KIBERA MIRROR Courting dangerShocking tales of life in the slumsIt is 6 a.m. in one of the well -off residential areas in Nai- robi and a business man is getting ready for a day at his business premises in town. As he rushes to the bathroom he switches the on the electric water heater since it is unthinkable to shower with cold water at this time of the day as his maid prepares breakfast for him and his family. Afterbreakfast he drops his children at school and drives off to town hoping that the traffic would not be as bad as yesterdays and that business would be good. At the same time on the other side of the t own, precisely at Kisumu Ndogo in the expansive Kibera slums, Evelyn Atieno hurriedly prepares her children for school before trekking to her stall situated just 2 meters from railway line at Gat- wekwera where she sells shoes and also doubles up as a tailor. At this close range one wonders what would happen in case a train derails but the mother of two children aged 4 and 9 though admitting that she fears this eventuality she has been forced to contend with this as there is nothing else she can do. “I still have to make a living and since I have not encoun- tered any problems so far in the last 3 years I have been selling shoes from this point, I have no option but to come here on a daily basis and try to make that extra shilling.”“Furthermore a lot of people pass here on a daily basis as they go to work or come home in the evening so this is a good strategic point” she adds.This is the Nairobi we do not like to see or talkabout. But it is there, right in our backyards, wheth- er we like it or not. For people living in slums, or"urban villages", as we like to call them, daily life is like being on death row or committing a slow form of suicide. Here, one i s exposed to hundreds of hazards daily. If one does not die from preventable diseases such as tuberculosis, aids or cholera, one dies from electrocu- tion, fire, mud slides or for the case of Kibera, train derailment. In September Kenya woke up to very horrific news about a fire in Sinai slums caused by a leaking petroleum pipeline that in the middle ofthe slums claiming 177 lives and leaving several hundreds homeless in what many have claimed to be the worst fire disaster in post independence Kenya. According to John Kiarie, a social work- er at Shining hope for communities who was part of the staff of SHOFCO and the students of the Kibera school for girls who visited the victims at the Tom Mboya social hall where they were seeking refug e and gave them some CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DANGEROUSLY CLOSE: A train engine speeds past shoes on display as the traders in the b ackground seem unmoved as they sell sardines(omena) at Gatekwera in Kibera. On the right are staff from Shining hope for communities unloading donations they had brought for the Sinai fire accident victims at the Tom Mboya hall with the help of red cross personnel. “Day to day, chil- dren are electrocut- ed while playing by underground wires, but here we live one day at a time.”Ignorance of the law denying children some of their rights Do you know as a parent you could be denying your child some rights even without knowing? It is now emerging that a lot ofparents could be breaking the law in the course of upbringing their children eitherintentionally or due to ignorance. According to recent reports in the media a 12 year old boy who had been secluded and confined in a room for 2 weeks was rescued by the police in Meru County after a tip offfrom members of the public and in the previ- ous week 2 parents were arraigned in court forrefusing to vaccinate their child amidst reports that 4 children in Machakos county had died from measles as their parents had refused to vaccinate them as „their culture restricted them from doing so.‟These were some of the issues that were discussed in a recent workshop held at the shining hope for communities‟ community center to sensitize Kibera residents on Chil- dren rights. The event organized in conjunc- tion with the Children‟s legal action network(CLAN) was attended by several residents most of whom were women. Though most ofthe participants were aware of some of the children rights enshrined in the constitution and the children's act, they seemed unaware of some of the rights which when denied to a child are punishable in a court of law. Forinstance a simple case of not getting a birth certificate for your child constitutes to deny- ing your child his right of citizenship and it can get you a jail sentence of not more than five years.Neglect and denying your child parental care whether you have a source of income or not is also a criminal offence under the new constitu- tion. This seemed to amuse most of the female participants who constituted a huge percentage of attendants and had them chatting amongst themselves for some time. The participants were also given a chance to air their issues CONTINUED ON PAGE 3ISSUE 4: NOVEMBER 2011 www.hopetoshine. org STOP THINKING Just re gister for 8 pac kages at a combined cost of only 800 kshAt SHOFCO CYBER, Gatwekwera (0725269069) and turn to this
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
t is 6 a.m. in one of the well -off residential areas in Nai-
robi and a business man is getting ready for a day at his
business premises in town. As he rushes to the bathroom
he switches the on the electric water heater since it is
unthinkable to shower with cold water at this time of the day
as his maid prepares breakfast for him and his family. After
breakfast he drops his children at school and drives off to town
hoping that the traffic would not be as bad as yesterdays and
that business would be good.
