Mathare Musings - From the female perspective!

I recently travelled to Nairobi with Dave Gribben and Barry Moylan two fellow directors of The Seachange Foundation an Irish Based Microcredit charity to witness first hand what our partners in Seachange - The Jamii Bora Foundation - are doing on the ground - I am home now safe and sound but wanted to share some of what I saw with you.

Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I have a very vivid imagination - this has been sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse - But not even in my wildest imaginings could I have prepared myself for what I saw in Nairobi . No human being should ever have to live in such conditions - Our visit to the Mathare slums was a virtual assault on the senses - I thought I was prepared for everything and was determined not to show any fear or upset - and I didnt until I was back in the car and on the way back to the hotel - then I had an utter and complete meltdown - as only I can do!!!!!!!!!!

Going in through a gap in the wooden fence that keeps 'us away from them' and 'them away from us' to the slum which houses 900 thousand people (its sister slum Kibera measures 2.5 km and houses 2 million!) my immediate sense was - Oh My Sweet Jesus this is Hades - I am walking through the mouth of Hades and into Hell on earth - the hoards of desperate people seemingly stunned into, at best apathy and at worst complete paralysis by their circumstances - they stared blankly at us and our two 'armed guards' - some seemed to plead silently to be 'seen' others regarded us with a mixture of disdain and anger and one or two looked at us with what appeared to be pure and unadulterated hatred in their eyes but maybe it was just pain - relentless pain, fatigue and suffering that they must endure day after wretched day. That was what my eyes saw!

My nose was at the same time assaulted by the revolting stench from the open sewers, unwashed bodies, rotting vegetables all mixed with the smell of charcoal and wood for cooking - but there was another all pervading sinister sweet smell that suggested something decaying, dark and putrefying and it seemed to permeate the entire area.

While my eyes and nose were taking all that in my ears seemed to go temporarily on strike as if to compensate for the sensorial overload I was experiencing with my eyes and nose - there was an eerie quiet to begin with and then the noise broke through and I was out of my trance and shocked back into the reality of where I was - kids crying and laughing - a drunken youth cursing at us, - chickens squawking - women hawking - dogs barking - all human and inhumane life was here.

At first I walked with my eyes cast down as I tried to avoid eye contact - I felt so guilty - so terribly guilty - then I reminded myself that it wasn't about me or how this was making me feel - this was about them! This was a crazy dali-esque moving canvas and I was an inconsequential static droplet of paint hanging off the end of the picture.

I walked along trying to pick a path through rotting vegetables/plastic bags/used condoms and worse - the ground squelched up through my sandals - and then it dawned on me - I was paddling in human excrement and lots of it - the slime oozed through my toes and I gagged - the sour taste remaining in my mouth for the rest of the day and made momentarily worse when I met the woman who was boiling potato stuffed chicken heads and selling them to those who would buy - this was her living - and she proudly showed off her fare and explained how this was how she kept a 'roof' over her head - albeit a sheet of tin - someday maybe she could save enough and would get out of Mathare and with the help of Jamii Bora and afford a move to the town of Kaputei - her eyes held pride and the 'promise of possibilities' - I was mesmerized. She was one beautiful grandmother of 6 - her own family taken away all too soon by aids. Through an interpreter she explained that whilst trying to save the children from a fire which threatened her hovel the previous night she had gathered up most of her prize possessions - a filthy mattress/ a goat and other bits and pieces she valued - she put them outside the door of her tin roofed abode - only to return when the fire had been diverted and put out to find that her belongings had been stolen by her neighbours - but still her eyes held pride and the 'promise of possibilities'. I touched and was touched by many during my Matharae walk and was drawn to kiss and hug this woman.

There is lots and lots more to tell and sometimes I find it hard to verbalize - I think that when I find my voice I will start and probably never stop.

For all that to see what The Jamii Bora Foundation is doing in the new town of Kaputei that the 'members' have built between them and to witness how far these 'members' have managed to climb the Jamii Bora 'ladder of prosperity' out of the slums and into the relative luxury of their own brick built house is nothing short of inspirational. Their homes are their castles - each 2 or 3 bedroom house has a front and back garden for planting vegetables and running water and all have their very own toilet! this is the stuff of fairy tales - more than they could have dreamt of whilst living in the slums - but no more than they or any human being deserves - and all it takes is money - you might say there isn't a lot of that about right now and you would be right but you would be surprised to see how even a tiny bit of money can go such a long long way. Seachange (www.seachangefoundation.ie) are proud to be partnered with such a fantastic organization as Jamii Boro (www.jamiiborafoundation.com) and we were privileged to meet 'Mama Ingrid' (Ingrid Munro) the founder and CEO who continues to be such an inspiration to all those who meet her. She explains that the foundation helps all to 'climb the ladder of prosperity' some climb slowly and some climb fast but with Jamii Bora all climb!

These people need everything except pity, they do not need a 'hand out' they just need a 'leg up', chalk and copy books for the school in Kaputei - worn boots and soccer jerseys for the budding 'Premier League' soccer team in Kibera Town another slum we visited, they need help, guidance, someone to believe in them and Jamii Bora as an organization does this - what we need most for them is money. Look up the website to see what wonderful work is being done.

We met some of the most wonderful human beings on the planet, we met God in saints and sinners – warriors of fathers and mothers, wise and wonderful grandparents, wife beaters, murderers, thiefs and prostitutes who have all changed their lives around since becoming 'members' of Jamii Bora - each and every one of these people look forward not back - there is no shame about what they were but there is immense pride in what they have become and how far they have travelled.

My recollections are going to trickle out probably slowly over the next little while and I will walk slowly through them, my recollections are harrowing and humbling, awful, awesome and absolutely beautiful at the same time - there is hope to counter the desperation - there is beauty to counter the ugliness - there is belief and pride and a sense of moving forward.

I tried on my visit to be a 'compassionate witness' and not to appear shocked or to let it overwhelm me but I don't think I will ever be the same again - I am so glad to have done it - I feel this is only the start of my journey with Seachange and Jamii Bora but for now I am also very glad to be home and even more glad that I have a home.

Kate Dobbyn

Director Seachange

Do you want to help? Please go to seachangefoundation.ie

Date for your Diary !!!

Seachange Christmas Lunch

Friday 26th November 2010

The Royal Irish Yacht Club Dunlaoghaire Co. Dublin

Great Festive Fun - Book Early

Tickets €100 per person

Call Kate on 086 2585148