My time in Kenya is coming to an end.  It feels like it just started, but life must move on. I would like to thank Hakijamii, NPSN, Ngazi Ya Chini, Soweto Forum, The Youth Congress, Haki Yetu, Garissa Community Groups, KISORA, Advocacy Project, all those Christy and I have worked with, and everyone that has read/commented on our blogs.  I’d especially like to thank all of Hakijamii’s staff for their hospitality, help, and willingness to learn.

Christy Gillmore and Louis Rezac with Hakijamii's staff

Christy and I have felt right at home in Kenya and really took pleasure in working for a human rights organization.  We enjoyed visiting the communities and would like to thank everyone that took the time to meet with us and tell us their stories.  In our time here we have profiled CBO’s (community based organizations) in Nairobi, Garissa, and Mombasa.  We took pictures, created short movies, and interviewed many extraordinary individuals.  We were always impressed with their determination to better themselves, their families, and their community’s lives.  Some of the stories they told were sad and depressing, but that never managed to keep them down.  Through this fellowship I have learned to be thankful for what I have and not to dwell too much on the hardships of life.

We have now officially launched Hakijamii’s interactive blogging website.  We have worked hard on it all summer and though it still has some rough edges I hope that it connects Hakijamii and its community partners with more human rights organizations/individuals and gives them the chance to tell their own as well as their community partners’ stories to a worldwide audience.  I encourage anyone to go to the website to learn more about Hakijamii, its partners, and its work to make human rights and social justice a reality for all.

Kibarani People’s Settlement (slum, informal settlement) is located in Mombasa along the railway to Uganda.  The residents of Kibarani live in mud brick houses with no running water or electricity.   Life is difficult, but residents like the inexpensive location with a beautiful view of the ocean, fertile soil to plant small gardens, and a bus stop nearby so they can easily travel to wherever they need to go.

View of Kibarani with the container depot in the background. Owners of the depot want to expand into Kibarani. To do this the homes seen above will be demolished and the people residing there will need to relocate.

Kibarani was once the main garbage dump for Mombasa attracting many poor families to come settle and earn a living collecting and recycling trash (plastic, cardboard, metal).  Around 8 years ago the city landfill was relocated to Mwakirunge and parts of Kibarani’s dump were cleaned up making unusable land usable again.  With this newly available land business men saw an opportunity to invest putting up truck yards and container depots.  The poor families that moved to and built homes in Kibarani are now being threatened with eviction by these private developers.

Recently, a truck transport company located next to Kibarani has talked with the local government about buying a plot of land, within Kibarani, to expand their container depot.  To do this they must evict the residents that currently reside there.  The company hired a firm to get the residents of the plot to agree to move for a small sum of money.  The company wrote an agreement to pay residents to leave and got 100 people to sign it.  On the 14^th of July, 2010 there was a notice that the plot had been sold and anyone residing there needed to vacate the land within 14 days.

The local CBO (community based organization) Village Development Committee went to Haki Yetu (a partner of Hakijamii in Mombasa) to ask for help to stop the evictions.  Haki Yetu helped them to identify and make a list of everyone that lived within the plot.  After completing the list they found that only 45 of the 100 people that signed the agreement were actually living in the plot. With this and other information Haki Yetu and the Village Development committee has brought the case to court.

Dan Okongo of the Village Development Committee speaks to us about the pending evictions.

Though there has not been a final decision made on the case residents of Kibarani say that people still come (sometimes at night) to try and evict them.  Dan Okongo, a business man that has lived on the plot for 20 years, told us that most people living in the settlement are opposed to any relocation.  “We don’t want to move.  We have houses, businesses, a school, and a church on this plot of land.”

This isn’t the only case of evictions happening in Mombasa or even in Kibarani.  In 2006, Kenya Railways evicted residents of  Kibarani.  They were never given a reason for the eviction and the land has stood idle ever since.  After the eviction, the residents set up camp at the government office that gave the go ahead to evict; refusing to leave until  they were given a place to relocate. Eventually, they were allowed to rebuild on a riparian zone prone to flooding.

The riparian zone where the people evicted by Kenya Railways rebuilt their homes.