At the same time on the other side of the town, precisely at
Kisumu Ndogo in the expansive Kibera slums, Evelyn Atieno
hurriedly prepares her children for school before trekking to
her stall situated just 2 meters from railway line at Gat-
wekwera where she sells shoes and also doubles up as a tailor.
At this close range one wonders what would happen in case
a train derails but the mother of two children aged 4 and 9
though admitting that she fears this eventuality she has been
forced to contend with this as there is nothing else she can do.
“I still have to make a living and since I have not encoun-
tered any problems so far in the last 3 years I have
been selling shoes from this point, I have no option but to come here on a daily basis and try to make
that extra shilling.”
“Furthermore a lot of people pass here on a
daily basis as they go to work or come home in the
evening so this is a good strategic point” she adds.
This is the Nairobi we do not like to see or talk
about. But it is there, right in our backyards, wheth-
er we like it or not. For people living in slums, or "urban villages", as we like to call them, daily life
is like being on death row or committing a slow
form of suicide. Here, one i s exposed to hundreds
of hazards daily. If one does not die from preventable diseases
such as tuberculosis, aids or cholera, one dies from electrocu-
tion, fire, mud slides or for the case of Kibera, train derailment.
In September Kenya woke up to very horrific news about a
fire in Sinai slums caused by a leaking
petroleum pipeline that in the middle of
the slums claiming 177 lives and leaving
several hundreds homeless in what many
have claimed to be the worst fire disaster in
post independence Kenya.
According to John Kiarie, a social work-
er at Shining hope for communities who
was part of the staff of SHOFCO and the
students of the Kibera school for girls who
visited the victims at the Tom Mboya social
hall where they were seeking refuge and gave them some
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
DANGEROUSLY CLOSE: A train engine speeds past shoes on display as the traders in the background seem unmoved as they sell sardines (omena) at Gatekwera in
Kibera. On the right are staff from Shining hope for communities unloading donations they had brought for the Sinai fire accident victims at the Tom Mboya hall with
the help of red cross personnel.
“Day to day, chil-
dren are electrocut-
ed while playing by
underground wires,
but here we live one
day at a time.”
Ignorance of the law denying children some of their rights
Do you know as a parent you could be
denying your child some rights even withoutknowing? It is now emerging that a lot of
parents could be breaking the law in the
course of upbringing their children either
intentionally or due to ignorance.
According to recent reports in the media a
12 year old boy who had been secluded and
confined in a room for 2 weeks was rescued
by the police in Meru County after a tip off
from members of the public and in the previ-
ous week 2 parents were arraigned in court for
refusing to vaccinate their child amidst reportsthat 4 children in Machakos county had died
from measles as their parents had refused to
vaccinate them as „their culture restricted
them from doing so.‟
These were some of the issues that were
discussed in a recent workshop held at the
shining hope for communities‟ community
center to sensitize Kibera residents on Chil-
dren rights. The event organized in conjunc-
tion with the Children‟s legal action network
(CLAN) was attended by several residentsmost of whom were women. Though most of
the participants were aware of some of the
children rights enshrined in the constitution
and the children's act, they seemed unaware
of some of the rights which when denied to a
child are punishable in a court of law. For
instance a simple case of not getting a birth
certificate for your child constitutes to deny-
ing your child his right of citizenship and it
can get you a jail sentence of not more than five
years.
