Mathare Slums

I've got some catching up to do on the blog, but I'll start with today and fill in the rest of the week when we return to Kakamega.

We are still in Nairobi, catching the bus for the 9 hour ride back to Kakamega tomorrow. We decided to stay a couple of days longer than planned after meeting Wanjiku Kironyo, Director of Maji Mazuri (see www.majimazuri.org). We went this morning with Julie to visit the Maji Mazuri Project in the slums.

How do I get this across? A sigh doesn't quite do it. A gasp is closer. It was intense. The Mathare Slums are home to close to 700,000 people. This is only one of the slum districts in Nairobi, so perhaps as many as 2 Million people in Nairobi alone are living under these conditions. Imagine a sea of filth, tin and cardboard shacks, open sewers, garbage, children (and I'm talking wee little angels) with runny noses left alone to 'play' and fend for themselves in the grime while their parents (if they have any) are either drunkards or trying to eek out a living. Who is profiting from this place???? A one room tin shack rents for 1000Ksh/month and a business front for 4,000Ksh. What kind of person or corporation could collect payment, I can't even imagine.

We walked through the slums escorted by three members of the Maji Mazuri Organization, Emily who oversees the micro-finance program for youth, Wanjao, manager for the "Old Mavuno" Program (the micro-enterprise program for adults), and MC who is the youth co-ordinator.

Yesterday Wanjinku gave us the history of Maji Mazuri. Wanjinku began in 1987 by helping three women who had been taken to prison for prostitution and brewing shang-a (illegal brew, highly addictive and dangerous). The judge happened to be a former student of Wanjinku and she was able to use her influence to have these women released so they could care for their children. The condition of release was that if they were brought in again, they would be sentenced to 7 years in prison. The women were less grateful then you might think for they knew that they had to feed their children and all they knew was brew and prostitution. Wanjinku took these women and their children into her home and began asking them how their way of life was working for them. She encouraged them to look beyond their challenges and their history (poverty, slum, abuse) and look toward the possibilities. She asked how far shang'a has moved them forward. As a group they looked for alternatives. They started with a small enterprise as a group making chai (Kenyan tea) and selling it on the street. This was quite successful and grew into providing biscuits as well. As the business grew, they separated into smaller groups and this was the start of the micro enterprise. There are now over 500 members receiving initial loans of 200Ksh (about $4), then 3,000Ksh ($50), then 6,000Ksh, 9,000Ksh, etc.

The program is called Mavuno which means harvest. Members are supported in three pillars: 1) economic with micro loans and training in business and cash handling 2) social counseling in socially acceptable and legal activities and 3) spiritual whereby some members are even 'saved'. With the success of this program they saw a need for care for the children. Now that the parents were working on their new businesses -- some we saw today were laundry, chapati stand, hotel (which is a local eatery) -- the children were being neglected. Maji Mazuri started a "Head Start" school where the children from the ages 2 up to 13 could be fed, cared for and schooled from 7am to 5:30pm. The parents pay only a very small fee; it is important that they feel the pinch of educating their children.

The next step was the youth of these members. It is a huge problem for the youth in the slums to be idle. There are youth groups that meet on the weekends to share ideas in how they can improve their community. They organize camps so they can see their own country, they do community clean-ups. We saw one of their projects which is a public toilet and shower in the slum. The structure was donated by volunteers from the Netherlands and the youth maintain it by keeping it clean. This is also a water source for the community. There is a micro finance program available for the youth.

... There is so much more. But I've exhausted myself again in this busy cyber cafe. We visited the Head Start school and saw the 170 children with runny noses and bright smiles singing and greeting us with the familiar "How are YOU?" These crowded, dark, tin shack classrooms run by dedicated teachers and volunteers are providing them with their first step toward a happy, safe, clean life that everybody deserves.

Please visit www.majimazuri.org for more information. We have lots of pictures and more stories that we look forward to sharing when we come home. I'm in awe again.