On life in
slums.
This time the focus is on
people who live in slums, many of whom live on less than one US
dollar per day.
A slum is "a squalid
and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people" (
Oxford Dictionaries)
Globally, 1 in 7 out of us live in slums! (source:
"Reall", a social enterprise that is dedicated to alleviating housing
conditions in informal settlements across the developing world)
Slums are found in cities
all over the world, but in Sub-saharan Africa more than 200 million live in
slums. That is 62 out of every 100 people, the highest ratio in the world.
(Source UN- habitat qouted in "The Africa Report") The Africa Report
To illustrate, this
newsletter focuses on one example:
Nairobi, Kenya, is one of
many cities in the world growing at an alarming rate. In 1911 the town was
founded as a station on the new East African Railway.
By 1963, Nairobi had
transformed from the small main city in the English colony of Kenya to
capital of the independent country Kenya. In 1963 the population was
350.000 (to be ins; since it has grown to 3.14 million and the city is now the
largest between Cairo and Johannesburg.
Nairobi is a bustling
center of commerce, industry, and governance, with living areas for the wealthy
and the middle class. Around these areas huge townships have developed, best
described as a mix of cheaply built and often unfinished blocks of flats, with
slums beyond.
I have recently visited a
corner of one of these slums, Kawangware, in the Nairobi suburb
of Westlands.
The slum dwellers live in
long shacks, each subdivided into individual rooms, one per family. Each
family room has one window and one door.
Dry toilets are located near the end
of each long shack ( see photo above). Each family pays rent, although
low, to the landlord owner.
Red mud is everywhere.
During November, part of the "rainy season with short showers", it
rains once or twice every day. Accordingly, the humidity is high and it may
take up to 5 days for washed clothes to dry. There's little place for
children to play, because the distance between shacks is tight, as these areas
also provide circulation for those living in the shacks.
I was invited to visit
the local Reformed Church of East Africa by the pastor and his wife. A few
years ago their congregation had decided to build a new church at the corner of
this slum area.
- The children of the
slum use the ground floor of the church as their playground. The ground floor is
constructed as a parking lot, with the church above, on pillars.
A temporary kitchen
provided by the church is located in a freestanding tin shack at the side
of the church building. Here, meals of ugali (sticky porridge of maiz flour )
and green kale are prepared and served to the children for lunch, every day.
It's filling and takes the hunger away.
One could see in the eyes
of every child that taking part in activities in this church building meant
much more to them than a meal a day. Here they seem to feel safe, and maybe
this creates hope for their future.
A note from my friend
and proof writer, Glenn, in Indiana: “This example seems to say that software
can trump hardware. Simple facilities, well-organized and used, can yield great
results. This is the kind of thinking we need more of!”
and Facebook page
RCEA KAWANGWARE
Around the world, people
living in slums are taking initiatives and making positive changes where you
would think change was not possible. Find your own examples: Search on the
internet "slum & change", "slum & hope", "
slum & project" etc.
Here is one more amazing
example, this one from South America:
"Landfill Harmonic -
The world sends us garbage… We send back music".
This letter is a tribute
to the children, young people, men and women who make a difference in the lives
of people who have to fight for survival of their families and themselves every
single day.
Recommended reading (for high
school students & above) on why and how slums are developing: "Planet
of slums" by Mike Davis
______________________________________________________________________
My warmest thanks
to the leadership and concegration of Kawangware Parish for making me feel at
home 10.000 km. from home
To read any of the previous newsletters
simply visit the blog
Yours,
Egon Hedegaard
Educational consultant, independent
instructor, and Developer of Education
Email: eghedegaard@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________
All are welcome to receive these
newsletters. Please request via email, and network by forwarding me questions,
inspiring links, and texts to use in future newsletters.
No comments:
Post a Comment