Neglect and denying your child parental care
whether you have a source of income or not is
also a criminal offence under the new constitu-
tion. This seemed to amuse most of the female
participants who constituted a huge percentage
of attendants and had them chatting amongst
themselves for some time. The participants were
also given a chance to air their issues
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
ISSUE 4: NOVEMBER 2011 www.hopetoshine.org
STOP THINKING
Just register for 8 packages at a combined cost of only 800 ksh At SHOFCO CYBER, Gatwekwera (0725269069) and turn to this
1. Lack of seats could not deter these young spectators from enjoying the game during the Amani Kibera tournament, they broughtan old tyre. 2. It was inspiring to see these two women as part of the community that turned out to ferry sand to the construction
site of the new KSG building as there is no road network for vehicles to pass. 3. Stock controller Antony Otieno busy at work.
Pic speak
Ignorance of the law denying
children some of their rights
FROM PAGE 1
Concerning children rights apart from
participating in a competition to know
how much they knew about these
rights. Another issue that raised debate
was whether beating up your child as a
form of correction amounts to child
abuse as in Kenya most people believe
in sparing the child spoils the child.
One female particular participant inobjection of the idea was nearly intears as she narrated how her nephew
was being subjected with daily inhu-
man beatings by her in laws but his
behavior never changed until he was
taken up for counseling. He is now a
student at The university of Nairobi „s
Kabete campus. The community programs manag-
er at Shining hope for communities-
Bernard Maticha, while contributing to
one of the discussions held that day
informed the participants on the pro-
cess of child development that parents
must adhere to always. “A child develops in 4 ways; phys-
ically, intellectually, spiritually and
socially. Denying your child any of
these is like denying him some aspectsof his life”
“Infact a child who is denied some
of these rights or abused during child-hood is likely to become a child abuser
as an adult”
However it is quite sad that for
children raised in slums the difficulties
of life have ensured that most of thechildren do not get some of these
rights. For instance most of the chil-
dren lack basic needs, health care and
education and while little is being done
some of the children have also been
forced into child labor, early marriages
and child prostitution in order to sur-
vive and most of them are exposed to
sex from a young age as one partici-
pant said during the workshop.
“Although exposing your child to pornographic content amounts to sexu-
al abuse. Let us be realistic, in Kibera
people live in small rooms of about 6
by 6 feet together with their children,
so you can imagine”
Impressively, in Kibera most
parents take their children regularly for
immunization since it is offered for
free in many health centers. However
according to Addah Alati, a nurse at
the Johanna Justin Jinich clinic in the
slum, some of the parents skip taking
their children for regular weight meas-
urement and observations opting to
adhere only to immunization dates. “This is a very dangerous trend
as sometimes we notice cases of abnor-
mal weight growth which could be an
indicator of other underlying serioushealth problems when it is too late.Furthermore regular observation of a
child‟s physical features is necessary
especially for boys.”
She alludes this problem to lack
of information, though she says that
some of the parents are aware but take
things for granted. It now seems a lot
of awareness campaigns have to be
carried out to fully eradicate the prob-
lem.
Our journey to success– St. Aloysius High school
The story of Kibera has been
told countless times throughout the
whole world, but that story is about poverty, crime, violence, human
suffering and about girls as young
as 15 trading their bodies for food.
However in the midst of all these,
some very inspiring stories emerge.
Stories of hope. One is the story of St. Aloysius Gonzaga high school
that started in the slums, offering
free education for orphans but it has
grown over the years to what it istoday offering not only free but
quality education to hundreds of
needy students. From a rented struc-ture in the slum the school has out-
grown itself and recently moved to
magnificent premises in Langata.Kibera mirror visited the school
with a view to finding out from the
principal Beatrice Wairimu on their
road to success.
(KM) When did the school start?
(BW) This is the 7th year
How did it start?
The idea was conceived by a mem- ber of the Christian life community
when he looked at the children of
Kibera and how most of them suf-fered, especially if they are or-
phaned. So he sold the idea to other
members and they started sponsor-ing some of them by paying fees for
them in the schools they were. Af-
terwards they felt that the schools
that they were going to were not
offering quality education so they
decided to bring them together. We
started on a rented building but with
time the numbers kept on increas-
ing, so we looked for some space in
Kianda in Kibera and built somestructure. Then we felt that having
the school in Kibera was not condu-
cive for learning, we looked for donor funds to purchase a plot for
another school. The construction of
the premises we are in now in Lan-gata started in 2008. We moved in
here in May last year.
