Jamii ya Kibera

So we are probably all sick and tired of hearing about Swine Flu, at least I know I am. On my flight to Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government handed out pieces of paper that said on the top ‘SAVE THE NATION from the Swine Flu!’ As it ended up, the same day I arrived at the Kenyan airport, a British student arrived as well, bringing the Swine Flu with him to Kenya, leading to a complete domination of the Daily Nation headlines. It was funny reading the reports of the government defending their procedures of detecting the flu, particularly since the process they said they put every passenger through upon arrival, I didn’t.

Two other major events are in the headlines, one being Somalia. A country on the border of Kenya devolving into complete anarchy, is having major effects here. There is a huge refugee population, and there are concerns that the Somalian population within Nairobi and other urban areas could cause problems, particularly since the Shabaab, or the warlords who are fighting the internationally supported transitional government, has declared war on Ethiopia and Kenya- leading to beefed up security.

The issue in the news that most closely relates to my day-to-day life here is the tribunal for the perpetrators of the post-election violence. Unless they begin the process of establishing an internal court by September (and even then whether they can proceed without corruption seeping in), the International Criminal Court holds an envelope with names that it is threatening to open and press charges, an envelope that could include the names of some very prominent officials. Further, for President Obama's first trip to Africa, he is pointedly and openly passing over Kenya, the homeland of his father, because of his disappointment in the democratic process and rule of law. This was a huge deal here, blowing up the newspapers, particularly because of his visit three years ago and the family he has here.

Just a brief outline, before the 2007 elections, Kenya was seen as the bright light of Africa, with a growing economy and improvements in social conditions within the country. But with accusations of vote-rigging in 2007 against President Mwai Kibaki from the opposition candidate Raila Odinga, Kenya devolved into violence. Because Kenya’s political parties breakdown by ethnic lines, most of the conflict was ethnically-based, and led to 1,000 deaths and thousands displaced. It shook the country to its core, tearing apart former neighbors, wrecking the economy, and dealt a severe blow the democratic process. While former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan came in to negotiate a power-sharing agreement, the underlying tensions and memory of the ethnic violence are still here- the United Nations just released a report that 500 people have been killed by police death squads. Kibera, a slum that is ethnically heterogeneous, representing all 5 major groups in Nairobi, was the location of some of the worst violence- the burnt kiosks and buildings are still visible today.

All of this playing out at this time is providing an interesting perspective for what I’ll be working on over the next six weeks- as I mentioned before I’ll be working with the Sports Program, but more particularly my focus is going to be the Jamii ya Kibera program, which was established after the post-election violence to promote conflict mediation and peace initiatives. In the immediate aftermath, CFK trained around 22 adults and 20 youths in conflict mediation skills, and now use them for community outreach and facilitation during forums they hold throughout the slum discussing ethnicity, violence, poverty, etc. They also had this really awesome outreach media campaign, promoting peace over violence in Kibera.

I’ve had multiple meetings over the past few days with Cantar, Program Coordinator for the Sports Association, Kennedy, head of Jamii ya Kibera, Lucy, coordinator for the Girls’ Soccer Program, and Sele(iman), coordinator of the Boy’s tournaments. How meetings happen here are kind of funny- there is no set time, it is just whenever people drift in and out, and you can find somewhere to sit down and talk- and it always works. They have laid out for me what they would like me to do in helping out, including a questionnaire about how residents now view the post-election violence and the tribunal proceedings, developing a curriculum for a conflict mediation program to be implemented within CFK groups and schools around Kibera, working with the youth and adults that were trained in conflict mediation by Jamii ya Kibera, creating profiles on the girls involved in the CFK soccer team, tag along on home and school visits, which follow up on the schooling and home life of the girls, and just help out in general with the tournaments, letting Cantar, Sele, Lucy, and Eric tell me what to do.

I’ve figured out the matatus, their form of public transportation (really old buses that play really loud music, drive like they are being chased by the police, and decorate with really bright colors and pictures of American popstars), have accumulated now three different Swahili/Shang teachers, fallen in love with the staple food ugali (literally just maize flour and water), and enjoyed some amazing soccer/football games. If you can’t tell, I’m loving it.

Happy 4th of July, America!