6th November, 2009
It was a meeting of like souls, though on the surface they seemed like very dissimilar people. Indeed at first glance, one would not think that there was much in common between a senior, no-nonsense Kenyan minister and a lively community of disadvantaged children from a low-income Nairobi suburb. But when Hon John Michuki, Minister for the Environment and Mineral Resources, spent a day with the children of AMREF’s Dagoretti Child in Need Centre, they discovered that they were, indeed, kindred spirits.
On Friday last week, the minister and the children were brought together by their mutual concern and passion for the environment. Hon Michuki joined the children and the Dagoretti community in planting trees at the Centre, and encouraged them not just to plant trees, but to ensure that those trees were nurtured to maturity. Touching on a major undertaking by his ministry to clean up rivers serving the city of Nairobi, the minister encouraged the community to take care of water sources.
“We have plenty of water – we just don’t take good care of it,” he said. “Water is life, yet we have polluted what we have and made it dirty. We are drinking this dirty water, and that is why instead of living to a ripe old age many people die young, while children are born stunted and weak. Many rivers have dried up because of man’s activities, such as cutting down of trees. We must look after the resources we have.”
Minister Michuki launched an e-Journal by the Different Perspectives group of the Dagoretti Child in Need Project, focusing on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The online journal was developed by the Dagoretti team led by Project Manager John Muiruri, with assistance from Sayaka Hino, an intern at the centre. It features articles written by the children on progress on the ground towards achievement of the MDGs. At the same time, the Minister launched Millennium News, a documentary on the eight MDGs from the perspective of the children. Hon Michuki watched a segment of the documentary focusing on MDG 7 – environmental sustainability.
The minister was accompanied by Prof Hiriyuki Hino, economc advisor to Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
When he addressed the huge crowd that turned up at the centre, the minister was clearly impressed by the work done by the centre’s youth to promote environmental conservation, including the use of waste to make music.
“I never thought that such good music could come from plastic paper bags, or discarded water bottles, or rusty drums that
others only deem fit for brewing chang’aa (an illicit alcoholic brew),” Hon Michuki said after watching a demonstration by the Jua Kali Drummers, who create music using instruments made from recycled waste. So taken was he with the performance that he invited the group to visit his Kangema Constituency in Kenya’s Central Province.
Minister Michuki is a stickler for time and detail. However, while his visit to the centre should have ended at 1pm, he agreed to visit to the children’s studios at the Dagoretti Theatre House. Here, the Different Perspectives Group interviewed the minister on environmental issues, ranging from how to care for trees to Kenya’s position at the recent global conference on climate change in Copenhagen. The minister then joined the children for a cup of tea, and told them of his childhood experiences. And herein lay the basis of a deep connection between the minister and the Dagoretti children.
“But for the grace of God, I would have been a street child,” he said. He went on to explain: “I was born into a large, wealthy family. My father was a chief with 43 wives, and in my early years, I lived a very privileged life. But when I was nine, my father died, and my mother and I were not able to get any of his wealth. Life changed for me. However, my illiterate mother was very keen that I get an education, and that is what got me where I am today.”
For the next couple of hours, the Minister spoke with the children, answering their questions and giving them advise. He urged them to be disciplined, committed and organised, and to study hard. Using himself as an example, he told them that it was possible to rise from obscurity to a place where they could make an impact in the world.
It was indeed a meeting of kindred spirits. At the end of the day, a special bond had been formed between the minister and the children. Each had discovered a part of themselves in the other.
For further information please contact:
Betty Muriuki- AMREF Writing Manager, on +254 20 6993327, email: betty.muriuki@amref.org
