Tuesday, March 10, 2009

First day in Nairobi

First day in Kenya was a bit of an eye opener, and that's a bit of an understatement. We had arrived at 0500 and after driving through the pre-dawn quiet that is downtown Kenya, we headed out to where my friend lives for a few hours sleep. Upon waking up, we headed out for my first true glimpse at what life is like in Nairobi. We went to Kibera Slum--the largest slum in Africa and home to about 1,000,000 people.

Not many "mizungu" (Swahili for white people) go to Kibera, so we attracted a bit of attention. Most people, especially men and children, were eager to show off the little English they knew, so we were greeted many times with shouts of "Hi! How are you?" We would reply to the kids asking the kids, "Sah, sah?" and they would reply "Feet" (fine) or "Poah" (cool). Many kids wanted to shake our hands, so we would make a fist and bump fists with them, thus avoiding the transference of unwelcome germs. Word got around that we were there and on the way out even some of the men were making fists for us to bump.

It was weird, because I wasn't too nervous about walking around Kibera, even though it was probably pretty dangerous for us, as I learned after reading some articles about the place upon my return to the U.S. The only time I got nervous, was on our way out when we got in a bit of a bottleneck where everyone was trying to get out the same way and some water trucks were blocking the way. My counter-IED training kicked in and I started thinking, "Okay, is this on purpose? Are they forcing us in here to try to hurt us or rob us?" But I soon realized that they weren't and quickly found a way around the crowd.

It was a memorable day. On our way out to the main road it was all I could do not to have tears running down my face. My heart literally hurt and as I write this and remember my heart hurts again. Even after seeing the reality here, it's absolutely unimaginable to me how people manage to live like this, but they do and many with hope of something better.

This is a photo of the "river" that runs through the middle of the slum. The homes and businesses are built on a mountain of filth and rubbish with sewage running down the middle of the streets. There is also frequent flooding here. You have to be careful where you step, because you could easily slip and end up stepping into something awful.

Okay, I want to learn to carry things on my head. Look at her perfect posture and gracefulness. It was amazing how the women could walk through a crowd without losing their balance and keep their packages on their heads. I never saw a man carrying anything on his head, only the women. This woman is walking through the main market street of Kibera that lines the train tracks there, and she doesn't miss a beat.
This is the main market street lining the train tracks. Everything is sold here that you would need in order to live--shoes, clothes, coffee thermoses, fruits and vegetables that looked on the verge of being rotten to me, and lots and lots of other items needed for everyday life. The train tracks are in use and the locals know the schedule, so they clear the tracks ahead of time.

We visited the medical clinic where my friend volunteers. This is their blood lab. They have a small pharmacy that doesn't have much. However, the thing that makes this clinic special is that they have a sonogram machine and a licensed technician who runs it. Many of the locals who volunteer here are members of the LDS church. By the way, here you don't volunteer for free. Each volunteer gets paid a small wage for their work. For one girl I spoke with working in the clinic is her only job and the only way to pay for school. She is studying to be a public health administrator.

This is what really gets at your heart. These are a few of the pre-K children of the largest school in Kibera. They are so alive, and full of light and hope. I learned at the clinic that most children have some sort of fungal disease, and 1 in 5 will probably die of malnutrition. The parents of these children have more money than others because they can afford to send their children to this school. One of the marks of a good school is whether or not they teach kids English. This one does and it's a Christian school too.


Yeah, I look really out of place here. The buildings behind me are typical of what I saw here.


Wickipedia has some great information about Kibera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibera
In particular the phenomenon of Flying Toilets and what they've done to stop them.
BBC reporter Andrew Harding wrote a series of 4 articles about life in Kibera. He describes it much better than I do. It's worth reading. The links to the articles are here:
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