Ghetto MirrorISSUE 17 Ghetto Mirror ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org

Real life stories from slumsFREE

Do not buyMay 2015

Government through NYS involvement opens up Mathare, Koro-gocho and Mukuru slums >>> pg 8

Informal school in Mukuru Kayaba helping needy children get basic educa-tion >>> Pg 6

Residents to switchto pre-paid system

By Brian Okinda & Felix Otieno

After an eternity of slum residents accessing elec-tricity through illegal and dangerous means, the Ken-ya Power company (KPLC) has finally made their services legally accessible in informal settlements.

Residents from informal settlements are set to ben-efit from the ongoing slum electrification by KPLC at a low cost and from a reliable source, according to the Com-panys Managing Director and CEO, Dr. Ben Chumo.

The project that started in mid-April, 2015 is targeting two thirds of residents from every slum and has been rolled out across most of Nairobis big slums such as Kibera, Dandora and Korogocho. This intiative started after the national power distrib-utor Kenya Power entered into an agreement with World Banks

continue on page 3

Kenya Power is set to launch a pre-paid system for residents who wish to

use electricity. This is in a bid to mini-

mise on their losses and curb the illegal tapping of

electricity in informal settlements

Film school for under privileged slum youthsBy Michael Ogutu

Three Danish nationals who have been travelling across the world offering photography lessons to the less privileged are now in Nairobi for two years to offer similar services to youth in informal settlements.

The three; Martin the founder and owner, Papa the project man-ager, and Mark Ephraim the equipment organizer, have offered the same basic photography lessons to most parts of the world for free.

The programme, called Turning Tables Kenya, however in-cludes more than just photography lessons adding music and film

production opportunities as well. There are so many talented youth in the slum but most of them dont have a platform to discov-er their talents due to the many challenges in slums. This was the reason why we settled for Kenya, because it has slums Papa said.

Martin came up with the idea of teaching music production after realizing that most youth in the slum focus more on football than anything else and wanted to introduce them to another hobby.

Initially, Martins idea about the project was concerning music production, Papa said. I came in and introduced film because I had my own connections regarding a film that I had made, he added.

The three have been friends for a long time and coming up

with the idea was not difficult. In addition, they had already seen their achievements from other students in countries they had al-ready worked in. They wanted to give these opportunities to more underprivileged youth hence the idea of Turning Tables Kenya.

One of the biggest challenges has involved getting funds to make the project successful. Implementing the whole idea wasnt always easy because we had to think of how we were going to attract funds, he started. Our services are free of charge to those who are willing to join, Mark added.

continue on page 6

A Kenya Power worker installing wires to houses of residents ready for the switch. The system has been approved and disapproved in equal measures among the residents with cartels leading the fight against the installation while tenants believe the system will offer cheap and reliable electricity.

Photo: Brian Okinda

TALKING POINT

We welcome letters on topical issues or the stories we publish and comments on ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org. You can also drop them in our offices at Gatwekera near PAG church.

A publication of Shining Hope For Communities

Editor Liz Mahiri

IllustrationsDennis Mwanzia, Silvester Oluoch

& Oscar Chitiavi

ContributorsFelix Omondi, Grace Ayesa, Faith Nasiswa,

Johnston Mutua, Michael Ogutu, Namayi Kefa,Erick Ouma, Halima Rajab, Kevin Ashihunda, Eunice Otieno, Andy Wanga, Kevin Ochieng,

Dorothy Orina & Brian Okinda

Technical AssistanceAlbanous Gituru, Lily Bullitt & Emily Akoth

E-mail:ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org

Quote of the Month

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Careless landlords

Ghetto Mirror | 2 ISSUE:17 MAY 2015

Educate a girl and you will have educated the whole so-ciety. This statement and the be-lief behind it is the foundation for the establishment of hundreds of organizations and initiatives that are all geared towards bettering the academic life and raising the literacy level of the girl child.

These organizations tend to offer full scholarships or a lot of support to needy girls at all levels of their studies. There are also several campaigns by these organizations and oth-ers that focus on equipping the girl child with skills and knowledge to better her life.

While I dont want to ap-pear as a virulent critic of the good work these organizations are doing, I am not going to stifle my protesting conscience and watch with morbid fasci-nation as the boy child is de-

nied equal opportunity as the girl child to progress in life.

In the current Kenyan Constitution, the girl child has been allocated a chunk of po-sitions in the public sector. The one third gender rule is just an effort to earn the girl child more of those prestigious positions.

Women representative po-sitions created in the National Assembly is another place where females get priority. This might appear to be a way of balancing power and including the female gender in what was once deemed a mans world. However, do-ing it to the extreme is leading to total negligence the on other side of the gender divide. In to-days Kenya, this has become the norm. Do this, do that, all for the girl because of the girl.

A child is a child no matter the sex. At two weeks of preg-

nancy, an expectant mother cant go shopping for girl clothing lest the child be born a boy. It is hor-rendous to note the little charity the boy child receives which is nonetheless bottle-necked and stocked with complications.

Surely, what do you want our young boys to be-come? Touts? Herdsmen? Yes, in games and sports there has been quite a lot of support, but what about academically?

Today, boys and girls are expected to ride the wheels of this country in years to come. I am not content in believing games and sports, instead of liter-acy levels, will be the bargaining chips of who is fit enough to take charge of the countrys affairs.

