Saturday, August 29, 2009
Healing in Nairobi
I knew it is time to return to Nairobi for healing my distressed body and soul. I found bed bug bites from head to bottom and they are eating every cell of my body. I wanted to scratch the shit out of me. I headed back to Nairobi and it seemed an equal long ride to get back. I finally settled back in Nairobi Youth hostel and took a shower. A group of 15 Masai women shared room with me that night. They came all the way to Nairobi for a wedding. They seemed to celebrate along the way. They were dressed in Masai wraps and wearing heavy Masai beads accessories from head to foot. They brought a swirl of festive energy and left the following morning like hurricane.
I made it to Kibera slum, the largest slum in Eastern Africa which I attempted to go a few times before. I met a guy at Nairobi local market who gave me a tour to the slum. In Nairobi, a population of 700,000 to 1 million live in the slum. In contrast to Java coffee house and modern malls and supermarkets, the slum gives a visitor a glimpse of urban poverty. The local market guy took me to his friend's Josephine's apartment. Josephine and her sister's family share a dark one bedroom apartment. They are paying 1500 Shilling ($20) for such an apartment. These people moved from villages to metropolitan Narirobi for a better life. A lot of them haven't had luck of launching a job. The cost of living in Nairobi is very high for them. They most likely end up getting stuck in the slum.
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