Do you have a friend that you trust? Trust enables you to feel safe with your best friend. You make plans and do things together. As your trust grows, so does the bond between the two of you. Trust requires that we keep our word and promise. In I Trusted a Friend and Landed in Remand Prison, *Dennis Manu shares the following story.
My name is Dennis Manu. I come from Keroka in Kisii County. I come from a very poor family. But that does not make me weak. I always do my best to make my family happy. It also helps me to achieve my goals in life.
I want to give you a little story of my life.
Dennis was born on December 14, 2000 in Keroka by Mr and Mrs Nanchoka. I am the last born in a family of two. My older brother is called Caleb and we lost touch with him a few years ago. My dad and mom left me when I was a little boy. But my grandmother never left me.
My grandmother always makes me feel happy. She is still strong and very cute. I always pray that God gives her more years so she can see the fruits of my life.
When my dad and mom left me, I was still young. That I was not understanding myself. When I was in the age of seven years, my grandmother took me to school. After I finished class eight, she did her best to take me until Form Two. Then she got sick of blood pressure. Because my grandmother was a farmer, her blood pressure gave me the worst life change.
How My Grandmother’s Blood Pressure Affected Me
And the little money she got was not enough to medicine and my school fees. So I had to drop out of school and help my grandmother in our farm. Where we grew cash crops. Such as french beans maize/sweet potatoes and e.t.c.
But in March my grandmother got worse sick. That she cant do anything to herself. So I have to live farm and start something else to help her. I got a job in a hotel wich pays me three hundred per day.
I had to divide the money in three times. First I saved for my rent and my grandmother’s medicines. Third for food. Until I met myself in a big big trouble.
The trouble began like this. where I had rent a house there was a young man whom we from the same village. His name is Mochama. This man was just a passby friend and I didnt knew his job. He lived near the plot I had lent.
He used to go early in the morning just like 11 AM in the morning. He used to come early in my house and gave me clothes inside a bag. It went for a week without thinking what was inside the clothes.
When he gave to me in the morning there was a mother used to come and take. He told me that if the mother comes I should give to her. Because she is the one who cleans his clothes. But on Monday morning sub-chieves were going house to house searching for bhangi and chang’aa. I had someone knocking my door and went to open the door.
I Trusted a Friend and Landed in Remand Prison
When I opened the door the sub-chieves said they want to do a search in my house and I agree. They get bhangi inside the bag that my friend left in my house. They tied me with ropes and took me to police station.
On my way to the station I had people saying this is the man who uses drugs to rich himself. He is the man who drug dill the village.
Footnotes
This is the first time that I have written the story of one of our boys without editing any of it. I hope that the grammatical errors can portray what my polished writing would have disguised. Dennis Manu is one of the male teen offenders who often find themselves in our justice system. As you can tell, Dennis a victim who found himself committing a crime he doesn’t know about.
He trusted a friend, someone he sees often and talk to. Like most of our children, he trusts with all his heart. He knows his friend cannot do anything to harm him. Much us he doesn’t know what his friend he does, he knows he is safe.
He only realizes he is in trouble when he is frog marched to the police station. Then he is taken to court and boards a green prison van that brings him to prison. These are the boys and exceptional young men that Lifesong Kenya seeks to empower. By equipping these boys with employable skills and character formation, we hope it will lead to transformation.
Would You Like to Support Lifesong Kenya?
As the boys undergo skill based training, we combine this with our healing and reconciliation program. This involves tracing and meeting family members and the people the boys have wronged and hurt. It is work that requires your finances and support.
There are a few friends of ours that are already supporting us. One of our corporate monthly supporters is Praise Assembly. The church has been sending us support every month. However, the support isn’t enough for our operations that run from Monday to Friday every week.
Because our staff and volunteers spend the whole day in prison, they need allowances. This is the only way they will be able to take care of their rent, transport and lunch. Contact us today and find out how you can help exceptional young men like Dennis Manu.
Lastly, let us know what you make of I Trusted a Friend and Landed in Remand Prison. We appreciate your comments, suggestions and input concerning the work that Lifesong Kenya is doing. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you soon.
