KIBERA
The Kibera slum began in 1912 when retired Sudanese Nubian soldiers from the British Kings African Rifles were allocated land in the area. They served 12 years in the army to qualify. The Nubians are now in their eighth generation. They are mostly Muslims and have kept their culture intact.
Kibera in the Nubian language has two meanings: “to be silenced in a bad manner” and “jungle”.
Over the years other tribal groups began to settle in the area either renting from the Nubians or by being allocated land to build on a temporary basis by the government. In most cases money changes hands before one is given a plot to build on. Kibera is close to the city center and to the industries so most people can walk to work. It is a reservoir of very cheap labor for the city.
It is eight kilometers from the city center.
Kibera borders one of the presidents houses in the city. It is also next to a major golf club in the city.
The inhabited portion of the slum is 225.6 hectares. The annual growth of the slum is estimated at 12 percent per annum.
It is estimated that right now the population is between 700,000 -1.2 million people.
More than 83 percent of the people are underemployed or unemployed. Most make $1 a day. That goes to provide for 4.2 people in the small 10x10 room they rent.
54 percent of Kenyans make $1 a day.
Kibera is divided into 10 areas, and most of the neighborhoods are based on tribe. The Nubians still see at themselves as the rightful owners of the slum and thus they have physically resisted attempts by other tribes to encroach on their supremacy. Iin November 2001, more than ten people lost their lives when clashes broke out over the issue of tenants paying cheaper rent. The tension still simmers under the surface.
It is estimated that there are 22,000 landlords in the slum. Most of them are absentee. The Nubians own 300 size of the land. They have a Kibera Land Committee to fight for their rights. The total acreage of Kibera is 3,000 acres. It is prime property as it is very close to the city center and all the amenities that favor the middle and upper classes.
The land in Kibera is owned by the government, which has the right to demolish it or give the people the right to own it so they can improve it.
Kibera is seen as a reservoir of votes and labor.
The slum is characterized by a lack of all that is basic to living a life of dignity: water, privacy, education, health, family structure, etc.
The people are united by their poverty. Poverty is king in the slum with all the attendant problems that come in its wake. The Church must give the people their true hope.
Houses in Kibera are built of mud walls and iron sheets. In Nairobi as a whole, only 14 percent of houses are made of brick or blocks. Some 86 perfect of all other dwellings are made of temporary materials.
The slum is three square kilometers. The population density is 230,000 if we take the lower figure of 700,000 people. The vast majority of the people are young. Nairobi has 34 percent of its people less than 15 years old, while Kenya as a whole has over 50 percent of its people under 24. Thus they are highly educated, visionaries, aggressive, motivated, and ready to change the society. These young people have come to the slum because of relatives in the slum, housing is cheap, and makes for a stable footing while one looks for a job. This group is highly hit by AIDS. Some 50 percent of all Kenyan hospital beds are taken up by AIDS related illnesses.
Other major slums in Nairobi: Mathare Valley with 147,000 people on three sq. km of land having 49,000 per sq. km.; Kangemi with five sq. km with 36,000 and a density of 7,000; Kawangware with four sq km and 54,000 people and density of 54,000; Kariobangi with one km and a density of 26,000 per sq. km; Korogocho with one km and density of 54,000; Huruma with one km and 63,000. The above estimates are for the year 1994.
Nairobi had more than 133 slums by 1995. Kibera is the largest. Thus the slums in Nairobi need new churches the most. The slums cover 6 percent of the total residential land in the city. The density per hectare is very high with a minimum of 750 people compared to that of middle income residents, which average 50-180 people. It is estimated that over 73 percent of Nairobians live in the slums. Nairobi needs 25,000 new low-rent housing units each year. Many are too expensive for the poor. The slums are able to put up 15 houses each day to meet the demand.
The slums are characterized by the following:
The slumlords have semi-legal rights to the land; the occupation of the slum is temporary as the government can have it moved; the place is unplanned and the structures made of semi-permanent materials; the rental of the rooms is on a room-by- room basis; a room holds 4.2 people; the room serves all their needs of bathing, coking, sleeping, hospitality, etc; the low income and the self employed are the majority; the population density is extremely high making for a very low quality of life; minimal services are provided by the City Council and government[ thus there are only two roads in the area, water has to be bought, there are no toilets, so there is the phenomenon of “flying toilets”; AIDS is a major killer and affects nearly 1 out of 3; mortality rates for infants are very high caused by environmental sewage and sanitation conditions; there are many women who are the breadwinners of the family as they have been separated from their husbands. It is estimated that 20 percent of the homes are female-headed. The rent varies from $15-20 monthly. Drainage mostly flows into where they are located [eastern Nairobi]. Unemployment is close to 80 percent.
Garbage in Kibera is burned or thrown into the river. It is not collected, as there is no provision for that by the City Council. Since it does not exist in government planning, the slum cannot be included in city planning or in the budget of the government. Thus the landlords build pit latrines: one latrine serves more than 100 people. Most are restricted to the tenants of the landlord. Drainage is by open earth channels. Children suffer the most from these unhygienic conditions.
