Urchins are a common sight in most of the Kenyan urban centers, Nakuru included.
In Nakuru for instance, efforts to tame their presence within the Central Business District (CBD) has proven futile, with attempts by both the county government and other respective bodies including the police, to deliver them to orphanages and designated homes hitting the wall as they always find their way back.
However, urchins, especially in Nakuru, vary in lifestyle, behaviors and occupations, here are the types of ragamuffins you will meet in Nakuru.
1. Parking attendants
They earn a living by manning parking sites in the CBD.
This type of street kids will not only direct the drivers to the vacant parking spaces on the busy roadsides but will also assume the security job, watching over the vehicles before requesting for a few shillings upon the return of the car owners.
They are common along the Eastern end of the busy Kenyatta Avenue.
2. Collectors
These ones tirelessly roam the entire lakeside town with their sacks hanging on their backs in search of scrap metal and other reusable litter.
They also pick pieces of plastic, shoe soles and glass bottles which they sell to scrap dealers for some shillings and usually concentrate their hunt on residential areas.
They are popularly known to residents as ''Wasee wa wamba'' or Wasee wa woso''.
3. Beseechers
They are mostly small kids.
They position themselves outside supermarkets and major shops begging for loose change.
Also in the category are street mothers who appeal for milk for their babies whose dads, on most occasions, are also urchins.
Now you know!