Kibera slums or "Edge of Nairobi"

Enjoying the views of the beautiful places of Kenya and the urban center of Nairobi, you soon forget that there is another side to Kenya, less attractive and pleasing to look at, but really existing, and forming an integral part of modern Africa, which I could not get around with my attention.

Today my path leads to a place that is another vibrant and incomprehensible “landmark” of Nairobi - the Kibera slum.

Spread out on a hill on the very outskirts of the capital, they gathered under their roofs a huge number of representatives of the poor class of Kenya, and expanded, turning into a real city built on garbage and from garbage.

There are not many similar places left in the world; today, the Kibera slums are the largest in Africa, and the second largest in the World.
According to rough estimates by local authorities, the number of inhabitants of Kibera has already exceeded 1,000,000 people, and is 1/5 of the population of Nairobi.

I couldn’t go to this unusual place alone, for fear of getting lost, so I agreed in advance with local residents who were ready, for a reasonable fee, to accompany me deep into the settlement to show me the true life of the slums.

It is possible, but quite difficult, to move around Kibera by transport, so we got to the place where our journey began by car, and then, through the slums themselves, we moved exclusively on foot.

Darling, I tried to imagine what this life might look like, but the reality exceeded my expectations.

In front of me stretched endless labyrinths of buildings that I would hardly dare call houses, but rather frail huts that support each other, being both one dwelling and a support for neighboring buildings.

Most of the structures do not have a foundation, they are so small that I could not understand how entire families, usually consisting of 5-8 people, could fit in them at the same time.

In Kibera, although not everywhere,  there is electricity, but there are charges for its use that many simply cannot afford. Food is cooked on coal, which can be bought right there in local shops, as well as the most necessary food and clothing.

This is a whole city that would take more than one day to get around. It is divided into five main districts, each of which is under the control of local authorities who control and regulate all its life processes.

The streets of Kibera are filled with heaps of endless garbage, which is thrown directly from the windows of houses and is never taken out of the settlement. The ditches along the streets serve as a source of water, a drain for sewage, and are improvised sewers.

Lack of clean water is the main problem in slums. There are only a few public toilets where you can relieve yourself, shower and do laundry, but most do not waste time on this, replacing toilets with plastic bags, which, like the rest of the garbage, fly out of the windows every now and then.

Prostitution and drug addiction flourish here..
And all this has grown so globally that the authorities no longer imagine how to cope with this problem, because in order to demolish and clean up the slums, their inhabitants need to be resettled somewhere....

But, despite all this, the inhabitants of Kibera are ordinary people who laugh and cry, quarrel and make peace with neighbors, create families, give birth to children, work, in the hope of giving their offspring the opportunity to see a better life.

They are poor, but not embittered; while reading the articles, I was afraid of the aggression that is written so much in the press by people who themselves would never dare to come and look at the life of the slums with their own eyes. In fact, I was greeted everywhere rather warily, but calmly.

During my walk, no one ever asked me for anything, not even the smallest children. Along the way I saw a church and a school, hairdressers, sports facilities and cinemas. And even if all this is so different from the places we are used to seeing them in our everyday life, and they are located in the same modest buildings as everything around, but their very presence suggests that the inhabitants of the slums are not alien to simple everyday joys that they can afford on a modest income.

I did not regret my trip to Kibera at all; it changed my worldview and gave me food for thought. This place deserves to get to know it better. Among the dirt and poverty, I saw the bright and smiling faces of strong-willed people who live and enjoy life, despite all the difficulties that they have to struggle with in everyday life.

I left Kibera with mixed feelings, but there was no bad taste in my soul, there was a conscious understanding that such a situation is a problem that cannot be ignored, turning away and pretending that it does not exist.

Your Smart Giraffe.