Personal stories The following brief description of children’s life will help you to understand the situation here. Vincent Vincent lost his mother and father.  They remained with no one to help except one member of the extended family, who opted to take care of him and 3 of his brothers and 2 sisters at Homa Bay Town.  And because the relative is an alcoholic, he was unable to provide the children with food, clothes and other essentials in life.  Vincent was in Std. V then, because of frustration, hunger and nakedness and because he was sometimes thrown out of the house when the man came in with women, Vincent ended up in the streets.  We had to take him in, like other children, even though we didn’t have a sheltered home for them to sleep.  They sleep on the church floor. Would you give him a home?   Evans Evans ended up in the streets because his parents got separated.  Since then he has only seen his mother once, but she refused to talk with him.  She had turned to prostitution.  Evans has never met his father.   Dan, Erick, Emily and Mzee are orphans.  They lost all their parents.  They have no home, because the extended family had divided their parent’s property including utensils, and the grass thatched house their parents once owned collapsed. They are aged 13,11,9 and 5 respectively.  Will you give them home?  Will you give them hope by providing a home for them?  The centre has accepted them.  Please help and give them hope.  Your donation will bring a change in their lives will give them home, education, cloths and medical care and others.   As I write to you now, there’s a young girl aged 10 who is still suffering from burns.  The relative she stays with burned her hands, accusing her of stealing food from the kitchen.  She probably did this because of hunger. – few cares would you care?  There are many cases of child abuses rape labour etc you can make a big difference in their lives.   All children equal before God boy child and girl child the same The Boy Child: Traditionally in Africa especially among the Luo’s the Boy child is highly honoured and respected, in fact if you don’t have one then you are not regarded as a person or a man.  Most men chase their wives away – (divorce) because they don’t have boys.  People do consult witchdoctors, in case they don’t give birth to a boy.  This was even a problem in the Old Testament with Abraham.  He reasoned with God until God answered him.  I don’t want to prove the importance of Boy child but first to explain my point.   The boy child is important only if he is born within the wedlock.  But in case he is born outside the wedlock in most cases they are killed, or rendered useless by magic powers.  Most men would not accept marrying women who are already with boy child.  Such children may end in frustration and death.  Men perform rituals to kill the children whom they didn’t father especially the boy child.  In case of death of the father and the mother is remarried again the stepfather would not receive the boy child easily.  This makes life very hard for the male children and in many cases they run into streets, some rituals turn them insane and useless, they later became sexual cleanser for dead people they are being used to perform rituals with the dead in case of difficulties.  In case a woman dies before she is remarried or inherited.  The boy child is endangered.  They need homes of refuge – please help them get shelter & education.   The Girl Child The Girl child was easily accepted anywhere and even to day, every body likes the girl child.  But the problem is that to day they are being misused first they have been and are being denied education.  Some turn into commercial sex workers earlier because of frustration or forced (Marriages) They too need refuge and turn into commercial sex workers earlier because of frustration or forced (marriages) They too need refuge and most important education.  Some are being forced into early marriage, especially if she’s an orphan or parents poor.  Children are endangered in some circumstances.   For education is power, life, light, etc. give them education. More on the Boy child and Girl child next time.