In Owinohuru Settlement descendants of former occupants of the land have come back, decades after their family had lived there, claiming they still own the land. They want to sell the land to private developers.  (See Advocacy Project Fellow Christy Gillmore’s Blog to learn more)

If the communities don’t take action on their own they will continue to be exploited.  Groups like Haki Yetu work to empower the people being directly affected so that they can claim their rights.  With assistance from groups like Haki Yetu residents of these communities are learning how to stop private developers from taking the land they have called home for years.

Hakijamii was awarded SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) funding for a three year project to promote the right to housing and basic services for the urban poor. With this funding Hakijamii will establish a network of grassroots organizations and link them with relevant government agencies so they can effectively advocate for the development and adoption of a pro-poor slum upgrading policy and internationally acceptable eviction guidelines.

Residents of Soweto East relocate to the new high rise estate

Recommendations for the development of a slum upgrading policy and internationally accepted eviction guidelines were included in Kenya’s National Land Policy of 2009.  Despite these recommendations the Kenyan government has yet to implement either of the two.  The ministry of lands has created a task force to develop the policy and guidelines, but the process has been moving at a slow pace.   Hakijamii hopes to change this by mobilizing existing grassroots organizations and linking them with relevant policy makers so that they can together create fair and just policies in a more timely manner.  The involvement of communities in this process will strengthen the policies and create an example of the importance of community involvement in human rights policy reform.

Here are some of the activities that will be held:

• Community awareness /sensitization forums on slum upgrading policy and eviction guidelines
• Lobbying and advocacy for slum upgrading and eviction guidelines
• Meetings between relevant policy makers to discuss the options they have for creating a slum upgrading policy and eviction guidelines
• Trips to connect Kenyan policy makers to policy makers in other regions so they can learn how other governments and communities have effectively worked together on policy reform
• Meetings with grassroots organizations to plan and review campaigns for the adoption and implementation of eviction and slum upgrading policies
• Workshops to build grassroots organizations capacity to utilize the  rights based approach
• Monitoring government’s compliance with international human rights laws

Odindo Opiata started Hakijamii in 2004 as a continuation of his work as a human rights lawyer at Kituo Cha Sheria in order to provide longer term support to communities than litigation alone allows. He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and has attended numerous human rights trainings. He has long been involved in human rights activism, including Kenyan democracy struggles, serving three years in prison from 1986-1989 as a dissident under Kenya’s one-party state. He believes in empowering communities by informing them of their rights, assisting them with their day to day struggles, and complementing what they are already doing with new skills and evidence-based work. Opiata envisions that the work of Hakijamii and its partners will help ingrain a deep respect for human rights into the minds of all people so that someday every human being will see their right to equality and justice fulfilled.

Mr. Opiata multitasking at Hakijamii's office

Those that have met with Mr. Opiata have seen his drive and enthusiasm for advocacy work.  His passion and dedication has allowed many people to join the cause, with Hakijamii, to make basic human rights a reality for all.  His hard work over the years has improved the lives of countless people and we should all be grateful for the time and effort he has put into making Kenya a better place.  If more people follow his example I’m sure that Kenya and the world will see a brighter future.

Watch the video below to learn more about the life Mr. Opiata, Hakijamii, and his hopes for a better Kenya:

Since 2007, Nairobi People’s Settlement Network (NPSN), in collaboration with other community groups,* has been holding an annual forum led by residents of the people’s settlements (slums) to prioritize the people’s needs and make recommendations to the Kenyan government on how to allocate the national budget. According to the People’s Budget, “[t]he primary responsibility of the government is to respect, protect, promote and fulfill all human rights of its citizens. To achieve this… the government must [enact] appropriate laws and policies as well as provide money and resources to address the basic needs of its citizens.”

A government’s commitment to fulfill basic human rights is determined by how it allocates its resources (national budget).  It does not matter how just a constitution or laws are if the government does not provide the resources needed to put these laws into practice.  Every government disperses resources through its annual budget and through this budget it becomes clear whom and what are valued by the government. Therefore, it is the belief of residents of the people’s settlements that the budget is a highly effective tool in improving their standard of living and claiming their rights.

Before the People’s Budget, most residents of the settlements had no platform to make their priorities heard by the government.  The government would create the annual national budget with little input from the common Kenyan; projects that residents of the settlements found most essential to improving their quality of life were rarely funded. Nairobi People’s Settlement Network decided it was time for the people of the settlements to become more involved in the budgeting process and stop waiting for the government to solve their problems for them.

