This was a lot for me to digest all at once. Kibera holds the unfortunate reputation of being Africa's largest slums with over 1.5M people calling it home. It is very hard to understand how many people make it at all, and even more shocking to have discovered Kenya was ranked #31 in highest death rate worldwide (2014), due to remarkably poor living conditions.
Source of Income
I learned that rent for a small dirt-walled shack is approximately $20 USD per month. The small economy within the slums are driven by trading with each other. A large population work for the industrial or service sectors, and they are required to walk very long distances for work. Any money earned is, for a lack of better terms, robbed, from them; as they are required to pay rent on land that is supported to be free. Clean water is considered a privilege, for an unreasonable fee to access. Often times monetary support from aid programs flows back out of the slums and straight into the government. Much corruption interferes with the development process for advancement or fair human rights. 42% of Kenyans live below the poverty line.
Education
Children who can attend school is considered a luxury, and it is believed that this is their best hope for a brighter future. Because education is not free, many cannot afford to attend school - with the exception of institutions operated by non-gov organizations, but the children must perform well enough to be accepted and therefore the needs far outweigh the opportunity. Those who attend school as mentioned in my previous story, are much healthier and happier because they are fed once a day. What happens to the others? There is an alarming high probability they turn to criminal activities.
Although some teachers aren't properly certified, students are in the hands of those who can provide hope, confidence and guidance necessary to become productive members of society to help strengthen their economy.
Higher income countries have a lower death rate
- In high income countries, 7/10 deaths are among 70+ years old or older. Only 1/100 deaths are among children under 15. In low income countries, 2/10 deaths are among 70+ years or older, and 4/100 are among children 15.
- In high income countries, people predominately die of chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, cancer, demential, chromic obstructive lung diseases, diabetes). In low income countries, the die of infectious diseases (lower respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases, malaria, tuberculosis - which also accounts for almost 1/3 of all deaths in these countries).
In 2012, 6.6M children died before reaching their 5th birthday, and almost 99% of these deaths occurred in the low-income families bracket. It is even more alarming that 44% of deaths in children under the age of 5 occurred within an average of 28 days of birth. Childbirth complications are more common, whether it is prematurity, birth asphyxia (deprivation of oxygen to newborn infant) and birth trauma.
What's next?
This data helps health officials identify and measure contributing factors to leading death and focuses on actions to prevent certain illnesses. If a country recognizes that many children are dying of malaria, they may increase their spending in the health budget, dedicating to providing effective treatment for those affected. What's concerning is the data is incomplete, as many births and deaths are not recorded at all (nationally only 60% were registered in 2013). Therefore, the high number of cases related to pathogens - bacterial, parasites, viruses, may be substantially underestimated, and is believed to be "2x as high as analysts reported".
Taken at the top of the hill on an old railroad track, looking down at the Kibera slums, home to over 1.5 million Kenyans.
A boy carries two gallons of water back home presumably. The government provides water twice a week but it must be purchased on any other occasion.
A typical outhouse, which typically costs 10 shillings to use. Only 6 toilets are plumbed for 1.5 million people. The sewage dumps into trenches that runs along the roads. An outhouse could be shared for as many as 50 or more families. "Flying toilets" is also a common practice, were people relieve themselves using plastic bags which are thrown as far away as possible from their homes raising hygiene and disease concerns, particularly diarrhea and cholera, Women living in the slums are at high risk for rape crimes as they look for sanitation facilities outside and in the dark.
Covered in garbage as there is no process to collect trash. I will never forget the smell of filth, amongst something burning or decaying as we walked through the slums.
This is an example of a sewage trench. On several occasions I've seen very young children playing with a piece of garbage outside. They are not in school and it does not appear that anyone was looking after them. They look hungry.
A woman walks on the dirt road in the slums after a rainy day.