Inspired by the Gospel, Local Heroes Reach Out to the
Children of the Shantytown

Father Hans Burgman

If you look at an urban map of Kisumu, a town in Western Kenya not far from Lake Victoria, you will notice a neat little border that marks its outskirts. Around it you will see a blur of scattered spots. "This is how the shantytowns are portrayed", explains Father Hans Burgman. "The city has 60,000 inhabitants. The shantytowns, which cram more than 300,000 people, do not even appear on the map".

Established during the colonial period, when a gate closed off the town of Kisumu, the shantytowns are now the place where the majority of people live. Pandipieri is the name of one of the two largest shantytowns and, as odd as it may sound, its Lwo translation literally means 'hide your butt'. "The shantytowns historically had no services, including latrines-continues Father Hans-so when people had to go to the toilet, they only had one choice...". Entrenched poverty and a lack of basic services are what prompted Father Hans, a Mill Hill missionary originally from Holland, to settle here more that twenty years ago.

"At the time, the Catholic church was very rural. It had not yet come to terms with the phenomenon of swelling shantytowns in the growing urban areas. I was given the task to explore new forms of doing missionary work in this changed context". So in 1977 this young Dutch missionary, assisted by a handful of community members, established a "new form of Urban Apostolate", which is now known as the Pandipieri Catholic Center, a community-based, urban, and integrated development program. The core philosophy of the Center is based on three principles. First, solutions to existing problems must come from within the community; they should not be imported from outside. Secondly, if you want to be part of a solution, you must be part of the community. And thirdly, resources used must also come from within the community.

This philosophy highlights that particular attention should be give to human resources, as they represent the most important capital of all. "Our goal is to make people become alive-explains Father Hans-to cultivate the sparkle buried in them. Inside every human being, there is such a powerful nuclear explosion of energy. This is really what we are after".

Welcome to Pandipieri Catholic Center

And the energy greets you as you walk through the entrance of the Pandipieri Catholic Center, where giant wooden statues created by a former art schoolteacher welcome everyone into the throbbing heart of the shantytown. Over the past two decades, the Center has undertaken more than twenty projects, now organized into five areas: community-based services, education, training, income-generating activities, and community support groups. Although a community of Christians established the Center, the beneficiaries of the projects include people of all faiths. The founders were inspired by, in the words of the staff, "a simple understanding of the Gospel", to reach out to all those in need and to work together for the well being of all.

Children at Pandipieri Catholic Center

Pandipieri focuses many of its activities around children, particularly street children. The Street Children Program is centered on rehabilitation and the acquisition of life skills to enable children to get off the streets. "We do not walk the street child into our center", explains Susan, a key program staff. "It is only when the child decides to make the journey to the Center that the rehabilitation process starts". But the work with the children begins while they are still in the street. John Owino is a teacher in the non-formal school at Pandipieri, and on occasions also a "street worker", meaning that he will actually spend time with the children on the street. His goal is to build a rapport with the children, to establish trust and to let them know that there are appealing alternatives to street-life.

Pre-school children at Pandipieri

"Street children are often stigmatized-says John-that is why in our center we do not separate them form other children. We encourage them to live and play together with others". The same approach is taken with children who are orphans of AIDS. "They are all vulnerable children. HIV/AIDS is one of the main factors affecting the number of street children", adds Susan, "the younger the parents are when they die, the higher the chances of their children ending up in the streets. And once in the streets, children also become vulnerable to HIV. Sexual abuse is a common occurrence in the streets".

Although some of the children live at Pandipieri, the goal of the Center is not to be an orphanage. On the contrary, says Owino, "our main goal is to rehabilitate the child back into their homes. What we offer here is a rescue program. We provide child counseling and we try not to judge the children by the information they give us. We believe that rehabilitation is a process. The child has to volunteer information first, and must put his ideas and opinions first".

Joseph Odour, Child Counselor

Joseph Oduor is a child counselor who works at Pandipieri and who lives in the community. "The children I counsel know where I come from, they know where my house is. I understand the problems they face because I too come form this community". It is people like him, and his many colleagues at Pandipieri, who make a real difference in the lives of children like five-year-old Steven Omundi, whose mother died of AIDS, whose father is currently ill, and whose little brother of three years is most probably HIV positive. "Steven lives near the Center and he is always around here", explains Joseph who keeps a close and protective watch over him. "Unfortunately, he does not attend pre-school here because he has to look after his little brother and his father. But he comes here often to be around people and to be comforted. He is inseparable from his little brother. It is going to be a shock for him when this little boy passes away".

Five-year-old Stevie takes care of his family

Joseph knows many of the Pandipieri children. He knows their background, where they live, what their thoughts are and what they hope for. Kevin Asumba is one of the children he counsels. He is 13 and lives by himself. Both of his parents died of AIDS. For a living he roasts and sells ground nuts (peanuts). He does this early in the morning, before heading out to school. A friend of his mother sells the groundnuts at the market on his behalf. With that money Kevin pays rent, buys school supplies and daily food. "He is truly an exceptional kid-says Joseph, who has been counseling him for a couple of years-his dream is to become a medical doctor".

So in the heart of the shantytown, the Pandipieri staff strives to nourish that sparkle of hope that is deeply rooted in all human beings. Their job is to cultivate dreams. It is community-based programs like these that can make a concrete difference in people's lives. It is programs like this that the Hope for African Children Initiative aims to strengthen and support.

Showing the process of how Pandipieri works with street children	Sister Josephone Akello with staff member in the textile production unit, an income generating activity at Pandipieri