VSS
65X - Kibera Slums Tour
(A
tour of Africa's Second largest slum in Nairobi Kenya)
This
is ranked the second largest slum is sub Saharan Africa second to Soweto
slums in South Africa. The name ‘Kibera’ is a Nubian word for ‘forest.’
The original settlers were Sudanese soldiers who settled there after
fighting for the British in World War One. The Kibera Slums is located
in an area 5 Kilometers South East of City Centre Nairobi. It is the
most populated informal settlement in East Africa, housing about one
third of Nairobi’s population.
Kibera
is divided into nine official villages, each with its own Village Elder.
They are: Gatwekera, Kianda, Soweto, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Laini Saba,
Siranga/ Undugu, Makina, and Mashimoni. These villages, excludes Raila
centre which rest on the northern half of the valley east of the Nairobi
Dam.
Kibera
is roughly 2.5 Kilometers squared with an estimated population of over
1 million people. There are no permanent residential buildings over
a single storey. The average home size in Kibera is 3 meters by 3 meters,
with an average of five persons per dwelling. Urban services such as
water or sanitation are minimal. There is an average of one pit latrine
for every 50 to 200 people, save to the new latrines recently built
by donors. A biogas plant is under construction in Kibera which will
use human waste as its raw material for the production of gas for both
cooking and lighting 200 households once it is fully operational.
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Drinking
water is sold to the inhabitants in plastic containers after it has
been pumped through metal and plastic pipes along side sewage trenches.
These trenches carry refuse and human waste to the river at the base
of the valley. The river then runs into Nairobi Dam. Both the river
and the dam are used for recreation (e.g. swimming) and resource (e.g.
bathing; clothes washing). The plastic pipes are brittle and exposed,
often breaking, to be repaired without care for sanitation. That is,
these pipes are jammed or taped back together often without being cleaned,
creating suitable habitat for water-borne diseases like cholera and
typhoid.
Health
Services and Sexual Education are minimal in Kibera. There are several
individual and NGO run health clinics within the slum .Health mobile
clinics are frequently conducted by the health NGO's and the government.
Many people living in urban areas in Kenya are either HIV positive or
have AIDS.
Housing
in Kibera, it is sad to note that many Kibera slum dwellers are tenants
to those living within and outside the slums. 90 % of the residents
in Kibera are tenants who are not able to pay for their monthly rents
regularly. Thanks for the UN – Habitat for constructing the New 600
units at the Kibera decanting site. The construction is underway. Hopefully,
the buildings will be occupied by the Kibera residents many of whom
cannot pay their rents currently. They are expected to sublet other
rooms in order to meet the monthly rent for the new houses once they
occupy them. Good luck.
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There
are few schools within the Kibera slum run by well wishers. These schools
are run by donations from individuals and corporate bodies which occasionally
donate items like: food, books, and desks, pens, building materials
and teacher's salaries for the volunteer teachers. The case study is
the Baraka Za Ibrahim Children Centre which is a school offering education
to kids as from pre - unit, primary upto secondary level on charitable
basis. All activities are run by donations from well wishers. Orphan
children are accommodated within the centre which also offers boarding
facility in tiny iron sheet rooms. A small kitchen is in place for the
preparation of lunches and supper. The Classrooms, kitchen, boarding
rooms, toilets, mud walled staff room, children playing ground are all
crowded in an area of about 1 acre of land.
“Imagine
that one day you wake up and find that Kibera does not exist and that
that the tin roofed mud houses have all been replaced with permanent
tiled roofed housing fitted with all basic human amenities including
sewerage and sanitary facilities, tarmac roads and it is the same inhabitants
of the tin roofed houses occupying the New housing facilities and that
Kibera is a New Kibera.”
Itinerary:
Kibera
Slums Excursion Tour - 4 hours
“This
is a four hour excursion tour of Kibera slums. This tour is recommended
for a business traveler(s), church missionary, a journalist(s), and
a business executive who would like to have a quick feel of slum life
in Kenya. Or it can be done before or after a normal safari as part
of a City Tour. This excursion is famous for those who would like to
visit Kibera slums as first visitors and it is preferred for both the
foreigners and the Kenyan populace who have never visited the Kibera
Slums or those who will want a repeat of the Kibera Slums”
9am
- 1 pm - Nairobi City Centre – Kibera Slums
This
is an escorted tour which starts at 9am from your destination/hotel
from the city centre and goes through the Ngong road past Uchumi Supermarket,
turn left just next to the Nakumatt Supermarket. Pass by the DO headquarters
through to Bombolulu stage where you start to decend into the three
(3) kilometer Main Kibera slum road. Visit the Soweto Village homesteads,
and then continue to the Curio (handcrafts) Workshop where you will
witness how those living in the Kibera slums are innovative in making
ornaments out of animal bones. Continue with visits of the Nursery schools
and pass by to see the Water vender and the Shower shop as you meet
other slum dwellers mingling with you as they carry on with their daily
chores. Turn right past the roadside fish mongers into the Biogas plant,
the only one of its kind in Africa which will use human waste as its
raw material in the production of Biogas which will be used as cooking
gas as well as lighting about 200 households once it is accomplished
and commissioned.
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Proceed
to the Baraka Za Ibrahim School which is a charitable school, run with
the donations from well wishers and caters for lower and upper levels
of education starting from Nursery to Secondary level. It has boarding
facilities for few Orphaned boys and girls, a small kitchen and a laboratory
not to mention a ramshackle over crowded staff room in the centre of
this tiny overcrowded institution.
Proceed
to the other homesteads including those of the tour guides and security
team members and witness their life styles in the slums. Pass by a popular
pub within the slum for a drink, if you so wish, and pass over the bridge
unto the Railway line. You may be lucky to witness the train pass on
the railway line amidst the tin roofed houses with human beings and
animals (goats, dogs, chickens crossing the railway line at the same
time). Cross the railway line into the Centre housing the sick and share
your moment with these deserving mothers and children of the slum.
End
the tour with your decision as to where you will donate the profits
of your tour. Our tour manager and tour guide will then hand over to
you the profits for you to donate to a deserving project/activity of
your choice.
Return
to the City Centre or your hotel ready for lunch before your formal
departure to the next destination.
End
of services. (This Tour can be tailor made and extended as per the requirement
of the client)