All these organizations formed in the name of lobby-ing for gender rights are all in-clined towards the girl child.

Since when did the girl child represent Gender? If my memory serves me right, I vividly recall my lecturer say-ing that gender is a range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between masculinity and femininity.

Now who will pin me to the cross when spotted on the streets shouting myself hoarse and advo-cating on the boy childs behalf?

Each child has a right to education as stipulated in the childrens bill of rights. Discrim-inating the boy child is gender bigotry and it leads to imbal-ances in society that will affect negatively on any efforts of de-velopment and national growth.

Mwaniki J. Mwanzia

Boys left behind by gender equality programmes

Life is a progress not a station

Response to Boys left behind by gender equality programmesMwaniki J. Mwanzia argues that boys and men in society are left

behind because of the extreme focus on girls and women by organizations that work to increase gender equality.

While I agree that efforts should be made to ensure that both boys and girls should receive an education, I disagree with Mwanzias main point that efforts for gender equality unfair-ly discriminate against the nale gender. Mwanzia should understand that the reason why theres so much focus on the girl child and women in develop-ment is because girls and women have been left behind for many generations, so much so that it will take a long time to fix the problem of gender inequality.

Although women in most societies in Kenya had better access to land be-fore colonialism, girls and women were groomed to be domestic housewives and property was inherited through men.

Colonialism not only stripped women of access to land, but also strengthened the attitude that boys and men are supe-rior, and allocated men far more power.

At this point in time, patriarchy and the male privilege that comes with it, is so entrenched in society that most men and women dont realize the damage it has had on women and societys overall potential for development and progress.

It is easy to say that history is in the past and that the work done for womens empowerment has bridged the gender gap but the truth is that these efforts are thus far just a drop in a vast ocean. Gender equality simply does not exist yet and we are nowhere near bridging these gaps as evidenced by the numerous ways in which wom-en continue to be dehumanized, con-trolled, discriminated against, and mar-ginalized on many levels of society.

Access to education for all is key to solving a lot of the problems Ken-

ya faces, but data continues to show that girls are still lagging behind boys when it comes to secondary and high-er education. According to the 2015 Kenya Demographic and Health sur-vey, The percentage of women and men with primary education are sim-ilar, although more men a secondary or higher levels of education. (49% of men compared to 43% of women.)

Women also continue to be dis-criminated against in modern employ-ment, political positions, and judicial decision making, all of which are key to ensuring balance in the way the soci-ety operates. Is it that Mwaniki does not know that these inequalities still persist or is it that he is afraid of how society will look like when girls and women have the same opportunities that boys and men have had for generations?

There are a multitude of exam-ples in Kenya from this year alone that exemplify how girls and women suffer

from the cosequences of gender inequal-ities. In March, several videos emerged of women getting assaulted in public by men who sought to control wom-ens choice of dress in violent ways. This does not take into account the ris-ing number of babies, girls and women that are adding to the official statistic that a woman is raped every 30 minutes in Kenya, according to the Kenya Na-tional Commission of Human Rights.

Mwaniki complains about the 1/3rd gender rule in the Kenyan con-stitution which is meant to ensure that no one gender, whether male or female, should take up more than two thirds of elective and appointive public offices. He sees this rule as unfair because he sees it as giving more of these presti-gious seats to women. This implies that Mwaniki believes that women should not have the right to equal representa-tion, despite the fact that women consti-tute about half of Kenyas population. If

the gender rule were fair, it would ensure that that there is true gender balance by allocating one half of positions to men and the rest to women in government, judicial, and public sector positions.

Mwaniki and others that argue this position end up blaming the victim and victimizing the privileged. They fail to understand that educating the girl child is not leaving boys and men behind. It is simply bringing them up to the lev-el that boys and men are currently at due to the history of male privilege.

Educating a girl and empowering women in order to bridge the gender gaps has may positive effects on boys, girls, women and men in our nation. This is because girls and women tend to give back more to their families and commu-nities, which ends up solving some of the biggest problems we face, like poverty.

This page features opinon stories on issues from our soceity

Liz Mahiri

Ghetto Mirrorghettomirroronline.wordpress.com

one on oneAbrAhbinho

Ghetto Mirror | 3ISSUE:17 MAY 2015

By Halima Rajab

Who is Abrahbinho?My real name is Abdul Rah-

man Ahmad Khamis. I was born in Mombasa on November 23, 1993.

I am the only boy to my mum and a first born to my dad. I have a sister and two brothers from my dads side.

I am an artist and a mu-sic producer and a father too. I have a daughter called Khad-ija Abdul Rahman Ahmad.

How was your upbringing?I was born in Mombasa

but my mom and dad separated when I was 3 years old and my dad brought me here to Kibera to live with him and my stepmother.

I completed my primary school education in Kibera but I attend-ed secondary school in Mombasa.

I finished my A levels in 2010 and went to study mass communica-tion at Grand Tech College in Nairobi.

Tell us about your entry into music.

My music career started way back when I was in standard sev-en. Thats when I released my first song, Mtoto Wa Kisomali.

This song portrayed one of my best friends who fell in

love with a Somali girl but the girl was playing hard to get.

I was supported by DJ Seen and producer Vernern.

The producer believed I had talent so he produced my music free of charge. The first song I did had no video because I felt I did not deliver it properly.

