Many incredible connections, no doubt orchestrated by the Lord, gave me the perfect opportunity to come into contact with these communities first hand. I set out with Chuck, a Rosslyn-affiliated Canadian Baptist who has worked in Nairobi on and off, for the past 25 years. He definitely connects people. He suggested that we start the trip with prayer—that the Lord would connect us with necessary individuals in the community.
Once we finished and we hit the road, Chuck wanted to start our day by emphasizing the immense gulf th
at separates rich and poor here in Kenya, so we drove to the Nairobi Golf club, an exclusive, well-maintained course whose monthly fee boggles the mind; this institution sits only a few hundred meters away from the beginning of a massive slum (see picture at left with Joshua and me in front of the clubhouse). When we stopped, we connected with Chuck’s friend, Francis, and another caddy named Joshua. As we were chatting and talking of our plans for the day, Joshua explained that he chaired a peace initiative for the IDP’s who have fled to the Muthare slum from their village to the north during the violence this past January. Francis assured us that if we took Joshua along with us on this introductory tour that we would be safe and have an incredible view into the community. So, with Joshua in tow to give us a deeper sense of the area, we set out for Muthare. As we passed by the walls that hid this neighborhood from the main road, the number of people visible exponentially increased. The streets teemed with residents, hawkers and pedestrians passing through. Chuck explained that this entire section of Nairobi did not exist twenty years ago, and has quickly transformed from a sheep pasture east of Nairobi into an overcrowded, haphazardly constructed slum. We meandered through the dirt streets occasionally pocked with tarmac, or dotted with stones used to fill in the large cervices that are way too massive to be called potholes. During the journey, Joshua and Chuck both pointed out important landmarks in turn. Joshua explained that during the violence this past January, an individual from the Kikuyu tribe could not have traversed this section of the city without risking his or her life. Thankfully, the security situation has calmed down a bit since then.
As we approached a main road, we turned west, heading back towards the city center, and passed numerous small wood kiosks that sold baskets, clothes, and food. After a five minute drive that involved dodging matatus and pedestrians, we encountered a small 5
0 meter by 50 meter plot of land blanketed with dull brown and off white tents (See picture at right with Joshua and Camp Administrator). Joshua said, “This is one of my camps that I chair. Let’s stop here and visit with people. They are my friends.” Obligingly, we pulled up to the tent, signed in with a young woman manning a table, and meandered through the very crowded impromptu tent village created in the center of Nairobi. The poverty that these IDPs are experiencing gripped me. I thought back to my training at Eastern University, remembering the many conversations that our class had about the SPHERE standards that lay out basic specifications for water, food and sanitation for individuals experiencing humanitarian disasters, and recognized that even a cursory survey of the situation confirms that very few of these basic human conditions are being met. After we visited with a few of the residents, and heard a quick history of how they arrived here, we moved on to visit Eastleigh.
Eastleigh sits south of the Muthare slum; Juja Road separates these two communities. Joshua explained that residents of Muthare, generally, aspire to transition to living in Eastleigh once they have accumulated enough money to move out. Eastleigh, however, still experiences many of the same problems of the slum: massive potholes, overcrowding, unregulated development and poor sanitation. We slowly turned down several unmarked streets until we arrived at the Eastleigh Community Center, a Presbyterian-run organization that has developed a set of pottery courses geared to improve the lives of the local residents of Eastleigh and Muthare through income generation (http://www.pceaecc.or.ke/). This creative approach toward confronting and alleviating poverty makes sense to me. I hope to learn more about this project.
Once we finished with this piece of our trip, we concluded by turning off of the hardly identifiable 2nd street onto 1st Avenue, the main shopping street. We meandered our way towards the Eastleigh Fellowship Center, a Mennonite run initiative that focuses on connecting the members of the community and offers English language training for the residents of Eastleigh. Also, I hope to utilize these facilities to explore the possibility of implementing development initiatives with the many refugee residents. After we narrowly missed several busses, and zigzagged our way around a few large mud pits and pedestrians, we arrived at this tiny, but bustling center. Several English classes, divided by partitions took place simultaneously in two different rooms. Children and adults purposefully crossed the main foyer, while some small groups of bystanders conversed with great animation. The chaos intimidated me a bit, and made me wonder how I could ever connect or feel a part of such a community. Only time will tell.
After this overwhelming, busy introduction, we climbed back into our vehicle, and finished our trip by returning to the other worldly golf course on the other side of Thika highway. With a few pleasantries and the exchange of contact information, Joshua quietly took his place at the end of the parking lot where he awaited the next caddying opportunity. Chuck and I drive off, thanking God for these amazing connections, and I wondered what the road holds in the next three years.
It is good to be reminded of how great the need is for these people. No matter how hard life is here, it will never be as hard as there.
ReplyDeleteThat does sound like you met some amazing people. What a day to make your head spin! Yeah, you had a good professor. You write so well, it's great to hear your descriptions of a day.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to subscribe to a google blog. Do you?