"An unusual quiet moment for Peter Muli, 9, at a drop-in centre for street children recently opened in Mombasa. The scene has a very obvious pathos. Peter had chosen this picture-book for himself from the centre's small library. It was also the only time I had seen him sitting quietly, except when he was eating the meals provided at the centre. Most of the time Peter bursts with energy. When he sits down, he fidgets, chats and grins, often wrestling his legs around the back of his neck. Out on the streets he breaks into cartwheels and gymnastic routines on the pavements.

Peter ran away from home in 2005, because his mother was unable to feed him and his baby brother, or send him to school. His father had left for Nairobi to look for work. I had spent the day with Peter and his friends, Ruben and Oscar. They usually beg in town, making perhaps 50P each in a day, enough to buy two meals of ugali (maize porridge) and beans - or chips, which the boys often prefer. This is more than Peter had been eating at home. At nights the boys sleep on an open pavement in the centre of Mombasa.

The new drop-in centre opened by WEMA, an Oxfam partner, can provide a life-line for the boys. Peter has not started sniffing glue, which would quickly rob him of his charm and humour. The children often take drugs to give them the confidence to beg. By providing food, the centre reduces the boys' need to beg, and so reduces their dependence on glue. Staff at the centre will look for ways to return Peter to his family, or refer him to a children's home. Like most boys on the streets, his greatest wish is to be at school."