2. TABLE OF CONTENT
▪ INTRODUCTION
▪ CHARACTERISTICS OF KIBERA
▪ THE PROBLEMS THE PEOPLE IN THE SLUM
FACE
▪ BENEFITS/ADVANTAGES OF THE SLUM
▪ THE FUTURE OF KIBERA
2
4. WHAT IS KIBERA?
▪ Kibera is a slum located in the capital of
Kenya, Nairobi. Kibera is located in the south
west portion of Nairobi, about 5 km from the
center of the city.
▪ Kibera is a 2.5 square kilometre region that lies
7km from central Nairobi and is closely
bounded by more affluent areas.
▪ To the south lies the Nairobi River, Dam, and
the Southern Nairobi Highway/Bypass. To the
west is Ngong Forest and a campus of the
University of Nairobi. To the north-east you will
4
5. 5
▪ Kibera is a British creation. Its origins lie in Colonial times, when
Nairobi was founded to house British Colonial offices and the
headquarters of the new Uganda Railway line in 1899.
▪ Nairobi was intended only for Europeans, with non-Europeans
required by law to live in ‘native reserves’ on the outskirts of the city.
Kibera appeared as the settlement allocated to the Nubian soldiers
serving the military interests of the British Colonial army. Kibera
translates as forest in the Nubian language
7. THE PEOPLE
▪ The people of Kibera are some of the most creative, enterprising, and
passionate people
▪ the Kibera slum area is made up of ‘villages,Many came from the rural villages,
dreaming of making it big in the city
▪ Average life expectancy is 30 years of age, skewed by high infant mortality
rates with 19% of children dying before their 5th birthday.
▪ Only around 40% of Kibera’s children attend school on any given day.
▪ Kibera is a thriving community filled with people who want nothing more than to
be respected and to improve their quality of life through access to opportunities
for progress, education, and employment.
7
8. 8
THE PLACE
● Clean water is often difficult to access and can become contaminated with
sewage.
● HIV infection rates are extremely high and are a large contributory factor in the
number of orphans living in Kibera.
● The unemployment rate is 50%
● Electricity is scarce and often illegally tapped from power lines.
● The average rent for one of these structures is 1,150 shillings/month (about £9)2
and has no water supply or electricity.
● he average home measures just 12 foot by 12 foot and can accommodate more
than 8 people.
9. CONTINUATION
▪ Almost everything can be found in Kibera, from shops, hair salons and shoe
cleaning enterprises, to schools, clinics, repair shops, and banking points.
There are also a huge number of churches, mosques, and other places of
worship.
▪ There is a sense of community
Everyone knows everyone, and families help other families in need. What people
want is simply the opportunity to work, to have enough to eat, and the chance to
improve the standard of living within Kibera.
9
11. ▪ Sanitation: Overflowing drop toilets and open sewers
▪ Roads: Vehicular access to Kibera is extremely limited.
Where roads exist, they are narrow, rocky, and turn to
deep mud in the rains
▪ Electricity: Only around 20% of Kibera has an electricity
supply. Much of the power is illegally tapped from the city
grid and can be both unreliable and dangerous.6
▪ Water: Whilst some residents still rely on ‘unofficial’
water supplies, with the constant risk of typhoid and
cholera, there are now two pipelines into Kibera
INFRASTRUCTURE
11
12. EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT
For the majority of Kiberans, employment is
informal, irregular, and extremely low paid. This
creates a population living hand-to-mouth and
vulnerable to any unexpected difficulties such as ill
health, bad weather, and food price increases.
12
13. EDUCATION
13
Barriers to accessing education:
Cost – schools usually require basic fees plus a uniform, books, stationary, food
contribution, exam fees, soap, toilet paper.
Female illiteracy in particular remains high due to ingrained gender inequality. Where
there is not enough money to educate every child,a family will often prioritise the male
children and encourage the girls into early marriage or employment
The need to earn money – older children find themselves pushed out of education in
order to contribute to the family income.
* Menstruation – girls often miss school due to lacking the appropriate provisions to
manage their monthly menstruation.
(“Kibera: Always Deprived but Rarely Depressed”)
14. 14
● Kibera is a very efficient economy, focused on providing products and services
to lower income people
● Serves as a residence to a lot of the people who come from rural areas.
● It provides a lot of business opportunities to many individuals
● Due to the slum tourism the residents were able to improve their living
conditions
ADVANTAGES OF THE SLUM
15. THE FUTURE OF KIBERA
15
● On September 16th 2009, the Kenyan government began the process of ‘clearing
the slum’. The intention was to rehouse Kibera’s residents in newly built apartment
blocks, within 2-5 years.7
● In reality, the project has barely begun. In fact, at the current rate of progress, it will
not be complete until the year 3130.
● The project is fraught with difficulties, from legal objections that need to be
processed through the courts, to logistical problems and the considerations of
Kibera’s residents. For example:
16. CONTINUATION
16
● Constructing adequate foundations on land that consists mainly of refuse and rubbish
is a huge challenge.
● Access to the land is awkward with no vehicular access in most places, and the steep
sloping terrain causes logistical challenges.
● The deposit on one of the new 2-bedroom homes is around 100,000 shillings.8 Rent
then continues at around 6000 shillings a month. For a Kiberan earning 200 shillings a
day, the challenge is obvious.
● Kiberans are regularly resorting to sub-letting the new apartments to middle-class
tenants, and moving back into the slum. This is ‘against the rules’ but is certainly a
widespread problem.9
So, the future of Kibera remains uncertain.
17. WORK CITED
17
● “Kibera: Always Deprived but Rarely Depressed.” Chaffinch, 11 June 2020,
www.chaffinch.org.uk/kibera-slum.
● “Story Map Journal.” A Story Map,
www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=977083c0ae614128a18f1e8b27926a8e.
Accessed 25 Feb. 2021.
