Dom and I spent Sunday taking a tour of Kibera with a few of the other volunteers with our group. Though it will be hard to explain truly how moving this walk was for me ... I will do my best, and show you some pictures so you get a true sense of what the people in this slum live like.
Peter was our guide and it turns out he is the "go to" guy when the film industry, and alike, come to town. Peter serves as a guide, an assistant, and worker when the film industry is in town and was even showcased in the September 2005 volume of National Geographic (which he proudly showed us when he took us to his house).
Kibera really was everything you imagine a slum to be like, but more. All of the houses were a mixture of mud, wood, and tin roofing. They are all very small, probably the size of my bedroom at most. However within that house they have a sitting room, a kitchen and a bedroom for the family to sleep. What Dom and I noticed most about all of this was that though they had almost nothing, what they had was clean, pressed and presentable. They crocheted doilies covering the chairs were a crisp white, the curtains were all clean (and all matched), and the piece of linoleum that covered the sitting area of the floor was spotless. They are very proud of what they have and it is quite obvious! Though I think the best part of it all was the Obama poster on the wall, which is seeming to be quite common in these parts!!!
After we left Peters house, we continued through Kibera towards the orphanage. As we walked through ... we often heard "Muzungu (white person), how are you?" All of the kids there knew to say this to us, but I think this might be the only english they knew, because when we asked back there was no response. After a short walk through burning garbage heaps, sleeping dogs, and many hellos we reached the orphanage. This orphanage houses over 90 children from the age of 1 to 17, but is smaller than Jocelyn and my apartment in total. The children sleep 2 to a bed atleast in beds that are full of bed bugs and other such ailments. Though all of this seems unimaginable ... what was most surprising to see was that they were all happy. I think this is a lesson that we can all take from them. Material things are not necessary for happiness ... it is the love of others that keep us going, and these kids were obviously loved.
The 45 minute tour we were promised turned into a 3 hour tour of a place I am unlikely to forget any time soon. These people are entirely self sufficient in their home, and they work together as a community to make things better every day. You can find anything you need in Kibera from churches, to hair salons, to electricians, to pubs, to dry cleaners and even a jail (they do not tolerate bad behavior). It is an amazing thing to witness and I feel fortunate to have gotten the inside scoop into such a place!!
Wow - sounds like a really eye-opening day. It kind of makes our complaints about life seem small eh?
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