Random Musings, Mutterings, and Delusions (First of many)

Soweto-East neighborhood of Kibera, Nairobi.
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I would like to start by stating that the overall title of this series of journals is grossly misleading, as i have quickly found that Joseph Conrad's assignment of the phrase "The Heart of Darkness" could not be more incorrect and ignorant, and i regret i ever used the title for my journals. In retrospect i believe i chose it for dramatic flair, but i realize that in doing so i was blindly perpetuating a stereotype that dates to the colonial era. Just from my first few days here in Kenya, i have found a country of great contradictions. In the immaculately manicured corridors and landscape of the United Nations environment and habitat programmes, I have found pessimism, narcisissm, and a great deal of self-delusion. On the other hand, while walking through the fetid alleys of Africa's largest shantytown/slum of Kibera, I noticed a great sense of hope and happiness

Pipes to the drinking water
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amongst the some of its 500,000-1,250,0000 residents (accurate statistics are dificult to obtain as this is an informal settlement into which the government rarely ventures and the United Nations have just begun collecting data.) To contextualize this, I should explain that the morning of the 18th was spent giving us a tour of the United Nations Compound and a series of seminars given by the leaders of the United Nations Habitat programme. To get there we left the safety of our compound in our usual trucks as our drivers crazily dodged through traffic until we reached the diplomatic quarter of Nairobi, where behind enourmously fortified walls we could catch glimpses of foreign embassies which looked like palaces. I am sad to report that the only embassy more pretentious-looking than the Canadian one was that for the United States. Considering the cost of living here in Kenya, it seems truly unneccesary to build a palace to house the representatives of Canada. I understand the need for security which comes at a certain cost, but the crude display of wealth leads me to believe that the priorities in terms of where our funds go are very misplaced. Once in the United Nations, the Director of UN-Habitat gave us a long speech explaining the objectives and achievements of the United Nations in regard to urban development, especially focusing on the growing problem of informal settlements (1 Billion people around the world live in slums.) He proudly stated that Vancouver was about  to host another summit by the UN regarding slum improvement, despite the fact that there was one not even two years ago. Although i recognize the need to generate public discourse to increase awareness, it seems that most of what the UN does is just talk, as often decisons regarding change on a broad scale does not fit the objectives and objections of all concerned nations. While the UN is often able to effectively rally funds for certain causes, it seems to spend excessive amounts on conferences, discussions and passing resolutions, a sad reminder that the UN is a bureaucracy like any other. The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the speakers from the morning kept insisting that the funds to halt and reverse the growth of slums and improve conditions existed, all that lacked was political will. I am beginning to believe that small-scale NGO's with focused projects may be more effective in enacting immediate change while UN policies could hold promise for sustaining this change in the future. This point was further reinforced when our diesel-spewing trucks sped us accross Nairobi only a few hours later and dropped us off at the Soweto-East neighborhood of the Kibera slum. A greater contrast could not be found on this planet than what we experienced in a frame of a few hours. Soweto-east is the location that the UN-Habitat has chosen for one of its first slum-improvement programs. The population density of this slum is approximated to be 200,000 people per sq. km which roughly translates to 3 sq meters per person. Realize that slums are also resricted to being one-level structures as the stability of the buildings could never sustain multiple stories. As my photos will show, the reality of the slums has not been exaggerated by the media in many senses. Heaps of raw sewage are litterally piled on top of leaky water pipes from which brownish-black gunk intermittently spews from (there is also a drought which makes the source even less reliable.) An active train line runs right down the main "street" on which people use the open space to sell goods, and walk to and from work. Naviagtion through these slums required a guide. Agnes, my guide was a representative to the slum improvement comittee on behalf of local landlords. She seemed quite content that we mazungos "white people" were coming to learn about the slums. I learned a great deal from her, including a general sense of frustration at the inefficiency of the UN in terms of fullfilling their promises of helping improve the slum. For sake of playing devil's advocate, i recognize the difficulty in organizing such a large restructing of this landscape and the need for collecting data before work can actually begin, but i could also see that she and her