Last week, the video of an eloquent Kenyan street child, 15-year-old Morris Mwenda, was uploaded to Facebook. Within hours of its posting, it trended and in a day was featured on AJ+, the third largest online news outlet on Facebook. What made the video so popular so fast was its stirring content. The video shows Morris, who is visibly emaciated and fatigued, seated on a grass lawn dressed in ill fitting, grimy clothes. But his external appearance is deceiving, since he exudes an enviable confidence and intelligence when he speaks. In the short clip, Morris articulately advocates that street families like himself deserve an opportunity to participate in society. He goes on to criticize the 2015 eviction of street children in Nairobi ahead of U.S. President Obama's visit, and speaks out against the rampant corruption in Kenya. Comments on the video expressed an astonishment at Morris' oratorical abilities, with many saying that they were inspired by the resilience Morris displayed. Instead of hopelessness, Morris displays an optimism that is almost unimaginable given his situation as a homeless teen.
This famous video was a creation of Homeless of Nairobi, a humanitarian organization that has been working with the city's street inhabitants, mostly children, since 2014. According to their website, Homeless of Nairobi started out as an online platform on Wordpress and Facebook that shared the unheard stories of those that made the streets their home. With time, the organization received requests of people wishing to help the homeless featured on the organization's Facebook Page. As a result a feeding and shelter program emerged enabling the organization to assist the vulnerable of the city, most of whom would have been otherwise forgotten. Morris video was but one of the posts the organization makes. Homeless of Nairobi demonstrates how much social enterprise can grow through the use of social media. In countries such as Kenya that lack a reliable social security system, its the self-starters like Homeless of Nairobi that make most impact on the society.
"Over the years, the homeless have become part of the background wallpaper of Nairobi. They’re not noticed anymore. They are the voiceless in a generation of communication and so we must stand for them."
- Homeless of Nairobi
Since the video, Morris along with three of his friends have been taken off the streets. They had a change of lifestyle and could look forward to safer days. Homeless of Nairobi received an overwhelming amount of support towards their cause while Morris' video circulated online. The four can now resume school- something that must have been unimaginable to them before their contact with the Homeless of Nairobi. This past weekend, Morris and Homeless of Nairobi were extensively featured and interviewed on Kenyan TV. As Kenya celebrates Morris' exit from the harsh streets, it must be remembered that the world's homeless situation remains dire. There are many others like Morris who are in despair.
Homelessness of children is very rampant in the urban landscapes of the Global South. Its a consequence of a combination of factors including poverty, familial fragmentation, and unreliable or non-existent social security structures. The United Nations Human Rights Council suggests that children living on the streets flee family distress and community-based violence only to encounter much more violence and trauma. Moreover, street children are often perceived as belonging to either one of two categories- the victim or the delinquent. Victims are more likely than delinquents to receive passive support, such as admission to orphanages while delinquents are sent into the penal system. Regardless of what leads them to the street, the homeless are deserving of their rights. As Morris's video proved last week, they are human beings in need of shelter and opportunity.
