This is definitely not good news, but I think you should read the exact words of Statehouse insider, Dennis Itumbi, without any spoiler.
I parked just outside Macmillan Library. Macmillan is opposite Nation House and if you like your directions using bars, its next to Giggles.
I can confirm that the Children who literally cling to your shirts asking for a donation operate under intense pressure.
For about 106 minutes, I watched as a group of five women, each holding a cane beat up the kids for not squeezing a coin from their targets.In one instance i watched two of the women throw stones at their children. Child abuse in its raw form unfolded before my eyes.
At one point I confronted the women. They appear strong, I opined, why can’t they wash clothes in neighbourhoods for instance? why can’t they form a group and start a small business funded by Women Fund or Uwezo Fund?
“Kwanini tuoshe Nguo? Kuosha Nguo ni Mia Tatu tu, hapa nishapata mia saba na hamsini, hii ni kama kazi ya ofisi.Na bado watu hawajalewa…”
I insist using a different approach, ‘what happens when the kids grow up and can no longer use emotional appeal to squeeze the money? ‘
As if in a choreography the women point me to the Parking boys, who they freely tell me make up 3k a day.
The parking boys live off the good will fund of motorists, but of late it is a compulsory appreciation fee of sorts. If you do not pay they mark you out and next time you park if you do not meet deflated tyres, you will face missing lights and in worst case scenarios broken windows.
A problem that has been ignored over the years its clear is blossoming into a major crisis.
Sometimes, such experiences expose you to the real challenges that the Government faces and fire up a unique sense of innovation for policy and creative solutions.
All is not lost, as i Drive off, i meet a young man washing cars. I park next to where he is and make a decision I must promote his idea.
As he washes the car and I update he tells me he is at the University and that is how he supplements his fees – he charges 250 and so far he has washed 21 cars, he normally washes 50 cars daily, between Thursday and Saturday.
Well all is not lost, Transforming Kenya, is those little observations and steps for all of us, I pay him double and head home with a challenge and a lesson well learnt…
In one instance i watched two of the women throw stones at their children. Child abuse in its raw form unfolded before my eyes.
At one point I confronted the women. They appear strong, I opined, why can’t they wash clothes in neighbourhoods for instance? why can’t they form a group and start a small business funded by Women Fund or Uwezo Fund?
“Kwanini tuoshe Nguo? Kuosha Nguo ni Mia Tatu tu, hapa nishapata mia saba na hamsini, hii ni kama kazi ya ofisi.Na bado watu hawajalewa…”
I insist using a different approach, ‘what happens when the kids grow up and can no longer use emotional appeal to squeeze the money? ‘
As if in a choreography the women point me to the Parking boys, who they freely tell me make up 3k a day.
The parking boys live off the good will fund of motorists, but of late it is a compulsory appreciation fee of sorts. If you do not pay they mark you out and next time you park if you do not meet deflated tyres, you will face missing lights and in worst case scenarios broken windows.
A problem that has been ignored over the years its clear is blossoming into a major crisis.
Sometimes, such experiences expose you to the real challenges that the Government faces and fire up a unique sense of innovation for policy and creative solutions.
All is not lost, as i Drive off, i meet a young man washing cars. I park next to where he is and make a decision I must promote his idea.
As he washes the car and I update he tells me he is at the University and that is how he supplements his fees – he charges 250 and so far he has washed 21 cars, he normally washes 50 cars daily, between Thursday and Saturday.
Well all is not lost, Transforming Kenya, is those little observations and steps for all of us, I pay him double and head home with a challenge and a lesson well learnt…
By Dennis Itumbi
© nairobiwire.com
Follow @nairobiwire
