Nairobi - Nkuru
Waving goodbye to the giraffes I made my way to the less conventional tourist site. I asked my taxi to take me, along with all of the extra gear I had to buy through the previous days, to the GM bus station. The taxi dropped me off with my bags of toothpaste, brushes, shampoo, comforters, and more and gave me a perplexed look as he said goodbye.
I had made a deal to meet Kaylee`s boyfriend Tom on the corner of the street so that we could visit Mkuru for the day which is not a tourist destination. In the morning I went to send him a message of what I was wearing and he laughed. His response was I will be the only Mzungu (African name for white person) on the side of the street. There I stood nervously looking around. To the by standing I probably looked homeless with all of my stuff as thousands of Kenyans bustled around me. This was the busiest bus stop I have ever been to! A security guard came and chat for awhile which made me feel safe. Before I knew it a very tall man made his way through the crowd and greeted me.
We both hoped on the back of a motorbike taxi and began to weave through the street to the Reuben Center in Mukuru. Slowly the taller buildings and cleanliness of the streets began to disappear and shacks and trash took their place. Sticks, tin, and blocks smashed against each other made up home after home everywhere I could see. Kids lined the dirt streets playing with soccer balls made up of crumbled up plastic shopping bags. As we rode deeper into the area more heads stared at us.
You see I had chosen to take a day trip to visit Nairobi`s second largest slum. A slum is defined as an area where people come and sit on pieces of land and live off of very little. Nairobi`s largest slum Kiberia runs tours on the outskirts. However, throughout the years celebrities visit that slum on tour and I wanted a more authentic experience. I wanted to be able to truly talk to the people and not be a guided foreigner group gawking through the streets. Visiting Mukuru with one other man who worked in the school gave me the exact experience that I wanted.
We arrived at the Reuben Center which is a school located in the Reuben District within Mukuru slum. The school itself has been very built up and extremely impressive. Donors have put a lot into the school and the difference can be seen. Tom showed me around the school which had no children since it was the weekend. The school had a library, life skills, HIV clinic, garden, wood shop, sewing, and so much more. The garden was very impressive because the students had made plans to use every bit of resource they could. Most of the containers were recycled material and the waste from the animals was set up to drop down as fertilizer for the plants. It just went to show when you put your mind to something you can use so much more and waste so much less.
After touring the school we met up with a local hip hop artist that was born and raised in the slum. He took us on a walk to visit wherever we liked. First stop was eating in a local restaurant. The restaurant contained about three tables and was no bigger than a fourth of my classroom. Here we ate some Chipati which is like friend bread and a local Kenyan spinach mix.
Walking through the streets we encountered kid after kid running around unattended and to fend for themselves during the day. Five year olds carried around babies and children laughed while being covered in mud. At one point I joined a game off jump rope. They may not have much but they laugh and have fun with what they can get. Another favorite toy was old spare tires that children used to roll, jump, and hide in. I wanted to scoop up every child and give them a bath and new clothes.
One of the first things I noticed about the clothing in many of these African countries is that I recognize many. Especially in the slum many of the clothes you can tell have been shipped over and donated from around the world. Most of these children wore clothes that were nothing more than tattered rags that looked like they had been worn for months on end. Kids kicked around and ran barefoot through the bud streets.
Our next stop was to visit a man named David who grew up in the slum and become an excellent gymnast. Now a full grown man, he has decided to open up an area in the slum which allows children to come and practice skill such as slack lining, juggling, balancing, and tumbling. All around in the open field kids worked hard to improve their skills.
They made Tom and I do a few tricks as well.
The kids were much more graceful than we were.
Once again tires were used but this time to act as a type of trampoline for flips. How creative!
Next we went through the town to a new district to visit David's mom who was a lady. She warmly welcomed us into her home and began to tell her story. Her area consisted of a small fence with some land surrounded her shoebox house. This was the first we had seen of anyone having grass around their house. Everywhere giant bags of plastic were wrapped together and many dogs ran around. Insider her house she had three couches crammed taking up the length of three walls, a table that fit in the middle as if it were a puzzle, and a tv stand on the free wall. Each wall was covered in a white lace sheet. This was considered high end for the area.