fellow residents had a lot of hope invested in the UN's promises and the lack of speed was beginning to make them distrust their ability to fullfill these promises. Particularly because the Kenyan government had aborted on such promises in the past. There was also a sense of apprehension in that once these new buildings would be in place, over the existing shantytown, the government would appropriate these buildings and raise the rent prices, forcing the poor to move away and start other informal settlements. An interesting point was made earlier that people like Agnes did not actually own the land from which they collected rent, and did so only through forgery and deception of the residents as the land actually belonged to the government. Yet, when i asked her how disputes between residents in the slum were solved (as the police never ventured there) she quite simply stated that the only disputes arose when people refused to pay rent. I pressed the matter asking how such rent disputes were settled. She replied that many times "landlords" (i noted that she was careful not to specify if she was part of this group while addressing this matter) would often resort to beatings. She even said in a blaze tone "you will see people missing arms or hands...that is because they did not pay rent...sometimes there are killings...last year there was such a dispute." I decided that it wouldnt be wise to press the matter further and quickly shifted the focus of my questions to the the accesibility of education within the slum for children.         Despite the poverty that i saw and that my words could not even come close to depicting, there was one thing that really struck me...these people were happy! Almost every person i met warmly shook my hand and smiled or waved and seemed excited to tell me about their the buisnesses they had created or show me their homes with a sense of pride. Most of the people who lived in the slum but worked outside wore clean suits that seemed pressed and neat, something that I interpreted as a sense of dignity and personal pride despite their living conditions. The sense of community was also overwhelming. I guess it is inevitable to become close to one's neighbors when you live within a few feet of them and are part of each other's everyday realities. However, it seemed that these community bonds were extremely strong (much more than any i have ever known- i dont think that once-a year block parties on labour day count as close community relations) and that these bonds created a system of interdependence and solidarity. The one exception to all the kindness bestowed upon me was a drunkard who jokingly (god i hope so) said "i could rob you if i wanted to right now." I think i was lucky to have a guide who was a respected member of the community with me, but in retrospect he did not seem like much of a threat. On the moment the only thing i could think to do was to laugh, shake the man's hand, tell him a few words in broken Swahili (something to the extent of: have a nice day,) and walk away quickly. It seems that the people living in Kibera have found an incredible way to compensate for their lack of material wealth: by creating a large resource of social wealth and happiness. I do not want to imply that these people were not aware of their condition, actually, it is quite the contrary, i never expected such conviction and organization and planning on how to improve their own and their community's status and services, all that is lacking is the funding...which brings us to a reliance on the Government, NGO's and the UN. The people of Soweto-East know what they have to do, and have the desire to do it, and i strongly believe that if they had the resources at their disposal, they would be able to build a stronger, and safer community much more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively than any outside organization. They KNOW the reality of their situation, they know the solutions, all they need is the means. This concept, proposed by one of our professors, is driven in more and more solidly with each passing day.

The one exception to all the kindness bestowed upon me was a drunkard who jokingly (god i hope so) said "i could rob you if i wanted to right now."

Agnes (my guide) and myself
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Well it turns out that a multiple 13 hour school days tend to wear down on people, even crazy ol me. I think i will call it a night even though my mind is bursting with more ideas and experiences that i want to remember and share. hopefully i will get one more opportunity to update this log before i disappear for 2 weeks when we head into the Ugandan jungle (im not kidding...we wont even have electriticty outside of some basic necessities provided by a small diesel generator.)

Congratualtions if you made it down this far!!! i know i am long winded and will continue to be...that is a promise. If you care to recieve a post card over the next 6 months, please send me your postal address. Unlike some people (Ahem) these will actually be MAILED!!

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Amani my friends.

PS Thanks lili for the journal...it is turning out to be quite a quite useful location for my rants , mutterings and delusions that seem to hit me at all points of the day, especially when a computer isnt on hand.