Turning Point Trust Blog

Meet Josphat

by Godwill on June 17, 2013 Leave comment

Last year, mid February, Florence informed me of a boy who was idling around the railway line and sometimes at the Laini Saba ground. This was around the time the Laini Saba Centre was opening its doors to youths in this village and we were looking for youths whom we could invite and see what opportunities God could provide through our interaction.

So I walked to the open field and met this young man. Josphat was his name. We started a conversation and I convinced him to come to our centre. I wasn’t sure what I could offer or promise but I was positive that our centre would provide a positive transformation in this teenager’s life.

A lot has transpired since then, it’s now 18 months since we open our centre, a number of youths came and left – a sad experience for us. We’ve tried a couple of approaches to make things work, some did, some didn’t, with some broken promises along the way leaving behind a tense relationship between us and the youths.

But in this maze and puzzle, Josphat has been faithful, in showing up daily, in his involvement in activities and learning.
Josphat is now 19. He is from a family of four and he stays with his brother. After finishing primary school and without school fees to proceed to secondary school despite attaining marks to join secondary school, he left his rural home for Nairobi City to look for greener pastures.

The Pianist

Josphat has learnt a lot, he was taught piano by one of church members at Laini Saba which he plays every Sunday, he spends at least one hour daily practising. He has challenged me, I should have learnt piano as well, I saw him learning the basics, now he is getting better by the day.

His mandazi business which is supported by Turning Point is stable. I asked him what he wants to do in future, he said he sees himself going forward in business.

The business is teaching him a lot: time-keeping, consistency, discipline in saving, and public speaking, an aspect that he struggled with when he first came to our centre.

Josphat is just one of the boys who came to our centre. We have related well and built strong ties.

With adequate resources Josphat can go far. He has proved that, given the opportunity, he wants to do something with his life. So Turning Point is giving him that opportunity.

Keeping faith in trying moments

by Godwill on June 11, 2013 Leave comment

This blog covers our last two week’s experiences on Hots.

In the last two weeks we have prayed for a number of people who are HIV+. I must admit that initially I was sceptical about people getting healed of this disease but after praying with a woman who was HIV+ who later confirmed after several tests that she was negative my faith increased, and wherever we pray for someone who’s positive I know deep down that everything is possible with God.

If word was to spread in Kibera that we prayed for a HIV+ person and that they are now negative I am sure we would have a litany of people lining up for prayers: their religion, background and belief not withstanding.

An elderly woman has been consistent in briefing us how the Lord is working in her life through prayers, this lady is amongst others who bring back testimonies to keep encouraging all of us of what the Lord is doing.

So today we prayed with a number of people with different needs. One particular case is this lady who was HIV+,  and whose husband is mentally ill. She was asking for prayers for provision, and it reminded us of how God works, that whereas we might think of how big the problem looks, God usually has a way of operating. We trust that God in His mercy will see her family through this hard moment.

Poverty prevalence in Kibera is staggering, every Monday we pray with a huge lot that are desperate to get something, the needs vary from food provision to money for sustenance, middle-aged, strong and active people who are ready to work and earn a decent living but don’t have the opportunity to do so.

We prayed for two ladies who recently gave birth through ceaserian section, an old guy whose dad is more than a 100 years old and was having problem with his knees. We also had an old Muslim come up and sit down, complaining about his knees. Jon attempted to convince him to allow us to pray for him, telling him things like he’d asked Allah to heal him and that hadn’t worked, so why not see if Jesus would. Unfortunately, despite a 10-minute chat, the man refused.

We closed our day on a thankful note, grateful to God for the opportunity to pray with people.

When the car refuses to start

by Godwill on June 3, 2013 Leave comment

We resumed HotS after a long break since the Kenyan elections in the month of March. The break was necessitated by a government ban on public meetings, and by the Easter holidays.

Men at Work
It is humbling to meet a man who cannot provide for his family. You can imagine the pressure when he goes home in the evening empty-handed, his family looking up to to him yet he doesn’t have anything to put on the table. These are the kinds of men we met today, seeking prayers for job openings, business opportunities, connections, networking, anything that could provide the ‘bread’ for the family.

In Kenya we have reference to men suffering from virility, they are referred as “a car that will not start”. So how about a man who cannot perform his conjugal duties? How does he cope with pressure especially if the house is separated from the next by only an iron sheet, and probably your good & active neighbours decide to be noisy? Well we had such a case today and we hope God has answered our prayer for him. I must admit that this is a rare one at HotS.

