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Poor planning has meant the slum population has no access to proper sanitation exposing their children to mortality rates higher than the national average; the sewer and drainage systems already in place overwhelmed. Photo/ FELIX MAGARA

Kenya

Living with sewage inside a Kibera house

It certainly is no way to live. I ask Oundo why he just doesn’t move into better accommodation.

“I’d love to move but this is the only rent I can afford,” he replies.
It is at this point that Joseph Mutiso strong-arms his way into our conversation. He reeks of alcohol and it’s hardly midday. He holds a tomato in one hand.

“After the fire some charities gave us rice and flour but it was no help. We were sleeping out in the open and it got soaked in rainwater.”

Maureen, Oundo and Mutiso’s stories are unfortunately not unique. According to an Oxfam report, two million Kenyans live in slums making up 60 percent of Nairobi’s population given the city’s population was pegged at 3.4 million in the last census and is expected to reach 6 million in ten years.

Contrary to popular opinion, only 25 percent of this growth is fuelled by rural to urban migration and most of this migration is not made in hope of getting white collar jobs but necessitated by natural disasters such as drought.

Greater than half of this growth results from the already resident urban population.

Poor planning has meant the slum population has no access to proper sanitation exposing their children to mortality rates higher than the national average; the sewer and drainage systems already in place overwhelmed.

In the event of a fire breaking out in the slums as it did in Andrew, Maureen, Oundo and Mutiso’s cases, fire fighters cannot get through to salvage property and prevent the even greater loss of life; the fire spreading even faster due to the overcrowded nature of the slums.

Worse, when such incidents occur, the urban poor often have nowhere to turn; the Oxfam report reads:

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‘Relative to rural areas, ‘social capital’ is thought to be weak in Nairobi and consequently people do not have the same kin and support networks.’
In the spirit of being your neighbour’s keeper, Andrew seeks to set the record straight as Felix and I climb back out of Kibera.

“In the wake of the fire it was reported by some media outlets that one woman and two children died. They were just missing. We found them.”

This time, I think to myself, they got off easy. If you can call watching your home go up in flames that; they might not be so lucky next time.

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