http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7OWXoBtsHTY
Neveen Shalaby
Age: 31
Country: Egypt
‘I think the greatest misunderstanding about slums here in Egypt is
that people think that all people in slums are criminals and that we
should exterminate them. The biggest problems the slums are facing are
ignorance, transportations, water shortages, pollution, unemployment,
drugs, overcrowding and congestion of population and violence. Age: 31
Country: Egypt
If I could film only one story about slums, it would be about eviction and displacement of the farmers from their agricultural lands to build tourist resorts.
Human rights are important to me, absolutely. With the absence of democracy and justice in my country I always search for the human rights.
My message to the viewers? We are not alone in this planet and we have to think about the others.’
Caren Atieno Otieno
Age: 29
Country: Kenya
‘Some of my relatives live in the slums and every visit leaves me
troubled. I feel it’s not a humane way to live. But on the other hand,
one of the greatest misunderstandings about slums is that they are
unsafe and harbor thugs. This can be true about some areas, but most of
the slums are quite safe if you walk boldly like you know what you are
doing. I do it all the time and I fit like everyone else.Age: 29
Country: Kenya
My message to the viewers would be that there are people with big dreams in the slums. Most work so hard towards achieving that dream only to watch their dreams get shattered by the fact that some dreams are best achieved with money – education is one of those dreams.
If I could film only one story about slums, it would it be a family and what each one of them experiences from dawn to dusk. Dad getting up at dawn and walking tens of kilometres to work, a child’s day at home and school, and mum’s day too.
The nicest thing I have experienced in slums is friendliness. Everyone knows everyone and they shout hello to each other by name. They also look out for each other. It’s like one big family.
The biggest challenge for people living in slums is housing. Living in tinned, single-roomed houses for a whole family is a big challenge, just as lack of toilets and shower blocks, lack of clean water. And of course unemployment.
Human rights are quite important for me. Every human being deserves some dignity and to be treated with respect. Basic rights to proper shelter, food, clothing, is a right that every human being should enjoy – most of all children who have no idea why they live the way they live.’
Reporters for Slum Stories
About slumstories
Slum Stories: a realistic view of the slums, as seen through the eyes of the residents themselves. How do children go to school? Where does everybody use the toilet? And how does the threat of approaching bulldozers feel?More than one billion people worldwide live in one of the 200,000 illegal settlements we call ‘slums’. That is one in six members of the world’s population. By 2030 this number will have doubled.
Slums often have the same characteristics: inadequate housing and sewerage, lack of water and electricity, overcrowding and crime. There is a feeling of insecurity, with violence from both criminal gangs and the police. The residents can be forcibly evicted at any moment, without warning. Every year, this happens to around two million people worldwide.
Our aims
Slum Stories wants to change the perceptions of people who believe slums are nothing but crime, drug trafficking and violence. We show that slums are full of life, inventiveness, dreams and ambitions. We feel the energy, we see the accomplishments and hear the ideas and opinions. Listening to these stories helps everyone to find better solutions than simply knocking whole areas down and building anew – as many authorities do in the case of slums.
Slum Stories wants to involve people in Amnesty International's Human Rights Journey which addresses human rights abuses against people living in poverty. Human rights are crucial to breaking the vicious cycle in which many slum dwellers are caught. Since the authorities do not recognise these ‘illegal settlements’, the inhabitants are an easy target for a broad range of human rights violations.
Slum Stories is an opportunity for residents in the poorest communities in the world to let their voices be heard. And also to hear from others in the same situation, to learn that they are with many and that their voices count when finding ways for their rights to be protected.
Slum Stories are no ordinary Amnesty International productions. They tell the stories through the eyes of the residents. The end result are films that are facilitated by Amnesty International, but do not necessarily reflect Amnesty's position.
Some of the films were made in collaboration with MetropolisTV.
Slum Stories was made possible thanks to a contribution from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery.
Slum Stories
aims to create an opportunity for people living in slums to tell their
own stories. These stories do not necessarily reflect Amnesty
International's position.
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Finding 'Life, Death And Hope' In A Mumbai Slum
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Katherine Boo spent more than
three years in Mumbai's Annawadi slum to do research for her new book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Residents of the slum — which is located next to the Mumbai airport and
in the shadow of several luxury hotels — live in devastating poverty.