Listening to God
Of the men we prayed with, God showed us what they were experiencing whilst we were praying for them. In a particular case, God showed us a covering caused by somebody cursing the man because of an argument over money, and the covering was preventing the man receiving blessing. In another case God revealed that the man needed prayer for protection from enemies. Often we do not understand some of these things – we just pray and believe.

It wasn’t just men. We joined together to pray for an HIV+ mum and her son who was out of school because of a lack of fees, suffering from cancer and equally Hiv+. Also a lady who had a problem with her reproductive system and one who wanted general prayers.

At the close of our two hours in the streets of Kibera, we were grateful for the time we spent praying for people.

A Holiday in Karen

by pippa on May 13, 2013 Leave comment

Last week the wonderful people of Christ Church Woking blessed us by enabling our staff to go on a retreat in the leafy Nairobi suburbs of Karen, and by sending a team from the church to lead the retreat.

The week consisted of much laughter and joy, as well as, or rather, induced by daily devotions and worship, team games and dramas, watching dvds, a trip to the elephant orphanage (where the majority of our staff saw elephants for the first time), a campfire, playing football, generally just having chill out time with one another and eating…alot.

These are a few impressions from the week that I overheard from some of the staff:

‘I’m 63 years old. This is my first holiday.’ Kariuki (project manager)

‘Do we go back to Kibera after this, or we can just stay here?’ Lillian (Prep class teacher)

‘We can breathe. The air is so clean and we can really rest’ Mary (Kianda project mama)

‘I wasn’t sure about coming to this retreat. But it has been so amazing and I am glad I did.’ Judy (office administrator)

I’m sure, given the opportunity, the staff have much more to say about the week, but here are just a few noted down impressions from the week and things that I personally enjoyed/learned/am thankful for:

  • Having time. Time to chat, laugh and joke with my colleagues and friends.
  • Ashley’s (from the UK team) impression of a Kenyan and Kenyan accent, as she acted in part of the UK team drama on the first day: complete with black facepaint.
  • Praise and worship. We had a mixture of Kenyan and ‘mzungu’ (white man) praise, and apart from the individual joy that comes from worshipping our God, there’s something so unifying about praising our creator together.
  • Testimony. Some of the UK team from CCWoking, and some of the Kenyan staff gave their testimonies that uplifted us so much. It is encouraging to hear where people have come from and the journey God has taken them on.
  • Eunice’s campfire story, that involved her giving an impression of man in labour (yes, a man!). Maybe a ‘you-had-to-be-there-to-find-it-funny’ moment, but it was pretty hilarious
  • Watching some of the Kenyan staff’s reactions to seeing elephants for the first time. Pastor David was almost bouncing with excitement, and I had a bit of a laugh at the expense of poor Mary, who showed a look of absolute fear when told that the colour red (which she was wearing head to toe) causes elephants to stampede (untrue, by the way!)
  • Learning from God. I was particularly challenged by Ben’s (from the UK team) testimony of the Lord’s prayer which challenges us`to ask God to give us today our daily bread. Not tomorrow, or next month or next years etc. As I face a period of uncertainty and change ahead this really spoke to me.
  • I learned how to crochet. It’s not as easy as it may at first appear, took me well over 2 hours to learn just the first row and took 3 teachers to teach me: the first (Eunice – project mama) gave up saying I just brought trouble; the second (Rachel – prep class teacher) gave up saying ‘the lazy work man blames his tools’ when I suggested the wool may be my problem; the third (Mary – Kianda project mama) finally succeeded in teaching me!
  • An afternoon of listening to God for eachother. We were in groups with people we didn’t know so well and encouraged to listen for any words, pictures, impressions or bible verses for each person in the group. God really blessed the time and I think everyone came away uplifted and encouraged.
  • winning every single round of the game ‘steal a word’. I was on fire!
  • Watching Erick (microfinance manager and former weight-lifting champion) lift Pastor Shadrack over his shoulder (no mean feat) as part of a drama performance

I could go on, I really could. But to summarise, I have come away from the week feeling refreshed, both physically and spiritually, feeling much closer and bonded with my colleagues, and with a sense of purpose and direction – particularly in relation to God’s vision for Turning Point: as Jo Parsons shared, where are we without love?

