A Reintegration Story: Steve Charo UPDATED

SEE THE UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM!

Traditionally in Kenya, when a man and a woman marry, the woman will leave her home and will live with her new husband's family.  Sometimes problems can arise when men and women from different tribes marry due to cultural differences.  

Steve Charo, Age 15

Steve Charo's mother was originally from a village about 25 miles north of Kisumu, while Steve's father was from Mombasa, about 500 miles southeast.  Not much else is known about Steve's parents and the reason for their separation, but when Steve was 5 years old, his mother kidnapped him and his younger sister taking them from Mombasa to her family's home in western Kenya.  

A few years later, Steve's mother got sick and passed away.  Steve's mother's family began to push the Steve and his sister to go and find his father's family (because they didn't want to care from them anymore).  As a result, both children ended up on the street.  Steve eventually ended up at Agape, and it is believed that his sister ended up with a "Good Samaritan" in Nairobi.

As I've indicated in previous posts, Agape works to find and reintegrate former street boys with their families, but trying to find Steve's family was a little tougher.  It was known that Steve's mother's family did not want him, so Agape began to try to determine a way to reunite him with his father's family.  The problem was that Steve was only 5 when he left Mombasa and could remember very little about his father's family.  This is an excerpt from the reintegration report detailing the story of Steve searching for and rejoining his father's family near Mombasa:

Trip from Kisumu to Malindi, via Mobasa (~600 mile trip)

It was a day just like any other day.  That I decided to take Steve to Mombasa to search for his parents in Mtongwe where he (his father) was working as one of the marine officers that was according to Steve told me so I started the search.

We went to marine office with Steve and at this point he could not remember his father's name at all neither could he remember his home area.  The only thing Steve could remember was that his father was called Charo.  In the office the officer's search for anybody by the name Charo but was all in vain.

We gave up the search and decided to leave the office as we were approaching the gate the guard who was at the gate saw the disappointment that were on our faces and asked us if we succeeded I told him no and he was ready to help us.  I told him that we were looking for someone by the name Charo.  That's when he started giving us various names with Charo as the first name and fortunately he mentioned a name and Steve remembered that his father was called Katana and that's how he used to hear people call him.  He also said that people were calling his father Katana Ngala Changamwe (Member of Parliament-MP).

The guard was surprised and he asked us why we were searching for this man.  So I started explaining myself to him and as I was still talking and explaining where we are from, the guard interrupted and asked Steve if he was son of Nyamalo.  (Nyamalo means a woman from the western part of Kenya) and Steve responded by a strong yes!

The guard went silence for a long time as if he was thinking deeply about something we could not guess.  After that silence he told me that the man who happened to be Steve's father was no longer working at the marine office.  He asked us if we were interested to know the home and I said yes.  He explained to us how we could reach that home though it was very far away.

OUR JOURNEY TO MALINDI

From Mombasa to Malinidi is almost the same as from Kisumu to Nakuru (75 miles).  When we reached Malindi we boarded a Matatu (van) to a place called Mida, as we were instructed by the guard.  When we alighted at Mida we asked someone where the home of Mzee (old man) Katana Kharisa was and he immediately called a motorbike who took us to the exact home.  It was amazing how things were working for us.

MZEE KATANA KARRISA'S HOME

Immediately we alighted at the motorbike we could see an old man gazing at us from a distance.  he was staring as if he knew us and was also surprised.  When we approached him instead of talking to us he run back into the house.  He came back after a short while and was accompanied by an old woman who was very shocked on seeing us.  The old woman was shocked beyond words that she never said anything.  So the old man gave us a warm welcome in the house.  

As we were just about to sit, the old woman broke into prayers.  She shouted so loudly in their own language that brought the neighbors to come witness what was going on.  As the woman was praying the old man was shedding tears.  After the prayer the house was silent.  

THE BREAKING NEWS

I introduced myself, my name and my mission there.  I asked them if they knew the boy who made the old woman broke into tears.  As the woman was still crying the old man recognized Steve as their grandson which was good news to me.  

FINDINGS IN MOMBASA

I found that Mr. Charo Katana who was Steven's father died in 2004.

Steve has two uncles:  Ngumbao Katana and Ronald Katana; who are financially stable and loving.  They were so happy to see Charo back home after a long time.

CONCLUSION

We (I and paternal family) decided that Steve was to remain with them back in Mombasa to continue with his education.  I promised to visit them after two weeks to see him again and to see how he is fairing on with his new home and with new family.

What an awesome story!  With the help of our Reintegration Team, a 15-year old boy was able to piece together enough information to find his father's home 600 miles away and 10 years later.  I'll ask you, "What do you remember from when you were 5 years old?"  I can honestly say that only through God's help did the Agape team find Steve's home!

Please continue to pray for Steve in his new home.  Tribes vary considerably throughout Kenya, and he is in a new place with new customs and a new language.  Some of his new family is Catholic and some of the family is Muslim, so Agape will continue to visit Steve every few weeks to check on him, as well as to continue to share about Jesus with his new family.  The first follow-up visit was conducted earlier this week, and Steve is doing well!  Praise the Lord!

UPDATE:  We just found out that Steve's father has 19 living brothers and sisters (originally we thought that Steve just had two uncles); his grandfather had two wives.  Now, here's the really cool part:  In this tribe, the firstborn son inherits the lands and possessions of the father when he passes away; not too unusual right?  Well, here's the kicker, if the firstborn son passes away, then the inheritance goes to the firstborn son of the firstborn son.  I know, I know, kind of confusing.  Here's what it means:  Steve is the heir to his grandfather's lands and possessions (not the uncles or aunts)!  Also, within this tribe all of the sons of the grandfather (Steven's uncles) are required to live on the lands of the grandfather, which means that technically all of Steve's uncles' lands and belongings will eventually belong to Steve.  Steve is a pretty wealthy kid!   One of our staff said, "Who knew that Steve was a king!"


One other quick note; in the report above, it reads that the grandfather ran away when he first saw Steve.  The reason why is because, he thought that Steve was a ghost.  A local witch doctor told Steve's family that Steve was dead, and that they would never see him again.  Praise God that the folly of this witch doctor was exposed!!!