Rehabilitation work in Molo
It all started when a team form DBC*, Wooding Dean, Near Brighton, visited the projects. They went to a morning service in the Molo church, they were surprised to see nothing happened when the service ended, people just drifted away. So they suggested "Why don't you do what we do in England, serve tea or coffee and biscuits after the service, so people don't have to drift away, they can stay and talk, make friends, and get to know each other better?" To help them get going, the DBC team purchased a set of Thermos flasks (so that drinks could be prepared beforehand), and so a "tea and coffee" ministry got started at the end of each service!
*DBC = Downs Baptist Church
It wasn't long before what was going on drew the attention of the local street children. They saw free tea, coffee or biscuits on offer in the church at the end of the services, and started to drift in. To the church's credit, rather than just shoo them away because they weren't part of the church, they welcomed them, began to befriend them, and saw them as an outreach opportunity. Realising how many of them lived, feeding from rubbish bins and sleeping rough, they started a "Feeding Program", offering them nutritious (if basic) hot meals to local street kids on a daily basis.
Developments
The project quickly developed into a social work, as the team running the project discovered the reasons why the children were on the streets. The reasons were varied. Some were 'Aids orphans'. Some had home situations they found unbearable, and they had preferred to leave home. And various other reasons too, why they found themselves living on the streets. But in many cases, the team's careful and skilled involvements with the families lead the the children being able to live at home again. And, also, most of them had been unable to attend school, due (1), being unkempt and unwashed, and (2) being unable to come with the necessary learning materials (books, pens and pencils, other basics.) But there again, the team were able to help with these basics, and many were able to restart their education.
The situation now
All this started over 15 years ago. Since then, the work has grown and developed over the years. Many of the children have been sponsored through primary education, some also through secondary education, and a even some through university, and and there are several who have since graduated! Much of this was made possible through the help of well-