Tell us about your music journey.I have two albums; the

first one is Mtoto Wa Kisoma-li and the second is Top One.

I also have several video re-leases like Im Sorry, Baby Why and my recent video with Ogopa Djs.

I have won several awards like the 2013 award with Kame-kucha Kenya Music awards.

I won the best song of the year, Te Amo, best male artist, and best upcoming artist of the year.

What was your worst experience?My worst experience was fall-

ing on stage while performing at Kamkunji grounds. People are still making fun of me because of that.

What are your challenges and who inspires you in the music industry?

When I was still an up-coming artist, people did not pay

attention to me. It is like they never wanted me to do music and it felt like they were killing me emotionally and physically.

At first, I did not have a platform for my music but now I thank God that I do.

My inspiration comes from Alikiba, he is my role model.

Do you have an album or a new video we should be waiting for?

I have a collaboration with Kiddis and our song is called Mto Kati. I am also looking forward to work with Alikiba but he is currently busy and occupied.

My new video is called Huddah Monroe and was released in April.

What is your last word to the youth?

I advise people not to be like Abrahbinho and be them-selves because copy cats al-ways die along the way.

I am very proud to be in Kibera because it made me who I am today, You should never degrade where you come from no matter how bad the place is, home is always home.

from page 1

Global Partnership Output Based Aid (GPOBA) programme which will fund the project across all slums.

While installing a power box in Korogocho, Martin Githin-ji, a Kenya Power worker said that the main aim of the programme is to displace the illegal electrici-ty vendors in informal settlements.

Through this, Kenya Power hopes to reduce commercial losses caused by electricity theft and the dan-gers that result from illegally tapped and dangerously connected wires.

Githinji also noted that Illegal connections have been the main cause of electrocutions and slum fires, which have been on the increase in the recent past.

Subsidized prices

Taking into account the fact that most slum residents cant afford cur-rent Kenya Power charges, the pro-gramme allows qualifying residents to pay a minimal charge of Shs.1, 160 per connection. The World Bank through GPOBA contributes US$ 225(Ksh.19,350), while Kenya Power contributes Shs.11, 970 per connec-tion making the standard capital con-tribution Ksh.32, 480 per connection.

The area residents will be con-nected to prepaid meters and the con-nection fee of Ksh.1, 160 will then be

recovered from the customers pur-chase of prepaid tokens for a period of 12 months according to Dr. Chumo. This translates to Ksh.100 per month.

This initiative has been received by mixed reactions from different slum settlers. Tonny Ogutu, a resident from Korogocho says the programme would

highly minimize cases of fire outbreaks within the hoods. Ogutu says, Our own try-out electrification has really made us risk not only our goods but also our lives. He added that this would also reduce misunderstandings between the tenants and the current electricity sup-pliers who are unreliable. Additionally,

most business dwellers at Olympic have welcomed the programme with the view that it will boost their businesses since the power will be reliable. This will in turn result to reaping higher profits.

Although most residents have welcomed this project with a positive view, some power supply investors in

the area have fully disagreed with the companys move, stating that it is an unkind move. Maurice Opiyo, an in-vestor from Kibera, says that KPLCs move will weaken his customer base. Where will we eat from if our busi-nesses that have allowed us to put bread on the table have been pinned down? Should we go rob? he complained.

Differing opinions

Some residents hold the view that the project will eventually in-crease the subsidized price they are currently offering as compared to the Ksh. 200-300 they are used to.

Those who are used to avoiding payments are against this pre-paying system as they will be required to pay first before using the electricity. Beatrice Odhiambo who is a business woman in Kiberas Soweto West village says that as much the project tries to min-imize theft and frequent fire outbreaks in the hood, most residents have be-come used to the normal fee they pay and the freedom of using the power.

A group of youths from Gatwekera in Kibera who control some of the illegal lines say that they have been well served by the alternate KPLC, the Kibera Pow-er and Lightening Company for a long time now. They therefore heed the gov-ernment to retaining their job without which might force them to resort to far more dangerous ways of making money.

Kenya Power agent fixing electric wires to an electric meter box. This is in line with Ken-ya Powers aim of moving from post paid to pre-paid system.

Photo: Brian Okinda

Residents to switch to pre-paid system

Abrahbinho advises aspiring artists to be themselves because copycats always die

along the way. Ghetto Mirrors

Halima Rajab caught up with the artist.

Ghetto Mirror | 4 ISSUE:1 MAY 2015 Pic Speak This is a full page of photo stories.

A talent in the making. Young aspiring foot-ballers head for playing with their make-shift polythene bag ball.

Photo: File

Even though cholera has claimed a number of lives in the past month, these young fishermen are not dittered. They are determined to catch fish using their make-shift nets at a dam in Jamhuri Show Grounds. However, they do not sell the fish but rear them.

Photo: Michael Ogutu

As witnessed, more than houses were destroyed by the heavy rains . Even motorists found it difficult to use roads as they were all extremely muddy. Photo: Kelvin Ochieng

It is called setting goals and pursuing them fully, these kids with an obvious talent for engeneer-ing have already started operating electronics.

Photo: Michael Ogutu

The name of this fast-food stall seems to chase customers away rather than invite them.

