GRT is in Africa magazine | Group for Transcultural Relations

GRT is in Africa magazine

“Some call them zombies, because they roam the streets covered in rags, their eyes swollen and the glue-bottle perpetually in their mouths. For many, however, they are ‘hopeless,’ because they are drug addicts, disabled, misfits or too aggressive. For us, they are people whose potential is hidden and who struggle to emerge and be seen.”

GRT tells in Africa magazine the stories of people involved in educational and social rehabilitation projects in the areas where it operates. This month we get to know the story of Faith, a young girl recently of age who lives in the suburbs of Nairobi, Kenya. After a difficult adolescence, deprived of family support and exposed to the dangers of street life, Faith was identified by GRT field workers. Indeed, thanks to the organization’s presence on the ground, she and many other street children have been taken in and supported on their path to family, school and community reintegration.

After a professional course in aesthetics and hairstyling, Faith got her diploma and now works in a hair salon. She regained the support of her mother from whom she had been separated for some time and took her life back into her own hands.

Her story is an example of the work of the organization, which, through its Njia ya Nyumbani – The Way Home project, is at the forefront of strengthening community and institutional response mechanisms to the phenomenon of marginalization of the most vulnerable children.

As Faith reminds us with a beautiful smile at the end of a meeting with GRT workers : “It is said that slipping is not the same as falling… I slipped, but I decided to take back my life.”

The article is available in full in Africa magazine. To read it, click here, “Slipping is not falling.”

And if you are interested in learning more, watch the full video of GRT’s experience in the slums of Nairobi on YouTube: The Way Home – ‘Njia ya Nyumbani