Some inhabitants lack any shelter and sleep outside. Rats commonly bite sleeping children, and barely a handful of the 3,000 residents have the security of full-time employment. Over the course of her time in Annawadi, Boo learned about the residents' social distinctions, their struggles to escape poverty, and conflicts that sometimes threw them into the clutches of corrupt government officials. Her book reads like a novel, but the characters are real.
"I wasn't just interviewing people," Boo tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies. "I was going exactly where they went," whether it was teaching kindergarten or stealing scrap metal at the airport or sorting garbage. I would just sit and listen and talk intermittently as they did their work."
htt://www.npr.org
Some inhabitants lack any shelter and sleep outside. Rats commonly bite sleeping children, and barely a handful of the 3,000 residents have the security of full-time employment. Over the course of her time in Annawadi, Boo learned about the residents' social distinctions, their struggles to escape poverty, and conflicts that sometimes threw them into the clutches of corrupt government officials. Her book reads like a novel, but the characters are real.
"I wasn't just interviewing people," Boo tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies. "I was going exactly where they went," whether it was teaching kindergarten or stealing scrap metal at the airport or sorting garbage. I would just sit and listen and talk intermittently as they did their work."
htt://www.npr.org
Security Measures Surprise Many in Kibera
It is correct to regard Kibera as
one of the safest places on earth, with the number of police officers
seen patrolling the streets, you could have thought there was a riot or
the president was visiting. There was a contingent of over twenty armed
police officer patrolling over Kamkunji slum and over fifty officers
patrolling Olympic area and stage. This were only the uniformed police,
who an ordinary civilian like me could spot, but as far as the security
of the independent Inspector General of Kenya police Mr. David Kimaiyo
is concern we suspect amongst us there were also plain cloths officers.
The chief camp of Olympic is always
the idling spot of some of the remnant of the illegal group siafu that
for the past years has been collecting enforced taxes on business owners
and even community members who were found repairing their homes. In
literal terms it is correct to say this group own most of the activities
in and around Kibera. But today it was a different story even they
themselves were nowhere to be seen, the street was swept clean of any
idlers, only passerby were allowed on the street.
That was only before Mr. Kimaiyo
himself arrived, his arrival sent a shock wave of excitement over
Olympic for an entourage of over thirty Mercedes Benz and three Land
Rovers all full with police from all department came in and put all
activities at a standstill for even the public service vehicles were
forced to pack away from the road. There were the General Service unit
(GSU), the CID, the Kenya Police and some other department that even I
could not tell from the way the cars were been driven. This was part of
the security measures that were set up for the arrival of Kimaiyo; the
sole aim of the visit was to warn the resident of Kibera over any form
of violence during and after election.
This was an encouraging move from the
general, for it made common mwananchi like me assured of my security
considering Kibera has been over the past election a hot spot and
starting point of all the country wide mass action and demonstration.
This move has proven that the 99 000 police officers sent to monitor
election are ready to stop any form of irregularities and violence over
this period. We are glad to see Kenya take a step to the right direction
in term of civilian security during and after the election.
Lessons from the Gender Based Violence Forum
Centre for Rights Education and Awareness(CREAW) announced a
new phase of Kibera Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Outreach project which
was originally launched in 2009 by the Prime Minister Hon. Raila Odinga
and is now being supported by USAID/Kenya.
Through this project the people of Kibera have been able to get aid and psychological support of survivors of sexual and gender based violence, and numbers believed to have reached up to 3000 women. ”The Kibera office is a child born of a dream”, Executive Director, Wangechi Wachira reflected, “And it was always our ambitions that, like any child, the office would grow and that there would be exciting times ahead building a greater and more effective organization.” However after a phase one project evaluation, CREAW identified a need to strengthen the existing access to justice models by putting in place in place measures to ensure survivors of gender-based violence were able to conveniently access a full range of services.
The second phase of GBV project will pioneer a one stop shop case management system. The cutting edge approach will link survivors to all essential services within Kibera to ensure those affected by sexual and gender-based violence are able to quickly and conveniently obtain legal aid, psychological support, medical treatment, access to law enforcement intervention and access to rescue shelters in the community.
In speaking about the organisation’s goals to reach out to more community members, Ms Wachira affirmed that CREAW will connect with male champions who will lead from the front in speaking up to say that freedom from sexual and gender-based violence is not about women gaining power over men, but over themselves.
