St Vincent's

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/