KIBERA & HAMOMI

KIBERA:

Friday we journeyed to Kibera slum (informal settlement). It was actually a magical day. Most all of because my experience in Kibera on Friday was like nothing I had expected. It was, in fact, the best day that I have had in Kenya so far. Kibera is full of energy, full of bustling people, full of kids, business people, homes and yes, sewage, flies, mangy dogs and for sanitation, pit latrines and public toilets only. Our professor (as always) put it so eloquently – the citizens of Kibera are so resourceful and entrepreneurial – one should consider it an honour to be their ally. Kiberans survive and exist without the support of the Kenyan government, which fails to recognize that Kibera exists, therefore rendering Kiberans without citizenship status.

Our first visit in Kibera was a school. We toured the school, and then the students performed some plays, poems, songs and dance for us. It was quite amazing. What I loved most about it was the level of engagement clearly demonstrated by the kids. They loved it. I think their performance gave them a great amount of pride and confidence. One thing this visit is imprinting on my heart is the ultimate level of resilience and flexibility that humans have. It is astounding – people simply adapt to their environment, surroundings, resources available, etc. I am not saying it is easy, first of all I can never know what someone else’s life is like, whether it is my best friend in Seattle, or a fellow human in Kibera – as our professor has warned us against any sense of “false solidarity” – while I know I can never know what another’s life or reality is like, I can say that while life may not be easy, I did see a great deal of evidence who are working, striving, who are hopeful, who smile, who laugh, who start their own businesses, etc.

What DOES work in Kibera, at least to some extent, is the amazing work of some NGOs and religious organizations. For example, we visited a Catholic school and church in Kibera, which was quite beautiful. The church was complete with stained glass, there were trees around the yard, and the school was fine, made of wood, and kept quite clean. The headmistress we met there was amazing – she is a Catholic nun and explained that her and her sisters are there precisely because Kibera is (in some ways) marginalized and that they go there because no one else will. She explained that she does her work not for money, but for the kids, for her community, for the school, for her church. She explained many of the challenges her school faces, a significant one, for example, being that once the teachers in her school are trained, they are able to obtain jobs with the government which pay much more, so often teachers will leave after teaching for only one year at the school.
We were able to walk through the slum, through the narrow alleyways and walkways. They are rough, uneven, muddy, littered with trash, and laundry is hanging everywhere to dry.

Our final visit on the Kibera day was to a NGO-sponsored community medical clinic. It was quite nice. Our professor said that the maternity ward there was as nice as many hospitals in Kenya. The clinic had facilities for running medical tests and for performing various procedures. They even have a garden in back which they use to cook their own meals. But again, the NGO faces problems, such as the fact that sometimes their cash flow is low and they have to go for months…up to two months at times, without paying their staff. In an already impoverished area, one can imagine how challenging this is for the staff, yet they probably feel they have little choice: their community needs them.

So visiting Kibera was a surprising experience, better than expected, yet bittersweet. Because you do feel a solidarity for the people there. You know and realize that a common humanity binds us all. It does and it doesn’t. It is much more complex than that, and we have to be careful to think that we can gain even a glimpse into their lives. Yet I feel hopeful about the incredible resourcefulness and adaptability of Kiberans. I also feel it is important for “outsiders” like our group to visit, to know something about Kibera, to be able to lend solidarity to their fight for their basic human rights, for formal recognition from their own government and perhaps most of all, for a transcendence and transformation of the abject poverty surrounding them.

HAMOMI:

Today we had the opportunity to visit HAMOMI Children’s Center. Hamomi is the internship site where two of our classmates, Becca and Ian, are interning. It was interesting to see the school center and the classroom buildings. All of the buildings are made from sheet metal, and the kid’s desks and benches are all wooden. The kids play soccer outside on a sloping hill. Across the river, women are washing clothes. Apparently, on hot days, the kids sometimes strip naked and swim in the river. A pile of garbage is burning near the soccer field. Most of the kids at the school are orphans, but they have a type of “adopted family” which has agreed to let them sleep with them. Any kids that don’t have such an adopted family are able to stay with the school director.

I enjoyed playing Frisbee and soccer with the kids. They are SO GOOD at soccer; I could barely get my feet on the ball. We stayed and played and enjoyed our time with the kids. The kids astounded me. Even though, they do not have parents, clean clothes, their own homes, any school supplies . . . they still smile. They still race your friends down the soccer field. They still laugh and hug their friends. They still climb a tree and hang out on the branches. Like two different worlds…yet all of us, all of these students from Kenya and the US, inhabit the same planet, all have hearts and souls, dreams and aspirations. I wish we would have more and greater opportunity to learn from one another. I wish there was greater understanding and less fear and alienation.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Deeply grateful for this learning experience. Tomorrow, we are hiking on Mount Kenya…and then our wonderful Program Assistant, Erin, is giving us all a cooking lesson and dinner!