Ann Njogu, CREAW founder and the current executive Chair, gave thanks to all the members of the community awarding certificates and plagues to those individuals and organizations in Kibera who have been instrumental in supporting the fight against gender-based violence.
The chief Guest, Mrs Judy Gration, wife of the US Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration and avid proponent for women rights, delivered the keynote address. Mrs Gration described that her passion for women’s rights work is rooted in her childhood when she saw her mother raise her and her sister alone after the passing of her father. In closing she said, “The government of Kenya has an important and mandatory rolw in addressing gender-based violence and continued that the United States Government will try to support that work. Then she declared that she will extend her personal support in the fighting against sexual and gender-based violence. Mrs Gration also spent time speaking privately with Kibera Community members and gender-based violence survivors.
CREAW Deputy Director, Michael Wachira, added, “We need to thank USAID/Kenya for its commitment to fighting sexual and gender based violence and creating transformative change in Kibera.”
Through this project the people of Kibera have been able to get aid and psychological support of survivors of sexual and gender based violence, and numbers believed to have reached up to 3000 women. ”The Kibera office is a child born of a dream”, Executive Director, Wangechi Wachira reflected, “And it was always our ambitions that, like any child, the office would grow and that there would be exciting times ahead building a greater and more effective organization.” However after a phase one project evaluation, CREAW identified a need to strengthen the existing access to justice models by putting in place in place measures to ensure survivors of gender-based violence were able to conveniently access a full range of services.
The second phase of GBV project will pioneer a one stop shop case management system. The cutting edge approach will link survivors to all essential services within Kibera to ensure those affected by sexual and gender-based violence are able to quickly and conveniently obtain legal aid, psychological support, medical treatment, access to law enforcement intervention and access to rescue shelters in the community.
In speaking about the organisation’s goals to reach out to more community members, Ms Wachira affirmed that CREAW will connect with male champions who will lead from the front in speaking up to say that freedom from sexual and gender-based violence is not about women gaining power over men, but over themselves.
Ann Njogu, CREAW founder and the current executive Chair, gave thanks to all the members of the community awarding certificates and plagues to those individuals and organizations in Kibera who have been instrumental in supporting the fight against gender-based violence.
The chief Guest, Mrs Judy Gration, wife of the US Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration and avid proponent for women rights, delivered the keynote address. Mrs Gration described that her passion for women’s rights work is rooted in her childhood when she saw her mother raise her and her sister alone after the passing of her father. In closing she said, “The government of Kenya has an important and mandatory rolw in addressing gender-based violence and continued that the United States Government will try to support that work. Then she declared that she will extend her personal support in the fighting against sexual and gender-based violence. Mrs Gration also spent time speaking privately with Kibera Community members and gender-based violence survivors.
CREAW Deputy Director, Michael Wachira, added, “We need to thank USAID/Kenya for its commitment to fighting sexual and gender based violence and creating transformative change in Kibera.”
The land and the people
Korogocho
is the third largest slum area in Nairobi after Kibera and
Mathare.
It
is also one of the most densely populated and socially volatile
slums in Kenya.
It
is located in Kasarani Division on land that is partly government
and partly private- owned in the proximity of a dumping site at
Dandora. Part of the land was originally owned by one individual
called Babadogo who later sold the plots to others.
The
rest of the adjacent land originally belonged to the City Council
but was later allocated to private individuals.
The
structures in Korogocho are very congested. The slum has an
average of 5-6 persons per room. This is very high compared to
the Mathare slums with 4-5 persons per room of 6 square metres
(average size). The estimated population of Korogocho in the '90
was 100.000 and rose to 200.000 in 1999.
Although
generally regarded as a poor area, there appears to be a
hierarchy. There are those who live in Korogocho because they
have invested there. The own the butcheries, wholesale shops and
bars. They actually live there to carry out business. The second
level are those who live in Korogocho because life here is cheap.
Although
this category of people cal live in other middle income areas,
they prefer to live in Korogocho because of the lower cost of
living it entails.
Forming
the third category of Korogocho dwellers are the poorest of the
poor. Most of them are people who have been evicted severally,
moving from slum to another. Overall, however, it is estimated
that most of the people who live in Korogocho are tenants.