Photo: Kelvin Ochieng

Kids playing by the railway line in Laini Saba Market. Since theres no space for playgrounds, kids play everywhere in slums. The only play-ground available, outside AMREF, is usually busy either hosting events or being utilized by grown ups as a football fiels.

Photo: Kelvin Ochieng

A seemingly stern warning for residents not to dump otherwise be prosecuted but it is annoni-mous who gave the warning.

Photo:Kevin Ochieng

Students of St. Jude watch an educational movie at Mchanganyiko Hall during a sexual repro-ductive health talk held by YPP.

Photo: Adan Ibrahim

Ghetto Mirror | 5ISSUE:17 MAY 2015

Tell me...1. How come the word end is an opposite of endure and not its short form?

2. Is water in the Black and Red Seas coloured now that we know water is colourless?

3. Why are computer games addictive?

4. Why arent there wall clocks with the 24 hour format?

5. Who bit the Apple logo?

6. Was it ever a living sea before it became a Dead Sea?

Production house thatwants to change stereotypesabout Kibera.Entertainment

Artists from Grandpa Records alongside their creative director and Cheif Executive Of-ficer Yusuf Noah alias Refigha (in gray) pause for a photo outside the Grandpa Records offices at Olympic Estate in Kibera. Grandpa boasts of having produced music for re-knowned artist like Kenrazy, DNA, Kiddis, Lady Pizzo among several others.

Photo: Courtersy

By Halima Rajab& Dorothy Orina

Grandpa records is the first well known record-ing studio in Kibera. The studio boasts of producing music for some of the most popular and talented artists in Kenya including DNA, Ken-razy, Amelina, and Sudiboy. As such, it stands as one of the coolest and in-fluential creation to come out of Kib-

era, a place otherwise known for be-ing the second largest slum in Africa.

Ghetto Mirror caught up with the man behind Grandpa Records, C.E.O and creative director Yusuf Noah.

Noah started out as a musician

and wanted to take his artistry fur-ther than what the industry offered.

After 19 years in the game, he launched the recording studio and la-bel in 2009 with the name Grandpa that symbolizes his long and expansive ex-perience in the music industry. He de-cided to establish it in Kibera because it is where he was born and raised.

For Noah, becoming an artist, let alone establishing a record label, was a long and hard journey. He says that when he was growing up, no one be-lieved in music and so my first step into music was really tough. As the go-get-ter that he is, he had to hustle from the start and look beyond the seeming im-possibility of achieving his dreams.

Noah was known in his mu-sician days as Refigah and record-ed songs like Kadumala, Mtoto wa Kibera among many others. His first successful song was Kadamula. He dropped an album called Mtoto wa Kibera in 2012 but later retired from being a recording artist to focus more of his energy on Grandpa Records.

Despite making a name for him-self as a musician, starting a record la-bel in Kibera still posed a number of challenges partly fueled by the negative stereotypes associated with the slum. However, it is precisely because of these stereotypes that Noah pursued his idea to establish his dream in the place most dear to his heart. Born and brought up in Kibera, I wanted to change the men-tality about people from here and also change the face of Kibera, Noah says.

Since inception, Grandpa Re-cords has won twenty seven awards including best record label in Eastern Africa and is now recognized world-

wide. He is proud that his success has also helped others in the industry succeed. He says that Grandpa Re-cords greatest achievement is bring-ing back DNA, Mr. Nice, and E.T.C.

He is also proud of the fact he held his own wedding there late last year which was opened to the public.

Some of the challenges that the label deals with include rejec-tion by others because of Grandpa Records and Noahs background. Competition is also tough with other record labels especially since Grand-pa Records has worn a lot of awards.

Noah adds that contrary to popular belief, raising funds is a never-ending struggle, as there are a lot of high-level equipment and costs involved in this business.

Production house to change residents attitude

Born and brought up in

Kibera, I wanted to change

the mentality about people from

here and also change the face

of Kibera, Yusuf Noah

Topical stories ondaily happeningsin our societiesSociety

Ghetto Mirror | 6 ISSUE:17 MAY 2015

Funds for the elderly and disabled Film school

for under privileged

from page 1

The film school is situated be-hind Coptic Hospital near St. Nicholas along Kindaruma Rd. inside Global Platform premises and offers photog-raphy, music production, video editing, videography and script writing lessons.

In Kenya, we chose to settle in Nairobi for its proximity to var-ious slums in and around the city.

While theyre focused in the city at the moment, they also have plans to expand into other parts of Kenya.

We also want to get out-side Nairobi and into rural areas where we can also target farm-ers and even hunters, Mark said.

Currently, Turning Tables Kenya is organizing workshops tai-lored to select youth with talent, dedication and potential to succed.

The workshops are expected to last for a maximum of three weeks after which qualifying attendees will be selected to continue to the next level of learning.

The qualifying youth will get pro-fessional training in music production, videography/editing, script writing and sound management for five months af-ter which another workshop for the next incoming class would be rolled out.

They choose locals from slums who are talented, experienced and ready to pass information to others as well as ensure that Turning Ta-bles Kenya stays on after they leave.

By Halima Rajab

The government has initiat-ed an assisted living pro-gramme meant to help out elderly and disabled people.

The programme was initially estab-lished to address the problem of home-lessness for these groups in certain areas but has since spread to all the coun-ties and constituencies in the country.