I want to say a huge thank you to ChristChurch Woking, both to the team that came and really served us, and to all those who made it possible for us to have the retreat. I also want to say a big thanks to all who prayed for us during the retreat, and I am sure I say this on behalf of all Turning Point staff.

You guys are great!!!

A new term

by pippa on May 6, 2013 Leave comment

Today was the first day of term two, this academic year. Our Transition classes were open again after the holidays and the compound was filled with the chatter of school children.

We currently have 22 children studying in Transition, split between our centres in Kianda and Mashimoni villages of Kibera. By the end of last term, they had settled into the daily routine and life back in the classroom environment, some having spent many months out of school. They are progressing well and were happy to be back in class today.

Next week, our social workers and project mamas will be busy selecting 20 more children to be admitted to the classes: 10 to Kianda and 10 to Mashimoni. We never go actively looking for children, instead children find us, either brought by their parents, concerned neighbours or come via word of mouth from their friends on the street. We deliberately stagger admittance to our class to create time for parents/guardians to find ways of  getting children into local primary schools themselves, meaning only the really desperate cases come our way. It also allows time for our teachers and social workers to really get alongside and work with each child individually.

Our centre in Kianda only opened a Transition class in January this year. The first term of the new class has gone well and Mary (project mama) has been excited to have the Kianda compound filled with more children. Teacher Magdalene, who has been with Turning Point for 8 years now and so is very experienced in the format of our classes, transferred from our Mashimoni centre to Kianda to help establish the class over there. It is running smoothly, and children who were coming to Kianda centre for just breakfast last year are happy to now be in class learning.

So we look forward to the new term, welcome back to children who were with us last term and a new welcome to those who will join us next week.

If you donate to our Transition Class via  http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/tptrust/ this week, Globalgiving will add 25% to your donation.

Writing the story

by pippa on April 3, 2013 1 Comment

Most stories have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Sometimes the beginnings are hard to get started. The idea of the beginning may swirl around but be hard to capture. Hard to actually take the first step of beginning…the beginning.

Sometimes, the middles are long and drawn out. They seem to last a lifetime and they seem like a dark tunnel with no light in sight.

And the endings? In the good fairytale stories, they live happily ever after, but we never know what happens after ‘the after’. In real life the endings can be painful. They may end abruptly, or in the wrong place. Or sometimes the ending just never ends, but is a series of twists and turns and churnings up of the middle.

Every kid that comes to Turning Point has a story. For some of them it takes a long time for them to get to the ‘beginning’ of their new story, and their lives before Turning Point cannot be ignored. They must be woven in to become and create the new ones.

For some of them, the middle of their story may seem never-ending. And while it may be nicer to report, and it may be nicer read the stories of children who have turned their lives around with the help of Turning Point, the truth is each of Turning Point kid had, and continues to have, a ‘middle’.

Jecintar is now in her second year of Transition class. Her mother brought her to Turning Point 18 months ago because she could not afford the small admission fees and uniform costs. She’s a single mother with no stable income. With the little she gets, she struggles to feed herself and her children, let alone be able to pay rent or other necessities such as school fees. By the time Jecintar was brought to Turning Point she had already spent a lot of the time on the streets while out of school. She’d made friends there. She’d become aware of another way of life and she liked the independence it brought.

When she started with Turning Point, she would come to Transition class but instead of going home after, she would go and find her friends on the streets. A dangerous place for a young girl to be. In lessons she was distracted and lagged behind the others, with her mind elsewhere. At the end of the year, when we supported other kids in Transition back into local government schools, our teachers decided to keep Jecintar in Transition for another year to help her catch up. And it’s still not easy. She still struggles in class and occassionally will not turn up for days at a time, having been lured to the street. Sometimes the ‘middle’ is not easy. It takes long, takes a lot of love and lot of patience. The Turning Point teachers and  social workers continue to work together with Jecintar’s mother through this middle stage, and we pray that as she pens this story that is not yet complete, that she will know God’s peace.

The tyranny of numbers

by Godwill on March 4, 2013 Leave comment

Kenya is electing her fourth president today. We are electing a new government and numbers will count, whoever gets 50+1 takes the cake.
In the corporate world, numbers are everything, everyone wants to know how much money is in the bank at  year end, even in NGOs people want to know how many you have reached. It’s numbers everywhere.
That’s what is contrary about my work as a youth worker,it’s got nothing to do with the outcome of numbers at all. Its relational, how much you invest in people over time, and how much that relationship can hold.
It could be one person in a year or 20 in 18 months. At the end of the year when everyone is giving reports based on numbers,  I step back and look at my year and I it may look nothing much in terms of numerics, but there is a lot to say about how much I have managed to reach out and build relationships.
So let’s wait to usher in the next government based on numbers, on my side, I’ll be hoping to continue to build relationships.

