Kibera

Kibera
Kibera is a slum in Africa located in Kenya and southwest of Nairobi and is framed by a railroad line and the Ngong River. The name “Kibera” comes from a Nubian word that means“forest” or “jungle.” The slum originated in 1918 as a Nubian soldiers’ settlement in a forest outside Nairobi, with plots given to soldiers as a repayment for service in World War I and other earlier wars. The villages that make up Kibera are Lindi, Kisumu Ndogo, Soweto, Makina, Kianda, Mashimoni, Siranga, Gatuikira, Laini Saba, and the newly founded Raila village. Kibera is located at 1 degree south Latitude and 37 degrees east Longitude. Its highest point reaches 1766 meters above sea level, and its lowest point is 1736 meters above sea level. Kibera’s climate is moderate, and because they are so close to the equator, their seasons are mainly described as wet and dry. The average high temperature in Kibera is about 28 degress Celsius, and the average low temperature is 12 degrees Celsius. It is the largest slum in Africa and is believed to be the largest in the world. In Nairobi, there are 2.5 million slum dwellers that live in about 200 settlements. Kibera alone houses approximately 1 million of these people. The population density of Kibera is approximately 2000 people per hectare, but some villages are much crowded than others. Some believe that Kibera is the most densely populated place on Earth. All of the people in Kibera are African. 95% of Kibera’s population lives below the poverty line, earning only about $1.25 a day. The average life expectancy there is 30 years old. Half of the Kiberans are under the age of 15. 1 out of every 5 children in Kibera does not live to the age of 5. Kibera is close to the industrial area of Nairobi where up to 50% of the available labor forces are employed. However, there is still an unemployment rate of 50%. There are about 6,000 families in Kibera, which normally consist of about 7 people. Men make up more than half the population at about 61%, while women make up about 39%. Some of the tribes that inhabit Kibera include: Luo, Kisii, Luhya, Kamba, Gikuyu, and a few other unknown tribes. Out of these, the Luo make up the majority of the population at 36.5%. 66% of girls in Kibera routinely trade sex for food by the age of 16. In Kibera, women and girls contract HIV 5 times faster than males. Due to the lack of contraceptives, many women become pregnant. Also, parents often need more children to help out with work, and there is an extremely low amount of educated women in Kibera, so they have more children, causing the crude birth rate to be high. Kibera also has a high infant mortality rate due to poor health care and lack of food and sanitary water sources.
In Kibera, The government owns all of the land in Kibera. The size of an average shack in Kibera is 12 foot by 12 foot and usually houses up to 8 or more people. There are no toilet facilities in Kibera; only latrines, which are giant holes in the ground. One latrine is usually used by up to 50 shacks. Once these latrines are full, they empty the contents into the river, causing water pollution and an extremely unsanitary water source. Only approximately 20% of Kibera has electricity, and until recently they had to get their water from the Nairobi dam, which caused many outbreaks of typhoid and cholera due to pollution from the emptying of their waste products into the dam. Also in Kibera, there is an ongoing problem with the use of Changaa, a cheap alcoholic brew that consists of about 50% alcohol. With high employment rates, many people start their day off by drinking Changaa and getting drunk, which is one of the main causes of violence in this slum. There are no government founded medical facilities in Kibera. The only way of getting proper health care is through charitable organizations such as AMREF, MSF, churches, etc. All the people are encouraged to recieve a free HIV test and if the results turn out to be positive, they get the opportunity to take medicine for free.

Works Cited www.kiberatours.com/about-kibera www.kiberalawcentre.org/facts/ www.lunchbowl.org/the-kibera.html www.kibera.org.uk/facts.html http://www.classyawards.org/exchange/understanding-the-issue-urban-poverty-in-kibera/ http://mapkiberaproject.yolasite.com/maps-and-statistics.php http://www.kwaho.org/loc-d-kibera.html

Cited: www.kiberatours.com/about-kibera www.kiberalawcentre.org/facts/ www.lunchbowl.org/the-kibera.html www.kibera.org.uk/facts.html http://www.classyawards.org/exchange/understanding-the-issue-urban-poverty-in-kibera/ http://mapkiberaproject.yolasite.com/maps-and-statistics.php http://www.kwaho.org/loc-d-kibera.html