Kiberas Social development officer, Pamela Moraa, who oversees this pro-gram in Kibera slum, says that the funds allocated to this programme are specif-

ically for elderly and disabled people. While each family can access this

service, the fund can only benefit one person in a family. Moraa ex-plained that, The requirements for those who can benefit from the pro-gramme entail that he/she must be to-tally poor and be unable to maintain or afford three square meals a day.

The program also serves disabled people who have no means to sup-port themselves. Moraa explained, We dont deal with elderly alone but also people who are severely disabled, there is no age limit for them as long as they cant maintain themselves.

Additionally, one has to be a cit-izen of Kenya, possess national Identification card and be above 65 years to be eligible for the funds.

The beneficiaries also have to be registered with KCB bank where-as in the past they used Posta Pay.

One of our main challenges is that some of the beneficiaries get the mon-ey and die while others stay for three or four years after they have registered then go to their hometowns mak-ing it hard to follow up, said Moraa.

One beneficiary, Habiba Mohammad, spoke about challenges related to the process that the elderly experience while

trying to get into the programme. I lost my KCB card and tracing it was hard be-cause I had to take a police abstract and return it to the office for further clarifi-cations. Mohammad added that, One thing for sure is that most elderly are un-employed and so what we get caters for at least basic needs. There are also those who are so old that they cant even walk. They sometimes come and cry for the office to take them but our officer cant just register them easily since there is a procedure that has also to be followed.

Moraa echoed Mohammads senti-ments in saying that the office deals with a lot of people coming in who dont qualify.

By Halima Rajab & Mirror Reporter

New and affordable water treat-ment using sunlight known as SO-DIS (SOlar DISinfections) is leading the war in the fight against cholera.

The technology is coming in handy at a time when a number of peo-ple have been confirmed dead and hundrends hospitalized as a re-sult of the recent cholera outbreak.

Sustainable and Viable Orga-nization (SAVO) based in Kib-era is training schools and households on how to use this technol-

ogy that uses sunlight to treat water.SAVOs Program Officer, Khad-

ija Saleh, says the use of solar for treating water is much more af-fordable than any other method since it requires virtually no cash.

Cost effective

It costs about Ksh 20 to treat a 100ml of water, while boiling 20 litres of water requires about Ksh. 100 worth of char-coal, Ms Saleh said. But with the use of solar you need ten or so plastic bottles which are readily available and can be used over and over and over, she added.

Saleh explained that solar ener-gy water disinfection is a convenient type of portable water purification

that uses solar energy to make water contaminated with bacteria, virus-es, protozoa and worms safe to drink.

Sun light has ultra violet rays that kill germs, Ms. Saleh said. To har-ness the method one has to put wa-ter in a transparent plastic bottle that is not bigger than a 2 litres and the water should be clear, she said.

The water bottle should be exposed for at least six hours, on a moderately cloudy day, sun loses 50 percent effec-tiveness at a depth of 10mm (0.5 inch), if the water is clear, ultra violet rays will lose only 25 percent effectiveness at the same depth, Khadija added.

The best bottles for use are those made of PolyEthylene Terephthal-ate (PETE) otherwise known as soda

bottles or bottles used to for min-eral manufactured drinking water.

Saleh confirmed that SODIS is recom-mended by World Health Organisation (WHO) as a viable method for house-hold water treatment and safe storage.

She however cautioned that the that method only treats biological organism and does not treat water from industrial and other chemicals

She said that approximately 5000 people in households in Laini Saba, Kichinjio and Kisumu Ndogo are har-nessing the technology and five prima-ry school including Adventure Pride and Makina Primary are using the method with more people adopting the technology in fight against cho-rea and other water borne diseases.

Bottle water treatment to fight water-borne diseases

By Halima Rajab

Songa Mbele Na Maso-mo -a Swahili word that means move forward with education- is an informal school in Mukuru Kayaba, a slum in South C, Nairobi, that offers education, medi-cal care, feeding, hygiene, therapy and parental awareness to children with complicated and severe disabilities.

The school assists children who have fallen behind in their education; those who have dropped out of school, those who never joined school, and those who missed out due to barriers

associated with physical and mental disabilities, with an aim of re-intergrat-ing pupils into mainstream education.

Songa Mbele, which is registered as a Community Faith Based Organiza-tion, was started as an informal day care centre by the Sisters of Mercy after re-alizing that there was increase in school drop-outs while others were not joining schools at all due to lack of school fees.

Songa Mbele began to work with children with disabilities in February 2011, following a request from the Association for Physi-cally Disabled in Kenya (ADPK).

This cen-ter deals with different kind

of disability such as autism, cel-ebral palsy, down syndrome among other mental and physical disabilities, Simon Mungai the resource coordinator at Songa Mbele said. It also runs a ba-sic education program with provisional support for education, Mungai added.

They started taking in people with disabilities who are generally marginal-ized or ignored by the traditional school system as well as health and other pub-lic systems. Songa Mbele registered 24 pupils early this year, and addition to the 30 pupils that had been registered by the end of last year. The school takes in stu-dents between the age of three and sev-enteed years with an aim of providing them at least basic primary education.

Our aim is to support the

advancement of vulnerable and special children to grow, adapt

and be independent,

said Mungai.

Basic education for disabledOrganization offers education for disabled

children and those unable to pay their school fees in Mukuru Kayaba.

