Daily life in Mathare

I know I have written about the daily life in Mathare and facts about the school before, but I really feel that a general description of the community adds to the understanding of the problems.

Mathare Slum is one of the oldest and the worst slums in Africa. Situated three miles east of Nairobi city’s central business district, Mathare slum is home to over 700,000 people occupying an area of two miles long by one mile wide. Because of congestion, survival is a daily battle for the resident’s against the backdrop of diseases, crime, prostitution and lawlessness.

Life in Mathare slums is unbearable for everyone who resides and visits the slums. Most residents are engaged in small-scale petty businesses either in their 6 x 8’ makeshift housing structures or on narrow open raw sewer filled alley ways. However the manner in which the slum polulation carry on with life is owe-inspiring and remarkable.

Apart from having no access to basic amenities like clean water, food, clothing, shelter and healthcare, the close to 1 million residents also suffer the misfortune of having no roads that can allow for any emergency services like fire outbreak. The housing structures are either made out of mud or metal. There is absolutely no government security inside the slums leaving the residents at the mercies of lawless tribal gangs.

A closer look of the slums reveals a depressing way of life for all. The environment is unhealthy, there are very few filthy public bathrooms but payment is demanded before one can use them, there is no garbage collection system, leaving open sewers to run the fronts of the shanties. A walk through what is called “the main road” is a poor lesson in a waste disposal. The most disheartening of all is to learn that children who would be in school run about in tattered clothes hassling for something to eat and looking for any open space to play. 

The children and youth in Mathare slums live under heavy conditions. Most of the children come from single parented homes, while others come from very poor families since their parents are sick, unemployed or underemployed. Orphans who are helpless after both or one of their parents die of HIV/Aids or other causes are forced to face the harsh reality of unbearable slum life. These children and youth have no one to care for them in this dangerous slum.

The situation is worsened when orphaned children and those from poor families turn to fend for themselves in the alley way, the young girls live under the fear of being raped, some turn to prostitution to earn a living, leading to the rise of teen pregnancies and abortion cases which further damages their emotional well being. The young boys often join gangs in the slums to rob and mug people in and outside Mathare slums leading to insecurity in Mathare, the city of Nairobi and the whole country of Kenya. Apart from robbery, use of drugs and alcohol, these young boys are often recruited by powerful drug cartels to peddle drugs which lead to other forms of criminality.
This is why the work of the staff in Excellent School and Care center is so important. Besides to provide for the education, they also help families in need. They give the kids who are infected with HIV/Aids their meds, supplied by the governemnt. When the kids in 8:th grade does well as they do, they inspire the rest of the students to study hard. Hopefully, with some help, all of them can go on to their secondary education.