Slum tourism
On Friday, I find out about slum tourism in the most random way. Eyrun and I bump into a German guy carrying out research in slum tourism. Now I thought I was familiar with all terminologies and different types of development work. But slum tourism is one I’ve never heard of, and I am very surprised and intrigued by the concept. Initially I find it hilarious as I think it must be some random activity carried out by locals when they want to make a bit of money. But then, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. Had I not been working in Kibera slums, I doubt I would ever have thought of going there even briefly. Were I a tourist in Kenya or anywhere else in the world I wouldn’t think about visiting a slum, at least not on my own. But given that it’s very different from what most people in developed countries in particular have seen, there is a certain attraction. With publicity given to slums such as Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day filming in Kibera, it certainly raises the curiosity of the viewer and therefore generates interest in seeing a place like this. And what better and safer way to do it than through tour guides. So, after a short conversation with Dom, and with our interests piqued, we agree to give short interviews for his documentary / research in exchange for a free tour of Kibera which he promises to invite us on soon.
Touring Kibera – the walk
The tour is today. We meet Dom and a party of 10 or so other people at Java, Adam’s Arcade at 2pm. Finally at about 2.30pm, with our tour guide ahead, and a couple of his local Kiberan mates for security, we set off for Kibera slums. Now I work in Kibera but our office is situated on the edges of the slum and it is not particularly safe to make lone trips into the heart of Kibera. I have walked in and around some parts of it but accompanied by local staff. Kibera is huge and I doubt that in the time I’m here I’ll get the chance to cover all of the 2.5 square kilometres it covers. So the chance to see more of it is very intriguing. The tour turns out to be by far one of the most interesting things I’ve done here in Nairobi to date. It’s been raining a lot in the last few days and we are taken through what seems to be the muddiest, slummiest routes. We walk through a combination of market places and mud houses in Kibera. After what seems like a long walk through ‘Karanja’ and ‘42’ villages in Kibera we find ourselves along the railway lines which run through Kibera.
Touring Kibera – high-rise flats in Kibera
On the other side of the railway lines are government built high-rise flats for re-housing residents of Kibera. We are told that the rent per month for a flat here is Ksh3000 (approx £21). Now, here’s the interesting part. Kiberan residents who were re-housed here chose to move back to the slums for one of, or a combination of, two key reasons – (a) that they could not afford the monthly rent and did not think they could generate that income; (b) some of them felt that they would lose out on handouts given and free services offered by NGOs to residents of Kibera. A significant number chose to rent these flats out to outsiders, ie non-Kibera residents. I find this piece of information both incredible and logical at the same time.
Touring Kibera – ‘recycling’ human waste
Next, we are taken to a bio savers center which is very unusual but is creative and logical. These are established public toilets, bathrooms and a kitchen all in the one place. They are built as round houses with toilets and bathrooms on the ground floor, and a space for holding parties and functions on the first floor. The loos are what I call ‘sophisticated’ pit latrines (ie they are tiled and are designed with raised platforms on both sides of the ‘pit’ to avoid, you know ..., splashing). All the waste from the latrines and the bathroom are collected underground. Energy is then generated from the waste underground and then ‘recycled’ as gas and channelled into gas cylinders for cooking in a kitchen located right in the middle of the loos and bathrooms. I think it’s a brilliant idea and this is what recycling is all about (if you can call the usage of human waste that). But, the stench is almost unbearable and I’m actually not sure whether it’s from the loos alone or whether it’s also the energy channelled out from the waste into gas? I wonder if it may not have been better to have the kitchen situated outside of the roundhouse away from the loos and bathrooms and channelled in some way? Families who can afford to do so, pay Ksh100 (less than £1) a month for unlimited use of these services. Now, I’m not a scientifically-minded person so I may not have described the use of bio energy accurately but if anyone wants to understand how this works, there’s more information here.
Touring Kibera – stunning views, the good and the bad
To the east of the railways, and for the first time ever, I notice the beauty of Kibera. There’s a stretch of nature that is forest green and looks like it has its own life, if that makes sense. I would never have thought that Kibera was scenic but this really is stunning. Next, we walk along the railway lines (mind you, these railway lines are used – a train comes through twice everyday!) to a bead-making factory where beads are made from animal bones. It is quite fascinating as we are told how animal bones transform into beads for jewellery. Our third stop is a pre-school where children here are cared for by the female teacher who runs it. The pre-school of 25 children is solely dependent on charity, provided by well-wishers and churches whom she approaches at the weekend. Basically, she has to work 7 days a week to run this school. It’s an interesting initiative and she’s an incredible woman for giving her time to do this ... but I’m not sure I agree with her approach of living on charity herself as she’s a trained teacher, but then it’s never that simple. Our final stop is Masai Mbili, an art studio with paintings by local artists from Kibera. They talk us through how they started the studio, with the help of a Westerner, and how they have come a long way to being self-sustainable. Some of these artists, through their work, have been exposed to life outside of Kibera, and outside of Kenya – it’s incredible how a little support for people with a drive can go a long way.
Touring and exploring Kibera – aspirations of young people
Part of this tour also includes a stop at the tour guide’s house in Kibera, also a mud house that he’s very proud of. It’s more spacious than most houses I’ve seen here in Kibera and he even manages to squeeze at least 10 of us inside. He offers us sodas which is very generous of him. He then tells us about his tour company, how he started it, how he carried out the research into what kinds of things tourists might be interested in, etc etc. Now, given that slum tourism is a whole new world to me I’m very impressed at the thoroughness the tour guide has attached to this. I realise how much I had underestimated tourism industry in the slums. Later, I check out the website http://kiberatours.com/ and it is just as impressive. Again, I see a different side to residents of Kibera – there are those struggling to survive like some of the women I’ve met who go out daily to look for casual work and struggle to provide one meal a day for their families, and then there are those like Frank, a young guy in Kibera, who have found a niche in the slum market and are using it to their advantage. A few days later, I meet another young tour guide with another slum tour company, Sandy http://explorekibera.com/. Again, I’m blown away by his drive and enthusiasm and the thorough approach to the service provided. In both cases, I am intrigued to find out more about how they see development in relation to slum tourism. It is heart-warming to see that both companies have some kind of development support at the heart of their service, either through promoting development initiatives like the pre-school I mentioned earlier, or exposing income-generating activities like the animal bone beadmakers to a larger clientele (between the 15 of us on the tour we must have bought at least Ksh1500 worth of jewellery, which is good money here).
Slum tourism and development
Finally, my own views on slum tourism? It generates profit for those who have the drive to establish and run them, and like all profit-making initiatives it’s no bad thing. Even better in this case, most of the guys who run them live in Kibera themselves and are looking to better their lives. In addition, unlike most profit-making organisations, it probably has more of an obvious ability to contribute greatly to development but I think in this context that would need creativity and support from a higher authority like the city council or the government. Slum tourism researchers like Dom and Ola, whom I met on the walk, as well as NGOs based in Kibera will no doubt have a lot more creative ideas on this topic than I could possibly come up with.
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