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We took a Macheo van to the Kiandutu Outreach Center, a branch of Macheo that holds the malnourished child feeding program and seminars for the teen mother program in Kiandutu. It is located just outside of Kiandutu so that the program participants have easy access to it.
I arrived happy and was curious to see what a slum was really like. I have seen pictures of slums before but had no idea what to expect. We were escorted by Gladys, a woman who lives near the area and knows how to navigate it well. We were also with James and Faith, who lead the Family Empowerment Program. Walking into the slum, it seemed alright at first. It consists of rows of houses made of sand and water bricks and metal sheets, any combination of those. The houses look like a row of cubes and the pathway winds around them throughout every area. Some areas were kept up while others had trash scattered all over. Dogs and goats roam around the pathways, some of them so thin they look like its skeleton covered in skin. It smelled of dirt and body odor everywhere we went. There was one row of toilets that had locks on the door that apparently only one area could use. I didn't see any designated bathroom areas anywhere else.
The first house we visited held someone in the teen mother program. She was 15 and fairly shy...I would be too with this group of almost all strangers coming to my home to check on me. She was 7 months pregnant but barely showed. I couldn't even tell until I was told she was pregnant. With this going on and her mother not in the picture, she still was working hard in school. I was able to attach a real, live person to this environment and that is when the intensity of it began to sink in. The second home that really hit me was another teen who was pregnant. We sat in her home while we were being introduced to her living situation while her younger siblings were attending school (a great thing that doesn't happen nearly as much as it should there!) Her mom came back while we were still talking...she couldn't find work that day which meant the whole family wasn't eating that day. Whoa. I have heard stories and seen pictures of slums but it was totally different seeing it and talking to someone who you know really would not eat that day, and maybe not even the next. I can just imagine her younger siblings sitting at school and wondering if their mother had been able to find work that day so they could eat. The thought of living day to day like that just to survive is hard to imagine.
We visited many more homes like this but also others that were more encouraging and very positive. One of my favorites is a women who was in the Family Empowerment program, which seeks to enable families to provide for themselves and to be able to sustain it so their children grow up healthy and can have opportunities. This woman set up a stand only 3 weeks ago with a small investment making chipatis and stew. In that two weeks she has doubled the size of it and is becoming very profitable! She can now purchase a uniform for her children to attend school along with their desk.
Another interesting thing was the recycling area. Children and other employees are sent to surrounding towns to collect trash/recyclable items. Metals can be sent in for scrap money, nice plastics can be sent for recycling, and other plastics are melted down and made into water jugs that other people in Kiandutu can purchase to store the water they buy. I guess the guy who owns the recycling business is the wealthiest in the slum.
As we walked through the pathways, there were children literally everywhere. Some were playing in the dirt and ashes left behind, and others were running about and playing. They would also say "hi, how are you?" as we walked by or try to give us a high five and smile. It was adorable! And awesome that in such a sad place they could seem so happy...I really hesitate to call it sad, it is the home of many people. Some children would also point at us and say mazungu! I thought at first they were saying hi but it turns out it means white person. That isn't the first time we were called over the course of this trip...
I was carrying a water bottle through Kiandutu and ended up feeling SO bad that I had water when so many other people there have a difficult time getting it so I had to hide it.
It was an experience I will always carry with me. It made me realize how much I take for granted at home, even the simple things.
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