With the help of Hakijamii, residents of the settlements in Nairobi (and recently Kisumu) hold meetings to outline where the greatest need for government assistance lies within education, land and housing, food security, environment, economic and social empowerment, water and sanitation, health, and safety and security sectors.  For the national budget to be properly utilized all citizens of the country, not just government officials, should play an active role in budget formulation.  With input from the settlements the government can make a more informed decision on what, where and how money from the national budget should be spent.

See the following video to learn more about the People’s Budget:

Meetings have already begun in preparation for the next People’s Budget forum, scheduled for May of 2011.   It is a long and arduous process, but it is worth all the time and effort.  With the People’s Budget the residents of the settlements are one step closer to living a life with dignity.

*Though NPSN has been the most involved in the People’s Budget, other community groups have participated including Muungano Wa Wanavijiji, Kutoka Network, Kisumu Social Rights Association (KISORA).

WASH United is a global campaign that uses the sport of football (soccer) to promote safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for all.  Its launch corresponded with the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to take advantage of World Cup fever.  WASH United’s campaign targets a wide range of groups from schools, youth football clubs and local communities to politicians, governments, civil society organizations and the media. By uniting all stakeholders, WASH United hopes to promote water and sanitation as a basic human right.

Beverly of Hakijamii strikes a pose with four WASH participants

In Kenya, universal access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is still far from being achieved.  According to official figures, 76% of residents in Nairobi’s informal settlements do not have access to toilet facilities at household level.  Instead many use open spaces or flying toilets (human feces placed in a plastic bag which is then thrown outside).  Hand washing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by 35-50%, but only 5% of Kenyans use it consistently. Diarrhea-related diseases kill more Kenyan children under the age of 5 than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.

Girls from Olympic Primary School, Kibera getting ready to play the Blue Hand Game

It is crucial for Kenya’s development to have a well educated and healthy workforce to improve the struggling economy. Yet it is estimated that 50% of all hospital visits in Kenya are due to preventable water, sanitation, and hygiene related illnesses.  These illnesses prevent children from attending school and adults from going to work.  The need for clean water, bathroom facilities and for all Kenyans to wash their hands before eating and after going to the toilet are essential in improving the country’s economic and social well being.

On July 3, 2010, WASH United held an event in Raila, Kibera to teach children the importance of using a toilet and washing their hands.  The event had many different activities for children to participate in.  First was the World Toilet Cup game.  The object of the game was to kick a poo ball (soccer ball) into a toilet or latrine to win a small prize.  Another activity was the Blue Hand game which illustrates how germs spread.  Some of the children had blue chalk on their hands while others did not.  Both the children with blue hands and the children without blue hands formed a circle and tossed a ball to one another.  After the game the children that originally didn’t have blue hands noticed that their hand were blue.  The last game was the charcoal game where children washed charcoal off of their hands to learn how to properly wash their hands so that they were germ free.  After they were done washing they wiped their hand on white paper towels to see if they had got their hands completely clean.

Brenda, a student at Olympic Primary School in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, speaks about what she learned at a WASH United event on July 3, 2010.

With the help of groups like Hakijamii WASH United hopes that individuals, communities, and the government will increase their efforts to make safe water, sanitation and hygiene available to all.  Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental human need and therefore, a basic human right. With campaigns like WASH I am hopefull that someday soon everyone will have access to this basic human right.

In 2003, the Kenyan government introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) for all. Since its inception, the number of students attending primary schools has significantly increased.  Statistical indicators show that the FPE initiative has brought some positive changes, but it is still beyond the reach of many Kenyan families to get a child through primary school.

The FPE program provides children with staffed public schools to attend as well as learning materials.  However, it does not supply them with a uniform, food, or transport to school.  These costs are to be paid by the student’s parents, many of whom live in the people’s settlements (slums) and make less than a dollar per day. Therefore, they cannot afford to send them to public school.

Olympic Primary School is a public school in Kibera.

Though the Kenyan government has increased funding to the education sector (to 17% of the national budget), it is beyond the scope of the budget to provide free primary education to all. Many international donors were assisting the government in supporting the initiative, but in 2009 an audit revealed that 1 million USD in grant money was missing and 26 million USD had been diverted from the education fund. Due to this incident, many international agencies (World Bank, Canada, UK and USAID) have suspended funding.

