In Nubian, Kibera means forest,
jungle. After the ‘’favelas’’ of Rio de Janeiro and the slums of Bombay, but
with higher poverty rates, Kibera is the biggest slum in Africa. More than a
million people live in it, in extremely poor hygienic conditions. Only 1% of
the houses are made with materials we are familiar with, like brick or stone.
Here is a video worth seeing:
As soon as you step off the matatu
or minibus, that brings you to Kibera from the centre of Nariobi, you can feel
the unique experience you are about to live. You walk through mountains of
garbage. You smell what is supposed to be a sewage system on both sides of the
‘’street’’ but ends up being accumulated muck. A few kids come close to you
with dirty faces and broken t-shirts. They haven’t showered in weeks. You look
at them slowly, the white of their eyes isn’t white, it’s yellow. As you
continue to walk, people are laying on the street. You ask yourself if the
whole walk is going to be the same, but as you cross the border between what’s
purely physical and what’s more emotional, you realize that this neighbourhood
is a special place.
As you go deeper into Kibera, as you
get to know people from the community, you get a sense of the good vibes that
surround this area. Most of the people that live in this neighbourhood come
with hope of finding a job in the capital of Kenya. That ‘’job’’ doesn’t exist
in Madrid, nor in Nairobi. The difference is that in Nairobi they know they
have to pull through, and that one way or the other they have to bail
themselves out. They start up businesses, they help each other and they are
able to take a step forward.
Some of you may still be asking
yourself, so why do these crazy people go to Kibera?
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