I Don't Have Anyone Else
Education and Faith are the Key
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It is past six when we leave, getting darker in Lisa’s house. I was hoping to see Francis again and watch him be pleased, hopefully, about this connection with his school sponsor and his home, but he is not back yet. The auntie has come in, and she says Francis has a long walk home from school. He doesn’t take a matatu (inexpensive public transportation—often Nissan or Toyota vans) because of the money. We leave with handshakes and the cat following us as far as the fence as we step out to Anne’s car. I picture shy gentle Francis talking into the recorder as Anne drives us back to our apartment in Nairobi. I can hear him telling me his plan. Kenya School of Law. I think of the challenge of Francis meeting that goal.
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About the Book
I don’t have anyone else, “Jane Nungari said to me in 2006 when I visited her school and sought to speak with her and the other orphans who were in class eight. Jane’s saying this to me, as she plaintively looked up into my eyes, has stuck with me. She became the symbol which drove me to start up Child Aid Africa—so that those academically gifted children who can not continue their education without a sponsor can find a special “someone.” Just as I did when I didn't have anyone else. From my own childhood, I understand the drive to lift oneself up out of the cycle of generational poverty. That cycle which, through no fault of one’s own, keeps spinning around and around, with no way out. One’s only resources are prayer, perseverance, and patience. Yet with God’s guidance in the form of a miraculous bringing together of the need and the servant heart, those three resources prove enough. This is the mission of Child Aid Africa: we locate the children who “don’t have anyone else” and offer them the gift of using their drive to excel in their education. We give them a chance to break that cycle. You are welcome to come, read, feel and see the place of I don’t Have Anyone Else.
About the Author
Michel N. Mbito PhD., C.F.L.E. Dr. Michael Mbito’s career history is in teaching as well as community development. He is the founder and director of four organizations: the Center for Adolescent Health – Kenya, IMANI Immigrants Ministry Knoxville, Tennessee, Child Aid Africa Inc., and Mission to Help LLC a global cross-cultural education and service program. Dr. Mbito’s credentials include: Ph.D., Human Ecology and Public Health, University of Tennessee U.S.A. 2004; M.S., Child and Family Studies University of Tennessee, U.S.A. and M.Sc., Populations Policies and Programs, University of Wales college of Cardiff U.K. Dr. Mbito initially trained as a secondary school teacher at the Kenya Science Teacher’s college Nairobi. Dr. Mbito has held college teaching and research positions in Kenya, the United States, and in the United Kingdom. His latest appointments was an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Science at Messiah College, P.A; An Assistant Professor Social Work, Sociology, Criminal Justice and Family Science and the Family Science Program Director at Anderson University, IN. Dr. Mbito’s research focuses on: Parents’ Influences on adolescents’ development of social competences, Ritual in Human Life Course Transitions as well as Population and Family Health. His latest books include: Parent-Child Relationships in Sub-Sahara Africa: Adolescent Development of Social Competence and the Kikuyu Circumcision Ritual, Irua Ria Anake. In the Population and Family Health arena, his works include – research onto the Constraints to the Adoption of Modern Contraceptives in Sub-Sahara Africa - The Need for Population Education in the Context of Social and Cultural Shifts.