I went to Huruma and Githogoro, two Nairobi slums, last Thursday. And it’s like nothing you’ve ever really seen because it's absolutely hellish.
This visit was one of the main reasons we joined Chris, Jamie, and their family on the roadtrip to Nairobi. Over New Years, we met some family friends of theirs, Linda, Jim, and their 3 kids. Linda and Jim live on the Baptist missionary compound in Nairobi and work with the slum and media teams. When Linda offered me the chance to see the slums, I knew I could not pass it up because I felt like it’s a really crucial part of the story of Kenya.
Over a million people in Nairobi live in slums or kijiji which means that 1/3 of the people living in Nairobi live in slums. Pick any huge problem and it’s here: lack of water, electricity, medical care, and nearby schools mean extreme hardship for the people who live in the slums. Compounding the problem is unemployment since the few jobs available to slum residents are typically a several hour commute through notorious Nairobi traffic. And those are just the resource-related problems. Rapes and other violent acts are extremely common and the lack of toilets means that most human waste is put into plastic bags and just thrown outside the houses. So there are the human dignity problems as well.
Linda works directly with local churches so that she can be introduced to connectors within the slums and to increase the safety of her work there.
Our first visit was to Rose. Rose is HIV positive and had been moved that day to a home for the elderly within the slums. She is about 45 years old but looks about 85 and probably weighs about 70 pounds. Rosemary is a woman who works on the Baptist compound and has been accompanying Linda in her slum work for the last 2 years.
Rose's current condition is actually an improvement from a few months ago when she was blind. She has become a Christian in the last few months and Linda has been encouraged by how much more hopeful she has been in the last few weeks. Even though she had just lost her home on the day we visited, she was still in remarkable spirits. The home for the elderly doesn’t know about her HIV positive status so we were careful to not mention it. Linda is hopeful that living in a community as opposed to by herself in the slums will be safer.
As we discussed her health, several other women came up to discuss medical issues. Although we’re not medically trained, several of the diagnoses were quite obvious including a dislocated and fractured arm and shingles. We were powerless to do anything for these women because Linda’s ministry has very little money and of course dispensing so much as an aspirin will create a stampede. It was so frustrating to see problems that are solved so simply in the US with medication but I was somewhat prepared for that.
Our second visit was to several women with whom Linda does Bible study every week. On the way there, we ran into about 20 kids who followed us through the slum and eventually crowded into the home that the woman lived in with her grandchildren and goats. Yes, the goats live inside so they aren't stolen. And grandmas raising babies is extremely common since the HIV/AIDS crisis began.
The kids are so sweet but they run up and grab your hands and try to take off your watches or rings. They are used to wazungu (white people) stopping by for photo ops and to drop off food and sweets and leaving. Nairobi slums are notorious for Hollywood celebrities or sports stars (especially soccer players) showing up for 20 minutes before going to their hotels. The people here need all the help they can get but you can tell that the adults are very wary of outsiders for this reason. Why trust anyone will actually help you consistently if people usually leave?
There’s not much more to say except that I am continuously humbled by this place. I think the pictures probably do it more justice than I can:
This little girl was totally calm as I took her photo but when I said "Wewe ni mrembo" (you are beautiful) to her, she started bawling. She had never seen a mzungu before so the fact that I could talk, really scared her:
Wow. It's certainly easy to forget how people have to live when you live in a country where people don't live that way. There was been a lot about the plight of the Haitians in the news this past week because it is the anniversary of the earthquake. You may have been in Kenya already when they had the cholera outbreak on top of it. Residents are frustrated by the slowness of the recovery, but as someone pointed out, look how slow the Katrina recovery was, and that's in a first world country. Haiti was barely making it before the earthquake and now their infrastructure is gone.
ReplyDeleteSo how do the people who work in the slums (your friends) feel about it? Do they feel that they are able to make a dent in the problem at all?
love you,
McMom
M,
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the outskirts of Jakarta in the late '70's. Not sure what it is like there now. Makes me think of my dad's profession and my schooling, civil engineering, and why such skills are so vital to a country developing its infrastructure. Without it, living conditions degenerate to cardboard and tin shacks next to open ditches and squalor. Such engineering skills also require a stable and at least relatively uncorrupt contract system so that one can contract for something and actually get it built without debilitating side deals that eventually drain a project's resources before completion. Such a legal system based upon a commonly shared and agreed moral base is a bedrock issue if a society is to be productive. The "Protestant/Christian Work Ethic", while some may label it simplistic, has worked much better than most others where a man's word is untrustworthy and fungable. May the Lord have mercy on those Nairobi residents. I really admire your friends and their ministries.
Love you guys,
McDad
Well, this time I really don't know what to say in response to your posting. I agree with McDad about the importance of a stable, shared moral base as the foundation of a society. Yet, as I look at the photos, I'm speechless.
ReplyDeleteI admire the world view you are gaining, while always finding something positive to photograph. What overwhelming differences exist if one is born to a different family! Thank you for sharing the mission work of Linda and her family.We have been truly blessed.
Love,
Mom/L