Kibera

My friend, Mag, is now in Nairobi, Kenya supposedly on vacation visiting her brother. Mag's been travelling... for the past few months we only get occassional updates from her via her facebook updates. I've been communicating more with Mag in the past weeks cos' in Nairobi she is practically home bound when her brother is at work, reason being it is not safe at all to wander out alone. While she started her venture glamorously having visited Massai Mara (the safari I think), beaches at the east coast...Mag being Mag...she decided to get 'up-close & personal' with the place. By that it includes her visit to a HIV centre for kids and yesterday to Kibera slum.

This is taken from Mag's FB album:

Kibera is the largest slum in Kenya and second largest in Africa (some said it's the largest but it really doesn't matter). It is located just 5km outside of the capital center. Apart from its extreme poverty, poor sanitation and living condition, Kibera also has a reputation of being a very rough and dangerous neighborhood, a place that even local Kenyas would avoid. This is also one of the places severly affected during last year's post-election violence in Kenya due to strong tribal tension that persists in the community. More than 1 million people (i.e. over a quarter of Nairobi's population) reside here, an area of only 2 sq km

Well, Mag was a bit discouraged after the experience at the HIV centre but there I was encouraging her to go for it without realising...the real possibilities of things may actually take a bad turn. I became dead worried after logging off last night and was waiting anxiously this morning to see her back online - safe and sound. Thank goodness she is back safe.

Mag -- I am so so glad you went for it. Although, I (*touch wood*) I will be so responsible if anything bad had happened to you but..hey..you made it!

I wish there is a blog that I can link to...but Mag has given up blogging some time ago due to some access problems when she was in China. (FYI - she was the one who started me on bloggin -_-) Anyways, with permission...here are some excerpts from her FB album.

In summary ..here's what she had to say about the visit:

Through an acquiantance who is heavily involved in missionary service in Kenya and Uganda, I had the opportunity visit Kibera slum today. Because of the many horrors I have been told and read about this place (violence, tribal tension, unbearably poor sanitation, diseases of all sorts and highly HIV prone), it had taken me a week to mental preparation before this visit, thanks to WSL who's been very encouraging and supportive. I came out of Kibera with very mixed feelings which I find difficult to share in words (or monologue) here, but I thought a picture tells a thousand words. Didn't dare bring my camera into the slum (again was warned), but managed to snap some pictures using my N73. Do bear with the poor picture quality as many shots were taking in low lighting. Many of us have seen similar images in news and movies, but getting up-close and personal evokes an entirely different emotion. I hope this album serves as a reminder for us to take gratitude of what we have, no matter how bad life might seem at times.

We both think it's good to create some awareness on the subject matter .