A Trip into the Slums

Today was the day Honny arrived, and I was really looking forward to it. To pass the time, I had arranged an exciting trip to a slum area in Nairobi with the Danish girls, Sarah and Lisbeth, who were also staying at the hostel. After breakfast, a guide came to take us out to the Kibera slum. There were six of us from the hostel, and the trip cost a symbolic amount of around 100 kr—20 kr for lunch and 80 kr as a donation to a local aid project. Kibera is Nairobi's largest slum, located just about a 10-minute drive from the city center. Around 1 million people live there, and over a third of them are HIV positive, which I find quite shocking! We got there by taking a matatu, which is probably the cheapest form of transport. We each paid about 1.50 kr! The Kibera area is somewhat safer than other parts of Nairobi, even though the people are incredibly poor. If someone steals or commits other crimes, they can be burned or stoned to death. This happens roughly every three months! It's not the police or the state that carry out these actions, but rather the community in Kibera that enforces this kind of vigilante justice. You could say it's a bit of an excessive punishment, but it does have a preventive effect, so crime rates are quite low. However, it should be noted that children do not receive the death penalty for lesser offenses! We walked around with our guide, who cheerfully shared stories about the area. I must admit, the poverty here in the slum was truly staggering. Trash was everywhere, and the huts were made of clay, cow dung, or tin. We've seen many impoverished places on our countless travels, but this was one of the worst examples. Yet, it was incredibly educational to see how others live under vastly different conditions than we do in the West. Around 1:30 PM, we were invited for lunch in a building where an aid project is based. This is also where the donation money goes. The meal consisted of chapati and an unknown bean stew! The aid project provides some residents with opportunities for education in IT, drama, music, and other activities. This enhances their quality of life in an otherwise not-so-exciting daily routine. Around 4 PM, we headed back to the hostel with our guide. It was a very successful trip that was incredibly fascinating. After taking a shower, I headed to the airport to pick up Honny. Around 7:30 PM, she appeared among the other travelers from Amsterdam. It was such a lovely reunion... :) We returned to the hostel where we had dinner and enjoyed some cozy time around the campfire with others from the hostel.