The slums of Kibera are like no place I've seen before, and I don't think i'll ever forget it. The people who live there are Nairobi's poorest and most vulnerable people, living in extreme poverty. They create shacks from random scraps, and there is no water and sanitation. The muddy streets smell of garbage and sewage at every corner, and I saw toddlers playing atop mounds of garbage. There is a small stream that runs through the slum, but the water is dense and gray, and I shiver to think what could result if someone were to drink it.
After carefully walking with my guides through the narrow twisting mud paths (regretting that I wore sandals) we entered a gate and into a small courtyard. There were a few narrow buildings and we entered one of them. I found myself in front of a class of smiling primary school students in warm red sweaters. They began singing a song together, which turned into a name game. They went around the room pointing at each other as students sang their names, and finally the fingers were pointed at me and I said my name and where I came from. I also told them to keep up the hard work. What I wanted to tell them was that seeing them in a classroom, and not out in the muddy streets doing God knows what, made me feel comfort and hope for their futures.
I discovered that Children for Kibera, which funds the primary school i visited, does the kind of work that I hope to get involved with someday. This particular organization provides funding and support to three schools- two primary and one secondary. The amazing part is that the funding is mostly gathered in the US from elementary school students and other private donors. A Georgetown professor who himself grew up in Kibera does the fundraising. He also recuits American high school and college students to spend the summer teaching in the schools.
This strategy appears to be working, and it looks as though young people are the best advocates for their peers in Kibera slum. American elementary school students do all sorts of fundraisers and provide books and resources to the schools in Kibera. It astonishes me that these little kids comprehend the fact that they can make a difference in the lives of kids in Kenya. It takes a certain amount of sympathy mixed with optimism to make that happen, and it makes me regain some hope in America's culture and education system. These kids clearly know something me and many adults don't: that we can all make a difference. The pictures of some of these American kids were hanging in the office of the primary school I visited, near a shelf full of donated books.
There are 15 million people- according to Jeff- who live in this sprawling informal settlement. The Kenyan government completely ignores Kibera, as if it doesnt exist. Consequently there are no public schools or services provided to this impoversished population. I truly believe these such counter-intuitive policies are the reason slums like Kibera erupted during the post election violence in early 2008. Clearly the people of Kibera were looking for a regime change, and rightfully so.
The millions in this slum and in the slums around the world rely on good will combined with personal motivation to help them improve their lot. And I walk away from Kibera knowing I can make a difference and do something positive for them. Lets all do something positive, and learn from the example of the elementary school kids.
This is not to say we are all morally obligated to give so much of our time and money that we would ourselves be left with little- as Peter Singer proposed. But what we should do is look at the luxuries we enjoy each day, and ask whether that money may go further and be more meaningful if it were given to the millions of organizations like Children of Kibera that do great work for the world's poorest.
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