Nevis’ Story

by pippa on February 22, 2013 Leave comment

Nevis lives in Kibera and has a small business selling fruit and vegetables. A loan from Turining Point’s microfinance office has enabled her to expand her business, attracting more customers. She works hard and has a busy schedule. Here she explains an average day in her life:

Everyday I wake up at 4am to go and collect fruit and vegetables from the market for my business. The market is a bit far so I have to take 2 matatus to get there and 2 matatus to get back. I buy two big sacks of fruit and vegetables and I have to carry them back to Kibera on the matatus. I pay someone to help me, 50Ksh or 100Ksh for each sack.

I normally get home at around 6 or 7am and I take my breakfast, I clean my house and do chores like washing clothes and I make sure my children go to school on time. I have 6 children but two of them are married.

During the day I am at my kibanda (stall) selling my fruit and vegetables but I can relax a bit because there is not much business during the day. Business starts at about 4pm when people start coming home from work and start to cook. Then I have lots of work. I stay at my kibanda and sell until about 9 or 9:30pm. Then I pack up and go home and I cook for my children. It is a good business to have because I can cook any vegetables that I am not able to sell. After cooking I maybe watch TV, if there’s power or I go to bed. I like my business and I want it to be successful but it’s hard work.

The cut mark

by Godwill on February 17, 2013 Leave comment

By Gladys Machocho

This blog is 250 words, the equivalent number of marks a pupil in Turning Point must acquire to proceed to Secondary School. The KCPE results were released and received with mixed emotions, some did exceptionally well whereas some were below average. As a social worker at Turning Point this is the time of year that you need to wear the love cap at all times, sometimes tough love is required.

In the past week I have interacted with some of the pupils who did not do well. The young lads have been in school for 8 years and kept busy with TP’s after school activities. Now they are sceptical about spending time in the slum with little to do, fearing they might end up joining bad company.
Some of the questions that I have struggled with in the last two weeks is whether repeating class 8 is a good option for those who failed. Some are over 14 years old and are prepared and ready to join vocational training, an option given to those who do not reach 250 marks since they can’t join secondary school.

The essence of the cut mark is to encourage kids to work hard and excel in their school work and it has worked well so far. This month shall be a busy one in my docket, talking to kids, counselling them, giving them advice and options to eventually see that they join either secondary school or vocational training. This will all start again when secondary schools results are released in a months time.
I would wish to expound on how psychologically kids get affected when they are put under pressure to perform, how last week a pupil committed suicide in Western part of the country because he failed and he could not repeat class because he thought he was very old but I will not because I too have reached my cut mark of 250 words.
Think of what I would have said that you will not hear, think of the kids who performed well, now think of those who didn’t as they consider what their next step should be.

 

How much should we charge for prayers?

by Godwill on February 15, 2013 Leave comment

We continue to show up on the streets of Kibera once a week for HotS, and just to mention from last week, we had one middle-aged man who just wanted prayers for our country Kenya. That reminded us of the need to continue praying for our country as we head for the general election.

This week we had a lady from last week with a testimony of feeling better- praise God. We also got a name and an ailment correct during our pre-HotS prayers, these two amongst other encouragements confirmed to us the presence of the Holy Spirit in this ministry.

We were privileged to pray for many who had problems in different ways, among them a man who was epileptic and was desperate to just getting healing, and a girl who had a problem with her kidneys and aching legs.

Being on the streets at this time of the year can be tough: it’s hot, dusty and there’s a heavy stench from the open sewer running past us. Sometimes, we invite many people who are not willing to stop. Finally, this week, a group of young men stopped and told us if we were to charge for our prayers we would have attracted many people, and that if we were in a more secretive and hidden place we would have been more popular. They told us of how down the street some guys were charging for prayers.

But we continue to insist that our prayers are cost-free as displayed on our signboard. We strive to release those who have been in bondage and put down with poverty, diseases and life in general.

This is Kenya’s jubilee year – the year of God’s doing.