Pupils at the Songa Mbele na Masomo Education Centre in class,

We want them to gradually be accepted in the community and be inte-grated into normal schools because they are also human beings. We also advocate for children with disability, he added.

The school boasts of over 100 benefitiaries as they have are mov-ing on towards reducing illetra-cy within this marginalized group.

The organization also has two special units that cater to different needs that our student might require. The normal basic skills unit focus-es on children with basic disabilities and teaches painting and drawing. The action of daily living focuses on chil-dren with severe disabilities and provides medical care and therapy.

Mungai says that their biggest challenge is not being able to take in more children with disabilities be-cause of funding issues. Most of the organizations funding comes from donors, well-wishers, and the church.

Mungai adds that there is a con-flict of interest between the organiza-tion and government authorities as they have offered no support. The organi-zation hopes to receive some support from the government because their efforts alone are not enough for the many vulnerable children they cant help. However, as Mungai says, they are really happy that they have indeed, really moved forward since inception.

100The number of children

that have so far benefited from Songa

Mbele na Masomos program

Cholera outbreak leadsto the crackdownof fast food kiosks

Woman makes a living by sellingchicken parts

Health

Business

Crackdown on city food kiosks amid cholera fears

Ghetto Mirror | 7ISSUE:17 MAY 2015

Woman makes a living selling chicken parts

By Jared Kefa

Heavy rainfall and flash floods in the Ken-yan capital of Nairobi over the past month have submerged parts of the city in rain water caus-ing contamination of water sources and prompting the spread of cholera.

Poor drainage and sewerage systems, dirty water and food are the main causes of this outbreak, said Andrew Suleh, the CEO of Mbag-athi District Hospital in Nairobi.

In Kibera, the outbreak has caused at least eight peoples lives and about 100 others have been hos-pitalized in Mbagathi district hospital.

The outbreak caused hos-pitals in Nairobi to fill up, forc-ing some patients to share beds.

We only have four wards

here and each ward has six beds. This means we can only accommo-date 24 patients at a time, Suleh said.

Health officials said over-crowded areas in Nairobi -- like Kib-era, the largest urban slum in Afri-ca known for its poverty and lack of sanitation -- are highly vulnerable to water-borne illnesses like cholera.

St. John Ambulance spokesman Fred Majiwa said, Overpopulated ar-eas with poor drainage and sanitation such as Mathare, Kibera and Eastle-igh are the most affected. He added.

Cholera is highly treat-able but can cause death quick-ly due to acute dehydration.

According to the Langata Dis-tricts Head of Surveillance, Samuel Mu-turi, most cases reported coming from Kibera were from Laini Saba, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi and Kichinjio villages.

He added that precautionary mea-

sures were being taken to prevent more outbreaks and spreading of the disease.

Leaders in Kibera have come out strongly urging the county government to take up the matter and put necessary measures to fight against the outbreak in the area. Former Lindi ward aspirant, Bakari Saidi Lusala, led a group of pol-iticians to accuse the County govern-ment for failing to fight Cholera in Nai-robi by making sure all water is treated well before its supplied to residents. They also accused the national govern-ment of bringing in water via National Youth Service (NYS) lorries that have been being supplied to residents with-out being treated. Laini Saba Member of county assembly David Kitavi has been accusing the County government of failing to take up measures to curb the situation even after the firstcCholera death was reported a few weeks ago.

A section of Laini Saba residents

are also accusing the City Council Of-ficers who are believed to have killed stray dogs and dumped them in a stream in Laini Saba. The residents believe this was the root cause of the outbreak. Sammy Mukolwe, a resident of Lin-di and a victim admitted at Mbagathi District Hospital for a week, advised residents against ignoring warnings about cholera. He said it is real and they should take maximum precautions.

Mukolwe recounted his experi-ence saying, It was around 2am when I felt stomach upset, immediately I started experiencing diarrhea, I went to the toilet running but before I reached I was already down. He added that, My neighbours are the ones who took me to the hospital where I was admitted and treated. I want to tell people that cholera is real and its already here so lets be careful and maintain cleanness.

The County Government of Nairo-

bi has shut down several unlicensed fast-food stalls to try and control the growing threat of cholera. However, businesses that met the health standards as per coun-ty public health regulations were spared.

The County Executive for Health, Mercy Kamau, says the exercise will go on across Nairobis informal settle-ments to help curb the situation. We cannot allow our people to be exposed to health risk by businesses that are operating under poor conditions due to ignorance by the owners, Mrs. Kamau said. She however stated that the move by the county government was not just because of the cholera outbreak but also a basic responsibility of the county gov-ernment to protect its people. Mrs. Ka-mau added that the exercise will also be carried out in all the estates of Nairobi following reports that there were several businesses operating without licenses.

By Kevin Ochieng

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the follow-ing are basic facts about cholera.

1. Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that infects the gut. It is caused by consuming food or water contam-inated with a bacterium called vib-rio cholerae 01 or 0139. The disease leads to rapid dehydration. It can kill within hours if the victim does not get quick and urgent medical assistance.

2. Cholera kills 100,000- 200, 000 people yearly. However only a propor-tion of these deaths are reported to WHO.

3. Close to 80% cases can be treat-

ed with oral rehydration salts commonly referred as (ORS). However severely de-hydrated patients require administration of intravenous fluid and appropriate an-tibiotics to diminish the duration of diar-rhea and reduce volume of dehydration.

