The Entrepreneurs of Kibera Slum

How are you? How are you? How are you? The little kids of the Kibera(means Jungle in Nubian) slum (the second biggest slum in Africa and home to somewhere between 600,000 and 1.5 million Nairobians depending on time of year)shout as they see wazungus (whites) walk through the slum. It is the only English most of them know. The children are strikingly cute even though their faces are marred by dirt and snot. All smiles as they run over trash laden dirt walkways edged by small drainage ditches and low profile shacks made of mud and roofed with corrugated metal. Dogs scamper amongst make shift bbqs spewing smoke from the drippings of indistinguishable animal parts. Goats, chickens and ducks wander through trash piles grubbing on whatever edible crumb they stumble upon. Meat from these animals is displayed hanging from windows and on rice sacks covered in flies. A constant rotten, sour and pungent smell is forced into my mouth and nostrils by the swirling winds mix with dry red earth almost immediately drying out my eyes, nostrils and mouth. The only structure that is not a low profile shanty is a giant mosque that protrudes from the middle of the slum and a few community centers that house public latrines, sanitation stations and fresh water dispensing silos.