A walk through Kibera

Whilst I was in Nairobi in December I visited a Christian community-based development organisation called Ghetto Light. It is in Kibera, one of the largest shanty towns in Africa and located on the edge of the city. Run by Kenyan Christians, Ghetto Light helps some of the poorest city-dwellers by running activities for young people and by giving business advice and banking facilities to local entrepreneurs. A number of AIM workers are involved in youth and children's projects at Ghetto Light such as a preschool, football league and a dance squad.

Like so many of my Kenyan adventures, visiting Kibera was like stepping into a Geography textbook. I don’t want to be a tourist or a geography teacher when I visit places like this and as a result I didn’t take many photos. But as I walked through the narrow, bustling passageways I couldn't help considering an assignment that LCHS Year 13 Geographers write: Are slums places of hope or despair.

Slums of hope or despair?

Karla, an American nearing the end of her gap year in Kenya, took me on a walk around Kibera. Earlier in the year she had lived at Ghetto Light’s base and worked with the preschool. Kibera means forest and looked at from above it does look like a dense jungle of building. As we walked down towards the settlement and crossed the railway tracks that run through Kibera is built we were rather conspicuous ‘wazungus’ (white folks) but people were friendly and children were keen to greet us (in the hope that we might give them sweets, perhaps) and Karla knew some of them from her time working there.

 

Despair?

Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water. It was dry when I visited but I could easily imagine how slippery the paths would get if muddy. Open sewers run along the paths and when I was there some people were clearing out rubbish. Combined with poor diet and contaminated drinking water, this will inevitably lead to significant health issues.

 

Joyce, the house help where I stayed in Nairobi, told me that she lived in Kibera until a year ago. She talked fondly of it, but she found crime was on the increase and her house was broken into several times. A few days after she moved out her place burned down when a fire broke out nearby.

 

Life there is hard in so many ways that I can’t really imagine. Many people are born, live and die in Kibera, without ever leaving, despite the centre of Nairobi not being just 3 miles. Government slum clearance and development has happened with little regard for local people who can’t afford the rent in the new apartments and many move back to Kibera. Only the first phase of the redevelopment has occurred, partly because plans are beset by flooding, unstable slopes and people who steal building materials.

Hope?

Yet people we saw weren’t miserable or wallowing in self-pity.There were many people moving around like they had some place to be and there was lots of economic activity: little dukas (shops), people grilling maize or frying mandazi (like donuts) to sell, workshops making or recycling household items. There are small cafes, places to watch football and hairdressers.

 

With high underemployment and unemployment in Nairobi, residents couldn’t afford to pay regular rents in the formal housing sector so this is home, however basic, to around 100,000 people and they take some pride in the place. Kibera is divided into community areas based on tribal origins and this helps create community spirit.

 

Despite it being informal housing, the government are doing things to help such as putting in electricity, floodlighting and piped water. And they are attempting some slum clearance/redevelopment. Redevelopment in an area locally called ‘Canaan’ because of the promise that it held. Slums were cleared and new high rise apartments were built with the aim of providing basic, decent, affordable accommodation.

 

There are many schools, both government and private, in Kibera so children can go to school (primary education is supposed to be compulsory and free in Kenya). Many, many development agencies work in Kibera in different ways. Ghetto Light is just one example of the Christian work that is done. It seeks to not only see to people’s physical needs in improving their chances in life, but also their spiritual needs, sharing with them how the love of Jesus and a restored relationship with God can transform all aspects of their lives.

So, despair or hope? I think I will leave the conclusion to you, my reader, and Year 13s back home! Answers on a postcard (or the space below!)