Three little glimpses into what life can entail for Kibera residents

Three little cameos of what life can be like for Kibera residents, with no names to ensure confidentiality, and a subtext that these stories could just as easily be set in many other informal settlements around the world – I just happened to come across them today in Kibera.

Cameo 1:

-        Child A

-         Lives with grandmother. Father passed away when they were living in the village and then the mum disappeared to start a new life, leaving the children with the grandmother.

-         Is 3^rd of 4^th siblings and is sponsored via an international agency which ensures school fees, school uniform and school shoes are paid for.

-        Grandmother does casual work, hawking beans, porridge, g’nuts, maize etc and mostly makes just about enough to cover rent, water and food costs.

 

Cameo 2:

-        Child B

-         Lives with mum and 2 of 4 siblings. Dad is deceased and the older 2 siblings have left home. 

-         Mum does casual domestic work eg washing, helping in people’s houses and earns approx. 5,000 KSh per month

-         Her rent is approximately 2,500 per month and other expenses are approximately 3,000 Ksh, (more when no school to ensure the children are fed) so there is a shortfall every month which is a source of great stress to mum. Sometimes the daughter helps out, or the mum finds extra bits of hawking work to do, or depends on well-wishers on the roadside.

-         Electricity is via illegal hook up which is the norm in Kibera

 

Cameo 3:

-         Child C

-         Lives with mum who was widowed 3 years ago

-         Since becoming widowed mum has been having increasing problems with her landlord. It has now reached the point where the landlord is hinting at wanting to involve the child in some traditional witchcraft activities. Not surprisingly mum and child C are very scared.

-         Child has recently started having a number of physical symptoms that haven’t been explained. Mum took child to the nearby health facility for tests, but the facility just said the results were all negative and didn’t give a copy of the results, so no guarantee that the tests were done properly. Unsure whether symptoms are due to stress and fear, or an actual physical condition

-         Mum wants them to move house to get away from the landlord, but needs two months rent to achieve this ie 5,000 KSh and she can’t work at the moment due to having to stay home for her child so can’t afford the money to move. She also can’t afford the money for a proper medical consultation.

 

No photos, no names, but the real people behind the cameos are true all the same. They certainly put life in perspective don’t they.