Can you remember the number
of students you started with?
20 in form 1, 20 in form 2. Rightnow we have 280 students from
form 1 to form 4.
How do you select them?
We receive so many applications
from students who want free educa-
tion, so when the KCPE results are
released, we invite applicants, but
we have conditions. You must have
scored above 300 marks for boys
and 280 for girls. This is becausewe only need 70 students and wereceive around 350 applicants. We
also ask them to tell us why they
should be admitted. Then weshortlist and call them for inter-
views and ask them to come with
death certificates for those who areorphans. The interview includes a
written exam
Do you also receive applications
from Langata or other areas?
Yes we do, but Langata is a middleclass estate, but as long as you are
needy and bright then you will be
shortlisted.
What if someone wants to pay?
It is not enough; here we provide eve-rything for free. They only buy uni-
form.
We understand these students come
from the slum where there are a lot
of social problems that might affect
performance. Do you follow up?
Infact we have a social department that
does that, but even before they join as Itold you, we evaluate them so we
know what kind of problems each
student might be facing. So it is not just a question of coming here, but we
try to keep abreast with their lives.
We have also noticed that your
school is one of the few success sto-
ries that we have from Kibera.
(looking surprised) Is it?
Yes, any secrets?
No, It is the grace of God and also the
good work of father Terry Charlton,
the school chaplain. He has workedtirelessly looking for donor funds. One
would have never thought that St Alo-
ysius will be where it is today. It usedto be a dream, Infact most of us are
still in that dream. Our students used to
ask when we started construction of
this new school whether we would
move them here or we have some other
students somewhere who will occupy
it. There are those who did not believe
when one day we told them, “pack your things we are moving to a new
school”
Any support from the government?
Not yet, we are now trying to look for
local donors.
By the way we have noticed that
your top student last year had a B+
(smiling) Yes, not one but three
And do you follow up these students
after school?
One unique thing about our school is
that we have the school programand then we have the graduate
program. Here, educational assis-
tance does not end with KCSE
exams. After exams every student
in our school goes for a compul-
sory 6 month period of communi-
ty service where we attach themto places like orphanages, homes
for disabled people, churches and
other organizations that serve thecommunity where they work for 4
days a week. During this period
the exams are released. Those
who qualify to join public univer-
sities, we sponsor them and those
who do not we take them to ter-
tiary institutions.
What of the parents, are they
cooperative?
Most of them are, but there are
those who are least interested in
issues to do with education.
We notice your office is full of
trophies….. It means we are doing well in co-
curricular. We have been taking
items for nationals and winning.
Especially in music.
Personally ,what motivates you?
I am a mother, when I stay with
my children I feel so much at-tached to them and I feel there is
so much I have to do for them and
that makes me transfer the same
to my students. Most of them do
not know what it is to have both
parents, so as a teacher I feel thereis a gap I have to fill for these
children who are very needy.
Every day I feel there is someone
calling me to fill the gap, so Idon‟t come here because I am
paid but because I feel these stu-
dents are not just students like inany other school who only need
an education but also someone to
bring them up.
A view of
one of the
tuition
blocks at St.
Aloysius
Gonzaga
highschool’s new
premises in
Langata.The school
that started
on a rentedbuilding
moved to itspresent loca-
tion from
Kibera inMay last
year
RISK
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool To weep is to risk appearing senti-
mental To reach out to another is to risk
involvement To expose your feelings is to risk
exposing your true self
To place your ideas and dreams
before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in
return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken because the
greatest hazard in life is to risk noth-
ing.
A person who risks nothing, doesnothing and has nothing is nothing He may avoid suffering and sorrow
but simply cannot learn, feel,
change, grow, love or live Chained by his attitude he is a slave
Kibera mirror is published and distributed for free by Shining hope for communities as part of its programs aimed at empowering the youth through developing their media skills
and also to bring attention to the issues affecting the residents of Kibera. Write to us on E-mail:[email protected], Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kiberamirror for
news updates, photos and videos .