In 1980 she was down on her luck trying to raise three children so she moved out of the busy city and into Nkuru. At the time it was all farm lands and she was one of the first people to settle down. Slowly she struggled to collect plastic bags to recycle and earn her living. She described how living was very tough and she had to eat scraps out of hotel dumpsters. As the years went on more and more people began to struggle around the city and also momved out to these fields. Rapidly Nkuru grew from 10 people to 600,000 in 36 years.
We were stunned. How could this place grow so quickly? This isn't even the largest slum yet this many people had come to live in a place like this. Yes many of the people were friendly, happy, and looked to enjoy life on the outside but as the stories continued with each home visit the problem was clear. These people are really struggling in the slum and want better lives. David's mom was a success story and she worked hard to have a nicer home, build a plastic buying business, and raise successful children. Other stories were not so lucky.
Our friend Tito took us to his new home. Winding through the alleys, across log bridges, and up a set of broken rock stairs we came to his house/room. A sheet covered the entrance. The room was not any larger than my classroom closet. It's only contents were a mattress on the floor, a stack of CDs, and a half melted stereo system. Tito had been living pretty well off until a fire destroyed his complex. Even with all of his possessions gone during our walks he talked about selling his music to raise money for mothers who struggle to buy formula for their children. Once again I was shocked at the nature of the people.
My final stop was to visit the house of a student named Rosemary. During the school visit she was busy practicing her sewing skills on the weekend. We kindly asked her to take us to her house. Along the way we met a random man in a suit that wished to join us and worked as ann excellent translator. He was curious why two white people were wondering around a never looked upon slum.
Getting to Rosemary's house was like a game. The area she lived in was passed some flooded mud areas where we had to navigate skipping from one rock to the next. Her complex was made by a landlord who had actually build solid wall room to serve as condos. Each one was one again a quarter of the size of my classroom or less and only consisted of mattresses, a couch, and a table. Fitting Rosemary, myself, Tom, and TIto in was quite a squeeze. Three children came in the room. Their ages were around 10, 6, and 2. Each one however looked have their age and the lack of nutrition could be seen in their size.
Rosemary had grown up in a decent family. She quickly got swept up in love and married her sweet heart and had three children. Her husband worked for the airline and had a nice enough salary that Rosemary did not need to continue school or work. He rented an 800 dollar apartment and they lived a comfortable life. Unfortunately, Rosemary became sick one day and spent some time in the hospital. After that her husband decided to abandon them all. Unable to keep the apartment Rosemary downgraded to a small rental that would still allow the kids to go to their school. Shortly after even that became to expensive because she did not have the skills or education to get a job. Supporting three kids exhausted her little funds and she was forced to retreat to the slums.
The Reuben center helped her by giving her a small job so that she could take adult classes for free. She worked hard day and night practicing. Still with three kids she was not getting enough. The stove was loaned to her from a neighbor who needed it back soon. Her stove had caught fire and was destroyed earlier. Soon her rent for the month was due as well. She was left to decide if they should pay the rent or eat. During the night while all four of them shared a bed she would work on sewing projects in hopes of selling them in tourist shops. Rosemary wanted to continue classes but was 12 dollars in debt still to the school. No matter what way she turned she said she felt like she was falling down a dark hole. I held back tears. This poor lady had gone from everything to nothing. How many more stories just like hers were there?
Walking back along the path I stared at each and every tin shack. Inside children and families could be seen living off next to nothing. I could not comprehend what some of them have seen and how they have struggled.
It was night fall and we made it back to the center as the sun went down. It seemed that my small excursion turned into a full day trip. I missed my pre overland trip meeting but I did not care. The experience today was unlike any other. Wandering through the alleys of a slum and taking in whatever came gave me a new perspective. As we share a snack and a drink with Tito, his brother, his girlfriend, Tom, and Bev who works at the school I replayed Rosemarie's story in my head. Before waving our goodbyes and getting dropped off I handed Bev the rest of the money in my wallet. I requested she used the money to pay of Rosemary's debt and buy who a stove.