Those
who live in lower “leveled” estates like Grogan,
still live under the constant threat though was done in 1994. In
this incident, 89 households were displaced when the city council
sought to expand the playground for one of their schools. The
authorities in the area claimed that the affected residents had
been given notice to vacate for the expansion of the school where
the children of the “better off” in this area go.
This
distinction is underscored by the fact that right accross the
field from the school, there is yet another school – the
informal school. This kind of schools currently provides access
to education for over 2000 children of school going age in
Korogocho. The pupils in these schools pay minimum school fees,
have no school uniform, and are not burdened with maintenace
costs.
This
report is an effort to document the struggles and triumphs of the
Korogocho dwellers, those who daily struggle to survive although
spurned as the untouchable citizens of a “illegal city”.
|
Children
at centre of art
By
MARGARETTA wa GACHERU
Street
childrens and their creative potential have been receiving
increased attention in recent times.
Spurred on by the Government's concern to rehabilitate street children on a massive scale, new groups like Kuruka Maisha and Artists without Borders are carrying on the work began some time back by groups like Shangilia Mtoto wa Afrika and Streetwise, to transform the lives of destitute children through the arts. In fact, long before the German Technical Agency came up with figures like 60,000 street children in Nairobi and 200,000 countrywide, Korogocho street children had stopped scavenging in the City Dump long enough to learn how to paint monumental wall murals at St. John's Catholic Church – with Chinese American artist Lily Yeh. But in the past fortnight alone, several new arts projects for street children have started up, revealing themselves everywhere from Kenyatta National Hospital and Bomas Rescue Centre (in Korogocho) to Rahimtullah Museum of Modern Art, at Rahimtullah House, and Paa ya Paa Gallery at Ridgeways. The children involved have come all the way from Kariobangi, Kayole, and Kawangware as well as from Soweto, Dandora, and of course, the City Centre. And from what was seen last Saturday at both Ramoma and Paa ya Paa, children are already being trained in everything from acrobatics and art appreciation to painting and percussion – from lively drama to traditional dance. The occasion at both venues was the official launching of new creative art programmes for street children – one happening at KNH involving 22 local artists working regularly with poor young patients in the overcrowded children's wards; the other under way just next to Nairobi's largest dumping ground at the Bomas Rescue Centre, where children are learning "The Transformative Power of Art in Building People and Community," as the Artists without Borders (AWB) project is called. At Paa ya Paa, it was Nairobi Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana 'a Nzeki who formally launched the Korogocho children's art project with a prayer. It embraced more than 200 children from Bomas Rescue, almost half of whom have already been to Nairobi Game Park as part of the AWB design to empower children through art and wildlife awareness. The Philadephia-based project – conceived by Lily Yeh – started way back in 1994 when she first began collaborating with Paa ya Paa and the Catholic mission, based literally at the City Dump, to beautify to area with assistance from the children. A specialist in transforming slums into showcases of beauty – with support from the local community with whom she shares basic arts skills – Yeh began in North Philadelphia, US, to create gardens out of gutters and colourful shrines out of abandoned shacks. As in Philadelphia, the former fine art professor is not only teaching children to draw, sculpt, and even fly kites; she is also showing them how to transform their dreary domain into a place of beauty: their sketches are going up as striking paintings on the Bomas Rescue walls – with the help of Bomas social workers like John Ochieng and Martha Mumbi. Their cement and steel sculptures are going to grace Bomas' barren lawn; and Yeh is even helping the children plant tree seedlings so that in future, they'll have shade and greenery instead of simply a barren, blackened view of the city's dirtiest dumping ground. Not all the art on display at Ramoma is part of the KNH "Healing through Art" project. A number are by children who take part in the gallery's weekly art appreciation project. Some come from Streetwise, Hawkers Market Girls' Centre and Daraja Rescue Project, while a few are from Kenya High, Loreto Academy, King'ithua and Broomhill Primary. Under the guidance of local artist Pat Keay, they find inspiration in the works of Kenyan painters like Rosemary Karuga, Henry Mzili, Fred Mutebi, Mary Collis (who co-owns Ramoma with Carol Lees), and Peter Ngugi.
[DAILY
NATION - WEEKEND MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT - Friday July 11, 2003]
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| Content Coutersy Of Korogocho The Land and the People |
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