MAGONJWA
Tangu jadi yako nasi, na hayatupi
nafasi,
Ni kweli yametuasi,tena kapita kiasi,
Uchungu mwingi twahisi,yana moyo
shinda fisi,
Kutumaliza na sisi,yasimwache na
kasisi.
Kipindupindu kaanza,na huzuni
katujaza,
Katuacha tukiwaza,ni ipi dawa ya-
poza,
Hata walipoziuza,si waja walipuuza,
Jamani twajiumiza,jaribu kuyafuku-
za.
Malale nayo yakaja,Tetewanga ukit-
aja,
Tapata wapi faraja,kutuvukisha da-
raja,
Na wakati bado waja,kuaanza kutoa
hoja,
Mola wetu katutaja,maradhi yenye
vioja.
Siyo kwamba twalaumu,lakini tunaf-
ahamu,
Yana nyingi ile hamu,kutumaliza
kaumu,
Nyingi yatunyonya damu,tadhani
ndiyo karamu,
Jamani wanadamu,saidia wataal-
amu.
Ukimwi ni wa kuzini,kosefu kinga
mwilini,
Kaletwa nacho kiini,chatoka uha-
wayani,
Kuzini nao manyani,kweli hino haki
gani,
Yataka mkalimani,tutoke humu
gizani.
Juzi pakaja Ebola,nayo watu kawa-
mala,
Kawafunga waja jela,mauti ya-
wangojela,
Wengi walifanya hila,lakini katoka bila,
Na hata wale mafala,pia ikawa-
tawala.
Tamati ndiyo kikomo,beti nane
zilizomo,
Magonjwa ndiyo kipimo,chetu sisi
mbilikimo,
Tufunge yetu midomo, silete kingi
kisomo,
Silete mingi midomo, ni hiki ndicho
kikomo.
Shairi limetungwa na Bi Anne
Olwande.
New symbol of peace for slum residents
Members of The Amani Kibera community organization pose with the banner for this year’s
Peace soccer tournament whose theme was ‘ukabila ni ujinga’ . At the extreme right is celebrity
Hip hop artist Zakah of Ukoo Fulani Mau mau who graced the event.
By KIZITO NADEBU
For a person viewing the
slum from the railway line at
Mashimoni, one particular roof-top stands out from the rusty rows
of iron sheets adjoined together
creating some form of a pattern.
This particular blue and maroon
rooftop houses the Amani Kiberaresource center and inside you are
likely to meet Ben Ooko trying to
coordinate operations. Ben is the
co- founder of the organization
that started as a result of the ten-sions heightened before the hotly
contested presidential elections of
2007.
Amani is a Kiswahili word
for peace and according to the
soft spoken Ooko who is only in
his early thirties, during the
launching of the PNU manifesto
they noticed that one particular
parliamentary aspirant was mak-
ing remarks meant to incite theresidents of Kibera against each
other. This created a need to
preach peace among the people.Since Kibera is a multi-ethnic
slum, a group of 25 organizations
came together and organized avery successful peace week in
which they organized peace con-
certs and educated the residents
and the youths in particular on the
essence of maintaining peace
during the general elections
which were due in the month of
December and also to unite
Kibera residents against violence
based on tribalism. They alsolobbied 23 politicians who were
running for various seats and
10,000 residents to sign chartersand pledge that they will advocate
for peace throughout their cam-
paigns till the election date. Thatis how Amani Kibera was con-
ceived.
“What led to the violence after
the disputed presidential elections
is illiteracy because why would
you want to fight your neighbor
instead of living together in har-
mony? Why?”
For this reason they have
strived to lower the high illiteracy
levels in the slum by starting the
Amani Kibera community library
that concentrates on stocking
school books based on the Ken-
yan syllabus although they also
have general study books. The
library funded by the Slovak em-
bassy also stock books donated
by various individuals in a system
where people can donate books that
they do not use anymore especially
school textbooks so that the slum
children can use them after they have been refurbished. This year their
library won the „Community Library
of the year Awards‟ organized by the
Maktaba awards.
