kiberamirror november edition

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KIBERA

MIRROR

Courting danger

Shocking tales of life in the slums

I

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

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My name is Tessa Dibble; I am a

15 year old high school student from

Boston Massachusetts in the U.S.A.

Recently, I was lucky enough to visit

the Kibera School for girls and Shining

Hope for Communities with my father.

To me this was a good opportunity to

visit prior friends Kennedy Odede and

Jessica Posner and also to make new

friends apart from witnessing firsthand

the challenges and opportunities a

place like Kibera has to offer.

As I stepped out of the car at Olym- pic primary school, my eyes crawled

over the new things I was experiencing.

Most People seemed to be rushing outof the slum to the city of Nairobi for

work and others to search for jobs. This

huge number of hard working people

heading out of Kibera so early in the

morning as we were heading in was

very inspiring. Some were dressed in

nice suits while others had worn out

clothing.Just a few meters past the school

we came to a railway line and as I crossed over it as I entered into the

slum itself, described to me as one of

the largest slums in the world I felt as if leaving one part of Nairobi and enter-

ing another. From this unofficial bor-

der, the landscape suddenly changed.The roads became narrower, dirtier and

muddier. Sights of children running

KIBERA MIRROR ISSUE 4: PAGE 2

Thoughts about my first Visit to Kibera

Tessa Dibble-Boston Massachusetts, U.S.A.

around the little space they had to play

hit me. Every child had a smile for

us, a handshake, “how are you?”, and

an occasional call of a “mzungu”. The

sights, sounds and smells of Kibera

became stronger and I saw several

muddy streets with rows of shops

owned by the locals that were already

open. Most of these shops sold home-

made food, meat, fish, electronics and

music. Occasionally, I could see some

open air hair salons in some corners.

As the locals know it, Kibera ishome to over one million people near-

ly 60% of Nairobi‟s population alt-

hough it only occupies 6% of the land.To be in Africa‟s second largest

slum was like nothing I had ever seen

before. The area is very densely pop-ulated and I couldn‟t help but imagine

how life is difficult for most of these

people. People walk side by side with

trash as if it does not exist. Here basic

social services are largely missing but

people still manage every day despite

all the challenges and manage to do

wonderful things with and for their

families in the tight spaces that Kibera

has to offer.We continued to walk through the

slum until I saw a sign directing all to

Shining Hope for Communities and

The Kibera School for Girls. The sign

was blue but the school itself had a

pink wall with handprints of all the

girls that attend the school with their

names under it. I was so impressed

with girls‟ intellect and confidence.

These beautiful girls with their shin-

ing personalities clearly have a great

future. Equally impressive were the wom-

en who were making the bracelets for

sale (Infact I am wearing one as Iwrite). Their hard work was obvious,

I could notice they had learned a lot

business skills. The women we metseemed so committed to raising the

children of Kibera, their own and all

of the children of the community

Despite the negative stories about

slums, every moment of our time in

Kibera we felt safe, we felt welcome,we never felt like strangers. All of

the children in the streets who

reached out to us at every turn put a

constant smile on our faces. We

were never more welcome than at a

parents meeting at the Kibera School

for Girls where the parents sang and

danced to invite us to be part of their

community. It was an honor to be

part of the Kibera community and I

cannot wait to come back.

If you have been in Kibera or you have any thoughts about it, its people or you have you have something

you want to tell the world, do it through this column by writing to us on [email protected].

EDITORIAL

Kibera is known for many things;

Poor sanitation, human suffering, poverty, crime, violence just to

name a few. Something unique

about its people though, is the

extremes to which they can go inorder to make ends meet. Some-

times these extremes put their

lives on the line but to them it is

because there are simply no op-

tions. This month we bring to you

stories told by the people them-

selves and why they are willing to

put their lives on the line. We also

feature one success story from theslum about a school that has risen

from humble beginnings to great

success.

Vincent Achuka

This edition’s Team

John Kiarie, Kizito Nadebu, FredWanjala, Jessica Steinke, Tessa

Dibble, Anne Olwande, Benard

Maticha, Susan Awino, Sylvia

Nekesa

FUN TIME: Students from the

Kibera school for

girls enjoying

themselves during

break time. Behind

them is a wall with

handprints of each

girl at the school.

The school is the

first and only

exclusively freeschool in the slum.

