Case Study: Nairobi's Slums

“The Experience of slum-dwellers starkly illustrates that people living in poverty not only face deprivation but are also trapped in that poverty because they are excluded from society, denied a say and threatened with violence and insecurity”
-Page 3 of the Amnesty Report

I for the first time in my life will be living in a slum this summer. I’ve been fortunate in my life thus far to always have a home with my parents where we’ve always had our own backyard. A slum is going to be much different. Go figure right? Some people close to me have lovingly said to me, “So when does your torture start?” “Your choosing to go to hell for three months” or simply ask the question “Why?” I obviously don’t see this as torture, difficult yes, hell: no. The driving force behind me applying to Beyond Borders really had to do with exploring policy and International Development work as well as exploring the non-profit sector more closely. I am happy my placement did turn out to be in education but I am driven by the ability to explore the human rights aspect of my placement. Shelter is a basic human right and millions of people go through life without access to safe, affordable housing. I am going to live in a slum where there is a lack of water delivery to all of the residents and people have to pay 20 times the price of piped water (Amnesty 8).

The biggest problem with the slums in Nairobi is the impact government has had on them or lack of impact. Explicit government policy has led to the growth of these slums and decades of indifference have not helped. Many Kenyans believed that the slums in Nairobi would be cleaned up and sustainable housing would be built post independence but government only say the slums as an eyesore and as a government failure so instead of eradicating the problem, government introduced population reduction movements masked as ‘maintaining law and order’ and those that were evicted from their dwellings moved to new dwellings in other parts of the city increasing slum numbers from 50 to 130+ and slum residents from 100 000 to over 1 million.

The status quo has always been abided by with no real effort to change or improve. For example in 2002, the Water Act was passed in an effort to make sure slum dwellers in Nairobi would have equal access to water as the rest of the city’s population. Water became a privatized institution to bring down costs and improve service. Not only has this not happened but the numbers have basically remained the same: 24% of slum households have access to piped water compared with 92% of the rest of Nairobi (Amnesty 10). There needs to be better agents to measure the inadequacy of the slum lifestyle that people are forced to live in. By not having proper mechanisms to measure the impact of bills like the Water Act and hold governments accountable, the problems will never cease.

The problems only grow greater when it comes to education and health care. In the Sowento East Slum, there are no public schools forcing parents that cannot afford the hefty cost of private schools to send their children miles away to overcrowded public schools. Residents in the slums have highlighted that there is no proper infrastructure in and around the slums so it is a great distance to travel to get to public transportation if they can get to it. Now can you imagine sending your child two hours one way to go to school walking when their only 6, 7 or 8 years old. Unrealistic? I think so. The challenge now is although there is opportunity to attend government’s free primary education doesn’t mean that all slum dwellers have access to that education (Amnesty 13).

In my opinion, it is completely up to the Nairobi City Council that does exist and has passed many laws that have a direct implication to human rights to create laws that are going to protect the citizens housing. Jane Atieno, a Deep Sea settlement resident said “the bulldozer [unexpectedly] started flattening our houses with all the belongings inside.” The evictions that do take place are often illegal under international law because they do not force due process. Now although this is a back-up, it is not realistic. What body is going to step in front of the bulldozer and explain that what is happening is illegal. When the power is given to respective organizations and communities than real change can happen. If the Nairobi City Council would pass laws regarding housing there would be a greater chance at sustainable change because active participation would take place rather than pawning these duties off to International organizations or third parties.

At Pathways to Education (my volunteer organization), we’ve had the opportunity to tour city hall. It is astonishing to learn how many of our daily lives are attributed to the work of our local municipal bodies. The water you use to brush your teeth, the road you take the bus to go to school, the bus you take to go to school, the school you attend, the basketball court you play on during lunch break, the community centre you go to for after school programming. All of these are tied to your municipal government. My point is, in Canada our municipal governments help impact our daily lives yet consistently have the least amount of attention paid to them. I believe this is the same in the slums. What requires the greatest attention is given the least and what requires the most work is consistently cast aside because its not a worthy enough cause. More attention is paid to the republic of Kenya in Nairobi by the people, international community, non-profits and NGO’s then the attention on the Nairobi city council and that is where the greatest amount of change can take place. Active listening skills need to be focused on residents and listening to what they have to say because most of the time- they are the ones who are truly right.

I hope you enjoyed my insights into the slum lifestyle. It would be a dream to go to a Nairobi city council meeting when I am in Nairobi. Just to witness what it would be like. I wonder if its possible. I wonder what my life will also be like living in a slum. My travelers and I are lucky enough to have running water and a propane stove and fridge in our apartment but one of things we are all looking forward to is the possibility of home stays for a brief period to see what life is like for the most vulnerable citizens. I exit with a quotation from Will Durant a U.S. author and historian that scares me but is most relevant to my Beyond Borders journey and this blog, “Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance.”

For More Information:
Kenya: The Unseen Majority: Nairobi’s Two Million Slum Dwellers. Human Rights=Less Poverty. Amnesty International. London: Amnesty International Publications, 2009. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR32/005/2009/en/3b6e7351-8e08-4b61-9d7b-6e3b86eb0057/afr320052009eng.pdf