Apart from education, the organ-
ization has also embraced sports as a
way of uniting the community by
organizing the annual Amani Kibera peace soccer tournament that has
been held annually since 2008. The
tournament is free for teams wishingto participate and they are equipped
with balls, uniforms and training
equipment. The tournament targets
both boys and girls aged between 10and 19. Apart from soccer, the tour-
naments also give a chance for vari-ous artists to expose their talents
through singing, acting and acrobats.
The theme for these year‟s tourna-
ment was „Ukabila ni
ujinga‟ (tribalism is stupidity) was
organized in conjunction with other
organizations like Project amani,
JPYC, Tadeci network, Dandora arts
centre, Bila ukabila initiative and
shining hope for communities.
In preparation for the tournaments the
coaches are trained on coaching skills,
value based sports training where
sports is associated with life skills
programs and team building through
partnerships with organizations within
and outside Kibera. They also organ-
ize week long soccer camps in various
parts of the country. Here youth from
different ethnicities and teams are
trained by different coaches on issues
such as drug abuse, team building andHIV AIDS awareness and they serve as
peace ambassadors wherever they go.
“Our long term vision is to turn
the Amani Kibera Resource Centre into
symbol of unity within Kibera.”
Other programs that they have put
in place during their 4 years of exist-
ence include the Uwezo girls pro-
gram which is a women empowerment
program meant to empower teenage
mothers and girls who drop out of
school to gain financial stability
through making bead work and dis-
cussing the issues affecting them on
daily basis. They have also managed to
pay fees for a girl who had dropped out
of school for lack of fees. In 201o
the organization was recognized as
the best community organization
based on their initiative of embrac-
ing peace during the Building
Bridges Awards organized by Me-
dia Focus on Africa and Butterfly
Works.
However it has not been a walk
in the park for the organization as
on top of the problems associated
with getting funds from donors and
general logistics, there is a general
lack of expertise in the personnel
available for hire in their programs
and training them is quite costly.
Besides the slum too crowded thus
getting the space for expansion of
their library and starting new pro-
jects is a problem. This though
seems not to have set back the or-
ganization in its quest to become a
symbol of unity for Kibera and
they are Infact planning to build a
new resource center using stones
collected by the slum residents as a
reminder of the violence witnessed
in 2007.
A dedication to all mothers
By FRED WANJALA
Dear Mother, daddy doesn‟t even care
when I cry, he doesn‟t even look at me
when I smile and laugh, he just looks
away and becomes so angry. What if both
of you had the opportunity to give birth?
Do you think daddy would have a better
chance of being a good parent than you?
Daddy comes home late, sometimes drunk
and vomits everywhere adding more
chores to you. Even on Sunday morning
he doesn‟t have the time to go to church
but sleeps till noon. In the morning, hedoesn‟t have anything to say and just
leaves for work. Is work more important
than just knowing how your family coped
with the cold weather during the night.
They say like father like son so
mummy do you think I will be like daddy
to my wife and children if God grants me
one. The two of you seem to be very dif-
ferent and I don‟t know who to learn from.
I pose for a minute and ask myself why
should I follow my dad‟s character when
all he does are just negative things. I real-
ly feel sorry for you mummy. If only you
knew how much it hurts me to see you go
through all this. Truly mummy you de-
serve the best, to carry a baby for nine
months is not a joke.
Mummy who can stop you if it‟s not
God only? You are so powerful that you
still feed your family regardless of what
you go through. You‟ve got mighty love
that keeps me moving on every time I
stop at a point. You mean the whole
world to me. It has never been hard to meto believe that you care for me. I am also
thankful that you were capable of han-
dling my stubbornness during my early
years of life. Mummy, I sometimes tend
to wonder how you managed to do all this
at once. Your tender touch mummy
means the whole world to me . Your love
is like food to my soul you know. Every-
thing that I am I owe it to you and above
all this I promise that I will never ever let
anyone hurt you in anyway. Thank you
mummy.
These young acrobats from Carolina for Kibera were a major attraction at the peace
soccer tournament with their skills. Some people even came spectate through the fence