Apart from free

tuition, the girls

are also provided

with daily nourish-

ment, uniforms

and school sup-

plies

Shocking tales of life in the slumsFROM PAGE 1

donations on behalf of the organi-

zation and the Kibera residents,

majority of the victims were re-

morseful of the incident but a few

were not as siphoning of petrol

from the pipeline „is a normal

affair to them‟ and whatever hap-

pened was an accident. Infact

some of the male victims claimed

that it was their wives were pres-

suring them to take part in the

siphoning so as not to miss the rare

opportunity of making some mon-

ey for household expenses just

before the disaster struck.

This fire disaster temporarily brought to the attention of the

country the life of slum dwellers in

the country that have to face deathevery minute. A month on, the

dust seems to have settled leaving

them on their own once again as it

has always been.

Back in Kibera, MillicentAchieng, a vegetable vendor at the

Kichinjio area one of the areas

where the railway crosses has wit-nessed two railway accidents in the

recent times including one as recentas last month just after the Sinai

incident when a train‟s engine

caught fire right in front of her stall

but she has no intention of movingher stall from its present spot- a

dangerous hardly 2 meters from the

railway.

Although no causalities were

reported, the last accident in which

a train derailed scores of people

were hurt and some lost their lives

including a friend to one of her sons

as she tells us. Just as most of the

people we talked to her story is the

same; she simply does not have any

option but to run her business from

that area despite 2 previous eviction

attempts carried out by the govern-

ment.

“I have been selling cowpeas(kunde) from this spot for 20 years

and the proceeds have enabled me

to educate all my children including

two who have since been employed

in Dubai so the fear of a train acci-

dent cannot scare me. You simply

do not plan for accidents”

She further claims that on two

occasions some people have ap-

proached her to pay them 500 shil-lings in order to petition RVR to

move the railway line but nothing

has happened so far.

At spot check in Kibera also

reveals the extent of illegal electrici-ty connections that are like a normal

thing here. Copper wires- some

uncoated connecting the residents to

a cheap yet very dangerous source

of electricity are easily noticeable

crisscrossing on rooftops, paths and

some even across the streets reveal-

ing the extent to which the residents

can go in order to access basic so-

cial services which are beyond reachto most of them.

Worse still, some electric poles can

be seen protruding right from inside

some houses through rusty rooftops.Though it is yet to happen, an elec-

tric fire could be really disastrous as

houses are interconnected to each other

as if waiting for disaster to happen and

there is a shortage of access roads to

allow for help to reach affected areas.

The tales about the rate of electrocu-

tions from short circuits or overloading

is equally heart wrenching A resident who did not want to be iden-

tified told us that an electrocution case

is not news here as everyone knows that

danger looms and anything can happen,

but they live on luck. “Day to day, children are electrocut-

ed while playing by underground wires,

but here we live one day at a time.”

What is more disheartening is the

fact that as we were preparing this story,

a deafening noise was heard nearbyfollowed by a blackout only to learn that

a middle aged man had been electrocut-

ed and rushed to the Johanna JustinJinich clinic with severe burns for first

aid before being rushed to the Kenyatta

National hospital. Just like other informal settlements,

basic infrastructure in Kibera is conspic-uously absent. For instance the lack of

clean tap water together with the lack of toilets mean that in the case of a cholera

outbreak, the number of causalities can

only be imagined in a country wheredisaster preparedness is an utter embar-

rassment.

Two questions arise here. Are Kibera

residents wrong in trying to better their

lives while endangering themselves?

Where would the buck stop next time

another disaster strikes?

The management and staff of

Shining hope for communities

and the students at the Kibera

school for girls would like to

congratulate the students who

have sat for KCPE and KCSE

exams this year for conquering

this important milestone in

their lives.

We recognize that education

is a key for a great future and

wish them all the best in their

endeavors.

Since last year we have given

women and children in Kibera

more good news than anyone else.

This is because at JJJ they are not

just our patients, We focus all our

attention to them. That is why most

of our services to them are free.

Trust our experience

Johanna Justin Jinich Clinic

Out patient

services

Now at only

150 sh




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

who has forfeited his freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.

SYLVIA NEKESA

DID YOU KNOW?

When asked what would bring

happiness to their lives, t eenagers

from around the world listed the

following values (from most to

least important) Love, successful

careers, fulfilling family lives,

freedom, money, helping others,

having children, religion, power,

good looks and fame?

SUSAN AWINO




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

Documents

kiberamirror november edition