Neighborhoods: its all relative

Although we are staying in a pretty posh hotel, our days are spent out in Nairobi's neighborhoods, talking with teachers, health workers, babyminders, pastors & other community leaders. The PC name for these particular areas is informal settlement, the common name is slum. Both names seem offensive to me and they are really just neighborhoods. They are all totally different and mostly not what I was expecting.

As you can see Google isn't afraid to take pictures from above, but they aren't cruising the hoods to figure out what is in there. There is plenty though! Tons and tons! If you search for images you will find all sorts of heartbreaking stuff, but I think its pretty one-sided and sensationalist. I'm not saying I know much about slums or I have seen what its really like. But I have met a whole bunch of amazing people who are trying to make life better for the children of their communities - a problem everyone, everywhere faces. This is one of the meetings Kidogo held where we are discussing what childcare providers need and how to go about getting it.

In one of the interviews before I left, a Kenyan woman living in SF said to remember: You know what? Safety, cleanliness, these things are relative. You may feel unsafe, but this is my home. I know there is better, but I'm doing ok.

This has had a profound effect on me. It has freed me from feeling guilty for my own life or sorry for anyone else's. Who am I to judge? For one very simple example, in San Francisco we have by far way more homeless people, not to mention people are substantially less friendly to their fellow humans. I'm happy I live where I live and I'm sure many would love to visit, but they would certainly miss a lot if they left their homes here, whether their floors are dirt or marble. 

Mukuru

I spent only half a day here, but walked around and went into a couple of homes, so I have a better sense of it than the others. It was much more what I was expecting, with people engaging in much of life on the street, where there is more space than in the homes, most of which are made of tin without any windows so they are hot and dark. I saw some cats here and got to pet one who was sleeping in the babycare center we visited.

Kangemi

I have spent the most time here so far so I know the most people here. It is very different from what I was expecting, it feels much more like a rural village than an urban slum. There is a lot of space around, no open sewers in the streets and the building Kidogo has its babycare in is made of stone. I was told this is one of the newer settlements, so perhaps they built more infrastructure for it than the others. Everyone we talked with lived around the area and many worked outside of it, as taxi drivers, teachers and professionals (like a telcom operator). 

Kibera

This is the famous one I was telling you about in the last post. I only saw the edges and it was was surprisingly mellow to me. One of the nicest things about these neighborhoods is how few cars are around, that and the general high level of energy because so many people are outside makes them my favorite places to walk. Kibera had few cars but not the high energy part. I will be back there tomorrow, and further in, so perhaps I will have a better update.

Mlolongo

This neighborhood is further on the outskirts of town along a truck route, so its a bit rougher and more spacious than the others. As with all of the areas I can't take photos unless I'm either in a car or in someone's home and have asked them for permission, so I don't have much to show here either. Can you tell a little bit how different they are though?