Kibera slum in Nairobi, often touted as the largest slum in
Africa, sits in a picturesque valley that represents the rift between the hot
savannah of the plains below and the rising foothills of Kenya’s highlands.
Kibera itself represents the rift between urban and rural, rich and poor, and
many other schisms that divide Kenya as a country. St Vincent’s Nursery is
located in Olympic, and many of the children come of Gatwekera village in
Kibera. These two neighbourhoods have a strong presence of communities that
come from the mostly rural Western Kenya and as such many of these families characterise
Kenya’s divisions as they have often been split in half so that one branch of
the family can search for fortune in the city. This factor, and other strains
that come with living in Kibera, often lead to dysfunctional families and
children inevitably become the biggest victims of this knock on effect. When 50% of the 800,000 inhabitants of Kibera
are children, a potential social disaster is never far away.
Plenty of NGO’s have come into Kibera to try and make
changes. Many view the nature of the slum as the essence of most of the
problems – if it were developed into legitimate housing the issues of poor sanitation,
crime, illegal breweries, prostitution and unemployment would disappear. But
Kibera is not going to change dramatically any time soon, and in fact its very
nature is what ensures that obtaining a Kibera dwelling demands large amounts
of hustling. Kibera is central, with relatively good facilities and sanitation (compared
to other Nairobi slums) and since the post-election violence in 2008 many
inhabitants don’t pay any rent at all. Bull-dozing and rebuilding Kibera would
just shift the slum somewhere else less central, less hygienic and with a
thinner web of the society which currently makes life in Kibera possible. But
even if the resolve to develop Kibera were there, would it be logistically possible
when most of it is built on the steep slopes of a muddy river bank?
The NGO interventions that are working in Kibera are the
ones that accept Kibera for what it is, or at least accept that change will
only really come from within. It is what is within Kibera that is important,
its people and its community - and strengthening the ties of community is the most
crucial work that can be done. In my opinion no organisation does this in a better
way than St Vincent’s. Children who come from challenging backgrounds learn
very quickly at St Vincent’s that it is possible to be cherished and nurture
their talents. The holistic approach to education and up-bringing, exemplified
through the school, the rescue centre and the scholarship programme, ensures
that no child is ever left out or misses out on an opportunity to achieve their
potential. Most importantly they discover that they are all vital members of
their society and that they are able to contribute positively. This is not
taught by books but by example; all members of the St Vincent staff are based
locally and none of them are adequately compensated for the work they do, so
the children learn from them how to have a desire to give back. When the St
Vincent children join the remaining 400,000 of their generation who are growing
up here, it will be they, not government bull-dozers, who bring Kibera into a thriving
future.
To support St Vincent's through Global Giving click here https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/3353/st-vincent-de-paul-community-development-organization/
