kibera
The Kibera is within the city of Nairobi in Kenya. There are approx 1.2 million slum dwellers in the Kibera in an area of 2.5 square kilometres. 75% of the population of Kibera are under the age of 18 and 100,000 children living here are orphaned. It is the biggest slum in Africa and the slum environment is degrading and dehumanising, characterised by abject poverty, corruption, periodic violence and contagious diseases due to environmental pollution. The majority of the slum dwellers are reduced to begging due to lack of employment and opportunities to earn a living for individual wellbeing or provision of their families.
The Government owns all the land. 10% of people are shack owners and many of these people own many other shacks and let them out to tenants. The remaining 90% of residents are tenants with no rights. The shacks are very small and most comprise mud walls, a corrugated tin roof and a dirt or concrete floor. These shacks often house up to 8 or more with many sleeping on the floor.
The Government owns all the land. 10% of people are shack owners and many of these people own many other shacks and let them out to tenants. The remaining 90% of residents are tenants with no rights. The shacks are very small and most comprise mud walls, a corrugated tin roof and a dirt or concrete floor. These shacks often house up to 8 or more with many sleeping on the floor.
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The original settlers were the Nubian people from the Kenyan/Sudanese border – they now occupy about 15% of Kibera, are mostly Muslim and are also mostly shack owners. The other shack owners are mostly Kikuyu (the majority tribe in Nairobi) – although in most cases they do not live there but are absentee landlords. The majority of the tenants are Luo, Luhya and some Kamba – these people are from the west of Kenya. There are many tensions in Kibera, particularly tribal tensions between the Luo & Kikuyu, but also between landlord and tenant and those with and without jobs. Kibera is near the industrial area of Nairobi where up to 50% of the available workforce 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.
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, because of this many Kiberans use the flying toilet. The flying toilet involves a person defecating in a plastic bag and tossing it through the air at night. Most sewage runs downhill in open trenches, resulting in stagnation and pooling problems that breed insects and odour.
There are thousands of children in Kibera, who, through no fault of their own, live in extreme poverty without access to sanitation, electricity, clean water, medication or adequate education; the basic rights of any child.
Through The Lunchbowl Network, we provide many children living in Kibera with food, education, physical activity and most importantly hope for a better future and, with education, a route out of poverty. Our Angel Kindergartens and The Good Samaritan Primary School provide the children with an oasis where their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual nurturing can be given in a safe and stimulating environment away from the harsh and hostile home life in Kibera. The needs are desperate but the education and care provision we offer helps significantly to compensate for their highly disadvantageous background.
