Wow. Poverty is an understatement. The Mathare Valley is the second largest slum in East Africa and is home to more than 500,000 people living in the worst conditions humanly possible. I could not take my camera out while inside the slum for my own protection. I've never seen such a dire situation. Open sewers, trash overtakes walkways, the smells are like nothing you could imagine, dogs and cat roam with puppies everywhere. I spoke for a long time with a man who grew up there and has now (which is very rare) gotten out of it. He joined the youth program of Maji Mazuri when he was 12 years old and now works for them, reaching out to teens and youth. He told me when there is a riot you can not walk it is too easy to die, people kill without remorse, and he says you will walk and see a dead body every couple of steps. He also told me one of the communities biggest challenge is fire. A fire will break out from cooking and spread like a wildfire. The police are corrupt and violent towards the people. It is a vicious cycle. Maji Mazuri is doing such amazing things there, like their headstart program and teen and youth groups. I am so lucky to be working along side with some of the most unselfish people I've ever met. Below is a picture of Mathare from the top, again I could not take my camera out while inside.
with a little piece of my heart,
Julia
P.S. I'm trying to learn Swahili! Napapenda hapa!!! ( I love it here!!!)
