Today Char and I were taken by Cross, one of the Marafiki boys, to Kibera.
Kibera is the largest slum in the world, home to 1.6 million people - 3/4 of Nairobi's population.
I'll start off by telling you a little about Cross. He was born and raised in the slums of Kibera, indulging in high amounts of crime and struggling to get by. He told us, as we stood on a hill observing the never ending outline of the slums, that he used to be a hardcore gangster - not because he wanted to, but because he had to. Most of his friends had been shot or were in prison - It sounded like he had a terribly hard life.Whilst he was living there he ran a few different projects, and eventually was introduced to Izzo, the Marafiki founder I have been talking about so often, who took a liking to him and eventually took him in, giving him a job with Marafiki. This completely changed his life - Cross is the most genuinely nice, gentlemanly and lovely guy and is extremely happy and thankful to have been saved from the Kibera life. Now he is determined to do the same and help young boys through the struggle. His stories were so touching I can't do them justice on here! Walking through Kibera we felt so safe protected by Cross, despite the scary stories we'd heard about the slums, as he's so protective and caring and can keep us safe.
Walking through Kibera was another heartbreaking experience. The sheer poverty this overpopulated community is experiencing is beyond anything I've seen - we bought food supplies to one family who lived literally in a tiny room the size of my toilet, the walls of which were made of cotton sheets. The man that lived there told us he was a construction worker, but the jobs were rare and hard to find. They have to wake up at 4am and walk for miles on end looking for building jobs. If they are lucky enough to find one they will work from about 8am till 6pm of hard labour, and get paid about 200 shillings. That's about one pound fifty for a days work, and that's if they're lucky to find it. He was extremely thankful for the rice and flour that we gave him as it should last a while - in Kibera it is rare for families to have one meal a day, let alone three.
Cross then took us to visit the school he attended whilst living there - and let me tell you if you thought the conditions in the Agape orphanage we taught at in the first week were bad, this school transcends anything I've seen. There are only 3 community schools and 2 governmental schools in Kibera - amongst the 1.6million people. As you can imagine, the school we visited was outrageously over crowded. Schooling over 900 pupils yet the size of an extremely small building. Each classroom had nowhere near enough desks or facilities, so children lined the floors and shared tiny desks. We had to duck and squeeze through the tiny, muddy hallways. We went into one class of children that were taking exams (unsupervised, we noted) and they all stood up and sang us an adorable welcome song, which was so heart warming! The kids are all so friendly and polite despite their difficult living conditions.
After chatting with the headmaster and finding out what we can do to help, we headed to the centre that Cross used to go to as a child. It was an orphanage as well as a day centre for the kids in Kibera, run by a lovely woman who dedicates her life to caring for the kids. It is run entirely by donations, so she was quick to ask us for money, which I don't blame her for at all. She showed us around and told us about what the centre does, and eventually Char and I decided that we should sponsor one of the little orphan boys, named Ogotto, to go to school - they spend their days at home as they cannot afford the fees. If we can change one little boys life at an early stage, maybe we can get him educated and keep him away from the violence and crime that awaits him in his later kibera years. We will pay his monthly school fees, which are no more than 200 pounds a YEAR, and buy him a uniform and school supplies to keep him going, which I cannot wait to hear about. Some of the donation money people have given us will go towards changing this boys life, so asante sana (thankyou so much) and we will keep you updated on him as soon as the paperwork goes through.
We had such an inspiring, fun day with Cross and really learnt a lot. My eyes have been opened even further to the harsh realities of Kenyan life, and again have learnt to take nothing for granted, count my blessings, and be thankful for EVERY little thing. I advise anyone that comes to Kenya to visit Kibera - not as a tourist attraction, but even spending a little time with the locals and making them smile will make a difference to them and open your eyes to another level. It's one thing to read it and something completley, unimaginably different to see it.
Tonight will be spent quietly reflecting on the indescribable things we saw today.
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