4. 75% of people infected do not develop any symptoms al-though the bacteria is present in fae-ces for 7-14 days after infection and are shed back to the environment, thus potentially infecting others.

5. At-risk areas, like poor ur-ban slum where there is no or there is inadequate infrastructure are vul-nerable to the disease because of limited access to safe and drinking water and lack of proper sanitation.

6. Surveillance is important to identify vulnerable populations liv-ing in hotspots. This will lead to tim-ing preparation and preparedness.

7. Cholera is preventable pro-vided that safe drinking water and proper sanitation are made available.

8. Once an outbreak is detected, it is very important to focus on treatment and control measures. This can be done by reducing deaths through provision of adequate treatment, controlling the dis-ease by providing safe water, proper san-itation, health education for improved hygiene and safe handling of food.

9. Safe and effective oral cholera vaccines are now part of the cholera control package. There are two types

of vaccines that are WHO pre-qualified and are licensed in several countries and have shown to provide sustained pro-tection at 75% against cholera among all age groups. Vaccines should target vulnerable people living in high risk areas. However, vaccination should not disrupt the provision of other prov-en interventions to control the disease.

10. No country requires proof of cholera vaccination as a condi-tion of entry. This is because past at-tempts to impose them have shown that quarantine measures and embar-goes on the movement of people and goods are ineffective and unnecessary.

It is also worth noting that peo-ple with low immunity and those liv-

ing with HIV virus have higher risk of infection. Another thing, epidem-ics have not arisen from coming into contact with dead bodies. Vaccines are just short term remedy of com-bating the scourge. Long term reme-dy is improving water and sanitation.

It is also very important to wash hands with soap immediate-ly after visiting the toilet. Waste should be disposed of properly be-cause garbage contains germs that can cause infections. Wash fruits and vegetables well before consuming.

Basic facts about cholera you didnt know

By Eunice Otieno

Grace Anyango is a well-known fig-ure in Kibera with two defining characteristics that are not commonly found together.

Not only is she a single moth-er of three children, she also makes more than the average Nairobi-an from her side-street business.

Popularly nicknamed Mama

Kuku, she has been a lead business-wom-an in selling chicken parts (known as katakata) since she started in 1998.

She has established a guaran-teed customer base for her business in Gatwekera village, opposite Pen-tagon Bar, where she gets more than 300 hundred customers in a day.

She receives a daily average of Ksh.1, 100 from chicken legs and Ksh.3, 000 from other parts of the chicken. Mama Kukus average gross monthly income is about Ksh. 500,000 and her

net income is close to Ksh. 150,000. She believes that one of the

reasons for her strong and loyal cus-tomer base is because she is clean and brings fresh chicken every day.

To maximize on this as-set, she has a special way of pre-paring her chicken for sale that keeps her customers coming back.

Linda Baby, one of her former customers says that her chicken parts are so good, imuodo nyaka e koki that you can find yourself eating even your nails.

Linda decided to start the same business after Mama Kuku introduced her to the business and showed her how to prepare these parts of the chicken.

Mama Joy, another one of Mama Kukus customers, shares her own opin-ion saying that, People likes Mama Kukus chicken because they are cheap.

Starting at about Ksh. 20, Mama Kukus prices are affordable to most Kibera residents, who wouldnt be able to afford store bought chick-en or other market prices where a full chicken can go for Ksh. 500.

It is clear that Mama Kuku has made a name for herself as Mama Joy adds, she will even give it to you on credit, and give you advice on how to prepare it.

Before Mama Kuku started selling chicken, she was selling fish. However, she had a big problem with it because she found that the fish had a market for people from a certain tribe, Luos.

I found it difficult because in Kibera there are so many tribes who do not eating fish, so the demand of fish was low and I would end up with a loss on most days, said Mama Kuku.

The fish business also had other challenges as it had to be supplied from Kisumu and the distance created a lot of delays. Additionally, the supply for fish is seasonal, meaning that she would often have to out her business on hold and jeopardize losing her customer base.

Mama Kuku has never regret-ted switching to the chicken busi-ness for the many benefits it offers

over other food-based businesses. For one, most people in Kibera love

chicken therefore ensuring a guaranteed customer base. And she now gets the chicken parts herself from Gikomba or City Market, cutting out the middleman.

Another advantage that Mama Kuku gains from her business is pro-viding customers with ready-made chicken in a convenient location.

A lot of people, like bachelors, who either dont want to or have no time to prepare a full chicken come to Mama Kuku in Kibera slum be-cause they find it easy and cheap.

Lavina Achieng, another cus-tomer from Kileleshwa estate says that she usually comes on Fridays to buy Mama Kukus chicken because it cuts down her cooking time as shes too busy to cook it from scratch.

Although Mama Kuku has been quite successful, she still ex-periences challenges that come with the business. She says that the biggest problem is the rain.

I dont have a closed space, so when it rains, it becomes sig-nificantly harder to operate the business, Mama Kuku said.

She also added, another chal-lenge is when I dont get some parts of chicken for the regular customers and they normally fight for their favor-ites parts when they are not enough.

Mama Kukus business has al-lowed her to educate her three children, something she might not have been able to do after her husband left her.

