How EACDT has changed my life
Stephen Muli
Having been born and raised in the slums of Majengo, I faced many challenges. I was surrounded by crime and immorality and I found the pressure from my peers to join in was irresistible. Drug addiction and the perceived glamour of becoming a drug lord seemed just a part of life for a young boy living where I lived. Youths engaging in criminal activities and girls getting pregnant at a very young age is normal in the neighborhood.
Then I was introduced to the EACDT programme in 2014 and this proved to be a life-changing experience for me. The programme has changed me to who I am today; from being a notorious young person who people predicted would become a dangerous adult, I have become someone that children in the neighborhood look up to – for all the right reasons.
The programme has helped me understand when and how to react to situations. It has equipped me to make the right decisions. Previously, it was hard for me to coexist with many people because of my lifestyle and lack of morals; many parents did not want their children near me because they rightly believed I was a bad influence on them. They knew I would teach them how to steal and do drugs, but when the EACDT programme was introduced to me, I had the chance to change all those things. I was taught character through cricket and, without even realising it, became a different person. I learned about social intelligence and that helped me make new and good friends.
I learned so much through the programme that I almost forgot I came from the slums. I was always out, either playing cricket or doing other constructive things with my new friends. The programme kept me busy enough to forget my past and not to think about doing wrong things. I was always in class, telling stories about the latest cricket match. My academic grades changed for the better. Some of the guys I used to hang with tried to lure me back to my former ways, but I now had the tools to lead a different sort of life and there would be no going back for me. Within a short time, I became the talk of the town; everyone was talking about how I had changed for the better. I was used as an example by many and even my own mother could not believe how I had been transformed by the EACDT programme. I will always be thankful to the programme and I will always help wherever I can to change lives in the slums.