Food poverty is a major problem. Malnutrition is endemic. Kids have one meal per day, thus most end up scavenging in the middle-class area. Those who go to school suffer hunger pangs and cannot concentrate. The poor in Kibera see their priorities as education, food, transportation and shelter.
Common diseases include tuberculosis (TB), AIDS, malaria, sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), scabies, respiratory diseases, dysentery, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, hepatitis, and worms. Access to health facilities is contingent on money thus most people rely on quacks and traditional healers. Some give up and wait for death in their little hovels.
In most cases, even the pit latrines are built over to build create new rooms. The room is the center of all activity and is characterized by a stool, a coffee table, a bed, and cooking space.
Vulnerable groups in the slum include widows, orphaned and abandoned children, the disabled, and youth and young girls. Most of these are be unemployed with no professional skills thus with a lot of hopelessness. Many resort to drugs, crime and petty theft, or are hired by politicians for their rallies.
Women bear the brunt of the problems in Kibera as they are socially and culturally marginalized. They are disadvantaged economically, educationally, and have to work in unventilated rooms, use contaminated water, care for the in children, and stave off starvation for their families. The Kibera woman is renowned in Kenya for hard work and thrift!
The children are also vulnerable as parents are off busy fending for them. Schooling is difficult for them as the formal school system needs fees paid, uniforms worn, subordinate staff paid by the PTA, and tuition given after school is paid for. Thus most kids are not in school. The churches in the slum have informal schools that try to fill the gap.
City Council schools have 800 pupils per school and 45 students per class. Payment of pay school fees is a key factor in getting an education.
The poverty is compounded by large families, illiteracy, and a lack of education, inadequate food and a balanced diet, unemployment, and or low paying jobs. The low incomes contribute greatly to poverty.
Intervention needed by the Kibera RPC includes preaching the gospel in word and deed. The church will work to see that there is good nutrition for the families in its target area, health is provided for, vocational training is provided for the youth, and the younger children receive an education.
The Kibera Reformed Presbyterian Church is in the slum for the long haul. Its goal is to plant a solid Bible-based church in each of the 10 neighborhoods of the slum. The church will also reach the pastors through a small Bible institute so that they can be trained to preach the Word properly. A small library will be set up in the place towards these ends.
The Kibera slum is looked upon as harboring all manner of evil people ranging from thieves, prostitutes, robbers, moon shiners, the diseased, illiterates, gangs, drug addicts, violent political activists, etc. It will be the goal of the church to show that these are the people that listened to Christ gladly when he preached the Good News. Our goal will be to plant His kingdom in their midst. It is the slums that we have the majority of Nairobi people living. The people have come to the city usually out of their own choice or in a few cases natural disasters broke the back of their livelihood. They are a group that the Lord would have his church reach with the gospel. They have come to better their lives and with the aspiration of attaining a middle class status. God has brought them to the church for a purpose.
The church will also be an advocate for the people in relation to issues such as land rights, tenure and security of the people, education of the children, etc. Where possible, the church will link the poor with Christian professionals engaged in seeing righteousness and justice practiced in society at large. The church will thus be fully engaged in upgrading the slum, which has been in the doldrums for the past two years.
The church realizes that it will in many ways experience the insecurities and the inconveniences of the slum. This must be so in order for us to throw ourselves upon the Lord and for the people to realize that we are credible. The pastoral mode in the slum will therefore very different from that of a pastor in a middle-class English-speaking church in Nairobi. Helping for the people have a say in what happens will be a great part of the ministry. In short, we will seek to be prophetic in preaching and apostolic in doctrine. The cross must be central in the work of the church in Kibera (John 17:3).
The church will respond to the issue of the poor by responding to their spiritual, cultural, and economic justice through a biblical perspective. Thus land rights, slum upgrading, rehabilitation of houses, vocational training, community organizing, healthy work, advocacy of the rights of the poor, and environmental concern will be some of the foci of the church. This will mean working with marginalized groups such as street hawkers, market people, street kids from the slums, drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, people living with AIDS, the handicapped, and prisoners. In many cases, we will seek to work with other Christian groups who are involved in the same work.
The church will also seek to plant churches in the Kibera area and other slums of Nairobi that are run by slum dwellers who have come to know the Lord and are called back to the slums. It will also seek to have the educated Christians become part of the work. As such, young Christians from middle and upper class families will be encouraged to give both themselves and their resources to the task of reaching the poor. The affluent church will also be challenged to speak out on issues that affect the poor, especially in the urban slums of Nairobi.
The church will also have a strong Christological emphasis where the offices of Christ as prophet, priest, and king will be stressed.
The poor have not been well incorporated into the church in Nairobi as the church is still stuck in a time warp. The majority of the pastors reported in research some years ago as preferring to minister in the rural areas rather than the city. The congregations in the slums see these in the frequent transfer of pastors. Thus the need that the KRPC will have to address discipleship and evangelism so that the lay people can reach the dwellers as part of their calling as light and salt.
Cults are very prominent in the area. These are both Kenyan and foreign.
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