Grace Anyango (in yellow), commonly known as Mama Kuku, during one of her busy days prepares parts of chicken that she sells to make her living.

Photo: Eunice Otieno

Ghetto Mirror | 8 ISSUE:17 MAY 2015

The Ghetto Mirror is a monthly publication published and distributed for free by Shining Hope for Communities as part of its programs aimed at empowering the youth through developing their media skills and also to bring attention to the issues affecting the residents of the informal settlements. All the work that goes into production of this newspaper is done by youths from the slums. Correspondence should be addressed to ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org. You can also visit our facebook page www.facebook.com/ghettomirror for constant news updates, photos, and videos. News and advertising 0722 550 024

GhettoMirror

NYS projects offering employment for residents

Residents of Korogocho cleaning up their sorrounding as National Youth Service Officers supervise. Community Clean-ups, road construction, construction of washrooms among many others are part of the jobs residents engange in.

Photo: File

By Kevin Ashihunda

The commencement of the National Youth Ser-vice (NYS) Initiative has so far reported positive effects in the lives of residents in Mathare, Korogocho and Mukuru slums.

The initiative that was pio-neered by President Uhuru Kenyatta with the aim of creating job opportu-

nities for unemployed youth has seen many engage in community clean-ups, road construction, street lighting, and building of medical clinics and po-lice posts in the respective villages.

The program that is under the

Ministry of Devolution and Planning has already seen other slum areas like Kibera become more accessible and has opened up more business oppor-tunities after construction of roads.

It is estimated that over 3,500 youths who had been previously idle have been employed by the program in Mathare. The program also employs National Youth Service (NYS) officers as managers in ensuring that the workers follow protocol like getting to work on time and completing their tasks correctly.

The President, while speak-ing during the launch of the program at Kiboro grounds in Mathare, said that his administration is aiming at ensuring equitable distribution of re-sources to all the areas in Kenya.

Equitable development

As a government, we are com-mitted to ensuring equitable develop-ment in informal settlements as well as other parts of the country, he said.

President Kenyatta added that it was unfortunate that informal set-tlements which harbour 75 percent of Nairobi residents lack social ame-nities and said his administration will work towards changing that.

It is an unfortunate fact that in the past, development has been skewed in favour of areas where the

rich live. My government is address-ing the situation, the President said.

When young people are in-volved in income generating actvi-ties, the tendency to participate in other dangerous and or illegal vic-es drops, said Mr. Githinji. The most recent results we have received show that levels of insecurity have gone down drastically he added.

Crime rates in informal set-tlements, based on estimations by NYS, have tremendously reduced as a result of the program. The direc-tor general of NYS, Nelson Githin-ji stated that although youth are al-ready reaping from the program, it is still too early to rate the program.

Thousands of youths have been employed as a result of NYS involvement in Mathare, Korogocho and Mukuru

The most recent results we have

received show that levels of insecurity

have gone down drastically

Nelson Githinji

By Eunice Otieno

Town Star Soccer Club in Kawangware has recently created an all-categories league to help discov-er and nurture talent in young play-ers. The initiative has been estab-lished with the aim of engaging youth in useful activities and to prevent them from being idle and getting in-volved in dangerous and bad activities.

The soccer club came up with this initiative after realizing that

a big number of talented footbal-lers and youth in general were end-ing up on the wrong side of the law by engaging in criminal activities.

We have to keep our youths busy in order to reduce the level of insecurity and other vices in our community, team manager Reagan Nyakundi said. This is the main rea-son why Town Star Soccer Club was started in 2009,added Nyakundi.

The club takes youth from 15 years and above and tries to include everyone regardless of tribe, gender, religious af-filiation and other identity markers. Their

league in Kawangware has 24 teams. Although the club is still growing

and has a lot of young players, it oper-ates with a professional outlook to try and foster an atmosphere of hard work and ambition. The league is run and managed in the same way as the coun-trys top flight league, Football Kenyan Federation Premiere League (FKF PL).

Behavior change

To help instill good behavior and integrity, we charge the members a pen-

Football team prevents youth from engaging in crimealty fee of Ksh. 500 in case of lateness and other behavioral related issues, said Micheal Gitau, the leagues midfielder.

Because it is run and man-aged like the top country league, they have regular meetings from Mon-day to Friday. But since a lot of the younger members are in school on weekdays, they also hold weekend sessions to ensure everyone stays in school but still has access to the club.

The team captain, Ken Mwabeshi Ite, explained, We also try to make sure they understand the value of ed-ucation and how it goes hand-in-hand

with our own mission to make sure that they not only keep out of trou-ble, but also nurture their talents and potentials in every way possible.

Peter, one of the members, attests to how the club has had an impact on them in saying, Our coaches reward us by giving us vouchers and FKF awards us with certificates for our achievements which will come handy in the future.

The club wants the government, through the ministry of sports, to im-prove their support of soccer in slums so they can achieve their dreams. Their hope is to participate in national league.

Johanna Justin Jinich Clinic

Hours: 7 AM - 6.30 PM

Family planning

Adult & Paediatric care

V.C.T Program

Cancer compre-hensive careCervical Cancer screaning

M.C. H Program

SHOFCO clean water

@ 2/= per 20

litres water cans

We are located in Gatwekere at the Kibera School for Girls headquarters