Making Second-hand New
Some time ago I wrote a story here about a slum named Mitumba, "second-hand" in Swahili.
Here is that story in more depth, as promised.
They're sandwiched between the airport, a housing development with a twelve-foot tall brick fence topped by broken bottles, and Kenya's National Park, which is also fenced off securely. No wonder it is easy for these people to slip into the identity of second-hand clothing.
This is Frances, "father" of 11 boys and eleven girls who are no longer sleeping in the muddy alleyways of Mitumba. They prefer not to call it an orphanage, because that implies the kids have no parents. They may not have biological parents, but Frances and his wife are probably better ones than the alcoholic, abusive fathers and busy mothers these kids started out with. At any rate they are not HIV positive.
The water that little boy is drinking in the picture above is some of the cleanest water in the area, because it comes from a relatively deep well and has been boiled. But one of the things that made me sad was seeing kids in the slum eye our bottles of water. Jim from the medical group brought in a sweating three-gallon jug still cold from the grocery store, and I had to watch it while he was occupied lest it disappear. I just wanted to walk around the corner and leave it outside someone's door. Children should not consider clean water a luxury item!
Our team was a bit concerned about the violence these boys appeared to exhibit, but it turned out to be inspired by X-men and nothing serious. I should have known.
During the 2007-08 post-election riots, Mitumba was the only temporary settlement in the nation with no violence. We heard stories of how the men and older boys took turns standing guard at night during those uneasy times, and it was clearly a point of pride. Mitumba is a community where the people stand together, even if they originate from eleven different tribes, and that community feeling is built largely through the church and school run by REM.
See REM's website to learn more about what is happening in Mitumba, and how you might be able to help.