Today was my first full day in Kenya, and what an experience! I will definitely say that I was prepared for much worse than what I saw and experienced. Not to underplay anything that happened in Kibera (the largest slum in Kenya) but people living there seemed quite entrepreneurial. There were many many many shops along all the streets we walked on that sold everything from underwear to vegetables to cellphone SIM cards. It was amazing! I mean, people always talk about the slum like people are disenfranchised and unable to help themselves, but on some level what I saw in Kibera defied that stereotype. Don’t get me wrong there was plenty of stinky “sewer” muck because no infrastructure exists for the sewage to be drained off, and there were people who seemed worse off than others, but overall it seemed like a functioning community. There was even electric wires and poles throughout the whole community! That amazed me the most! I was expecting abject poverty, and what I got was a glimpse of people who are making the best of the circumstances they’re in. Perhaps they don’t see a way out, or the way out seems unattainable, but they are making it day to day, if only that.
Carolina for Kibera is trying to perpetuate this theme. They seek to empower those who feel like they don’t have the means to advance. They seek out people (or rather, people seek them out) to work on community programs, often as volunteers, to strengthen the youth and give them an opportunity to advance and be the bext leaders in the community of Kibera or elsewhere. It was cool! I was pleasantly surprised.
Enjoy some of our first day photos below:
Annie and the rainwater recapture system at our hotel
The stoves we're analyzing for Carolina for Kibera's "green charcoal" initiative
One of the main streets in Kibera
All the tall people stuffed in our tiny matatu
Our matatu (aka VW van with 4 rows)
No comments:
Post a Comment