as they re-learn how to be a part of a family again. They will sleep in warm beds and eat hot, healthy meals three times a day. They will play soccer and learn to care for livestock and grow their own food in a garden. Some of the boys will learn to read and write for the first time.
John will take Fidel to visit his father, and eventually help them to resolve their conflict so that Fidel can finally return home.
This incredible opportunity is only possible for these boys because of the generous donations of friends all around the world.
12 donations of $100 each would ensure that Naivasha Children's Shelter is able to provide complete care for Fidel for a year. If you would like to to help rescue Fidel and his friends from the streets this year you can make a donation.
Or, you can send a check to:
Friends of Naivasha Children’s Shelter, Inc.
20 South Dudley, Suite 900
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
