My Trip to Kibera in Kenya

KIBERA

‘There are approx 2.5 million slum dwellers in about 200 settlements in Nairobi representing 60% of the Nairobi population, occupying just 6% of the land. Kibera houses almost 1 Million of these people. Kibera is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest in the world.

The average size of shack in this area is 12ft x 12ft built with mud walls, screened with concrete, a corrugated tin roof, dirt or concrete floor. The cost is about Ksh 700 per Month (£6). These shacks often house up to 8 or more, many sleeping on the floor.

Until recently Kibera had no water and it had to be collected from the Nairobi dam. The dam water is not clean and causes typhoid and cholera. Now there are two mains water pipes into Kibera, one from the municipal council and one from the World Bank. Residents collect water at Ksh 3 per 20 litres.

In most of Kibera there are no toilet facilities. One latrine (hole in the ground) is shared by up to 50 shacks. Once full, young boys are employed to empty – they take the contents to the river. UN-Habitat and a few other agencies are trying to help and improve this situation but it is painfully slow.In Kibera there are no government clinics or hospitals. The providers are the charitable organisations: They do a great job. All people are encouraged to have a free HIV test and if positive to take free generic ARV medicine.

Kibera is near the industrial area of Nairobi where up to 50% of the available workforces are employed (usually in fairly unskilled jobs). However, there is still an unemployment rate of 50%. This is why the training and teaching of skills is very important.’ 

(Facts from kibera.org.uk)

In amongst the squalor, garbage strewn alleyways tin clad shacks there is a pearl that shines out in the form of a Church run School called Soweto Academy, run by Pastor Chris & JoAnne Okumu, providing a feeding program through its 3 schools to over 1500 children, and providing an education which is now acknowledged as one of the top schools in Nairobi, a huge achievement, which Feed the Hungry is proud to support with a feeding program in conjunction with Stop Hunger now, to provide nutritional meals every day for the children and teachers.

Having just got back from visiting The Academy you can only admire the hard work and dedication that the team put into providing a stable environment, giving hope where there were none. The contrast of people living in such a hopeless environment to the work at the Soweto Academy was immense. The contrast in health for those who attend the school is huge, and it was a privilege to be able to spend some time to be part of the lives of those children through helping to serve food at the schools, which was a very humbling experience. 

Though reality struck home when Pastor Chris made us aware that a lot of the children will store half of their food to take how as this was the only means of food their families would have.

The school has provided some really stories of hope for the children from the achievements of those already having graduated from the school, to become nurses teachers and even one of the students now being one of the chief software engineers for Microsoft in Kenya.

Pastor Chris Okumu is not one for holding back, or being totally dependent on aid or state support, and has developed a medical clinic for the local population, and drilled 600 ft to provide a clean supply of water for the school and which they provide free to the surrounding community.

Through the dedication prayer and financial help of our partners and supporters of Feed the Hungry is what makes all this possible to bring hope where there is none, life where there is despair, and a future out of a dark place.