Tumaini

I attended a special event at The Tumaini Children's Center this morning. The Tumaini Center was started at the beginning of this year (2010) to help the many street children in Eldoret.* The street children roam the streets in search of food, money, and friendship. Estimates reported by Tumani indicate that there are over 3000 street kids in Eldoret.**  Many are orphaned and still others come from families who are simply unable to provide for their children.  

* The mission of the Tumaini Children's Center is to help improve the lives of street children in Eldoret by empowering them with hope, knowledge, skills, opportunities and resources necessary for them to find a health alternative to street life.

** There are roughly between 190,000-220,000 people in Eldoret. 

Today's event was a photography show where the featured photographers were 8 street children (ages 17 and under) who were given cameras and after some basic training in photography were asked to photograph their lives. The photos were amazing and I wish I had a few to share with you.* To see literally a snapshot of their lives was a pretty moving thing.  

* I also wish I could get them published. Though their work may not be up to the quality standards of say "The National Geographic", the images that are captured should be seen by a wider audience. 

The event was fun, there was some dancing, some introductions, followed by the gallery event.   I toured the event and met some of the photographers. They were very proud of their work, they were able to articulate something special.  They did take just snapshots, a few mentioned something more deep about what they saw through the viewfinder. 

Fortunately, I was able to capture a bit of the day and have posted a few of the photos here. 

Getting back to the Tumaini Children's Center, the efforts by the folks involved is really a labor of love. The center runs on very little money but they do a great deal with very little. They offer outreach services on the weekends, the center itself open three days a week so the children can come in for some food, access medical, educational and social services, and enjoy a safe sheltered place for a few hours. 

The hope is that the center will continue to grow in a sustainable way and be a full-time asset to Eldoret.