Kibera Slum Life:

---

Kibera is home to around one million people - it's the largest slum in East Africa, and is about 5km southwest of the centre of Nairobi. It is a dense mass of blocks of single-roomed houses, intersected by a complex network of dirt alleyways through which run channels of rubbish and raw sewage. There is no safe drinking water, little sanitation or power, and life for most families is a struggle.




Mashimoni, where Turning Point work, is an area in the centre of Kibera where some of the poorest people live. Sitting down in the valley, far from any amenities, the rubbish and sewage gravitates here, and rents are cheaper. Home to a typical family in Kibera is a single room, about 10 ft square, with mud walls and floor and a tin roof. The noise when it rains is deafening, and when the sun shines it's stiflingly hot.

This single room is where they live - cook, eat, sleep, entertain, do homework, play. They will share a bathroom and toilet with 10 or more other families, and because Kibera is so crowded there isn't even much room outside for children to play. Not that there is much time to play - a child in Kibera is very much seen as an extra pair of hands, and from a very young age will help around the house or with younger siblings, often taking care of them for the whole day while mum and dad are out trying to make some money to put food in their mouths that evening.