Although free primary education has provided children from the poorer areas of society with hope, it has also created significant problems. Rapid expansion of enrollment has drastically increased the student to teacher ratio, causing the quality of education to suffer. Statistics have shown that although there is an increase in the number of students taking the exam to get their Certificate of Primary Education the percentage of students that pass the exam has decreased.

As a result of the poor quality of education the number of private schools in Kenya is almost 10 times greater than before the FPE initiative started. Many people who would normally send their children to public schools have been forced towards private schools because of overcrowding.  Private schools in Kenya are no longer just for the rich. There are now private schools catering toward people of all social and economic backgrounds.

Informal School in Kibera

In the people’s settlements many families send their children to private informal schools funded by NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). These informal schools provide children who cannot afford to buy uniforms or pay for transport to a public school a place to learn.  Most of these informal schools don’t have electricity, running water, or sanitary bathrooms, but at least the children are given a chance to learn.

To improve education in the people’s settlements of Nairobi, NPSN (Nairobi People’s Settlement Network), with the help of Hakijamii, has brought together educational groups from each of the 8 constituencies (districts). These groups come together to discuss ways to provide a better education for their children.

In June 2010 NPSN held Education Accountability meetings in each of the 8 constituencies, where members of the communities, teachers, and government officials came together to discuss the state of education in the settlements. Government officials explained the application process for funds allocated for poor and disadvantaged youth.  After, members of the community asked questions directly to the officials and made suggestions for improvement of the process. With these sessions community members hope that the government will listen and utilize their suggestions. A member of NPSN said that before the network was formed it was impossible for the community to have a conversation with a government official. Now that they have unified government officials will take the time to come and listen to their ideas.

Starehe District Education Officer Mr. J. Muchiri Ndung'u. One of the government officials attending the Education Accountability Meeting.

The problems with FPE in Kenya are many, but the initiative is a step in the right direction.  There needs to be an unbiased private firm doing the monitoring and evaluations to combat corruption and ensure that allocated funds go to free primary education.  The government also needs to maintain a dialogue with groups at the grassroots level to better be able to meet the needs of the common Kenyan.  If they manage to do these things I am hopeful that someday there will be free primary education for all.

Ngazi Ya Chini (The Ladder That Runs Down) is an organization that represents and fights for the rights of the people living along the railway (railway dwellers) in Kibera and Mukuru people’s settlements (slums) in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 2004, Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) sent out a notice of eviction to railway dwellers in Kibera and Mukuru people’s settlements. The communities reacted, bringing their objections to the evictions to court. The World Bank, upon hearing about the case, suspended funding to the KRC.  In order for KRC to continue to receive funds they would need to follow the World Bank’s guidelines for resettling Project Affected Persons (PAPs).  This action put a stop to evictions without relocation or compensation.

Interview with Samson Ochieng Ooko chairmen of Ngazi Ya Chini. Click on this photo to see a video on Ngazi Ya Chini's efforts on Christy Gillmore's blog.

To follow the guidelines KRC hired Pamoja Trust to act as human rights consultants.  Pamoja Trust was responsible for creating a Relocation Action Plan (RAP), a report that seeks to ensure proper resettlement guidelines are enforced during the railroad expansion process. The consultants began by using community groups to count the number of residential houses, businesses, and institutions that would be affected by the project.  They then spoke with the communities to determine what the railway dwellers considered fair compensation for their relocation.  Using this information, Pamoja Trust developed the 2005 RAP.

After examining the RAP railway dwellers realized that parts of it did not reflect what they had told Pamoja Trust, spurring them to form Ngazi Ya Chini.  With the help of Odindo Opiata (Then of Kituo Cha Sheria and now Director of Hakijamii), they wrote a counter proposal that was sent to the World Bank, highlighting problematic areas.

Homes and Businesses Along the Railway

Along with the counter proposal, other events caused delays in the RAP’s implementation.  In 2006, the railway operation formerly run by KRC was contracted out to Rift Valley Railways (RVR), a private company.  Then in 2007 the post election violence, centered mainly in the slums, uprooted parts of the railway. Most notable was a train derailment that caused 10 fatalities beyond the 5.2 meter safety zone initially proposed in the 2005 RAP.

In 2010, RVR contracted Pamoja Trust to produce another RAP.  This time a 30 meter safety zone was proposed on both sides of the track.  They told members of Ngazi Ya Chini that the reason for the larger safety zone was to improve operational speed, provide area to expand from one to three railway lines, and to protect railway dwellers from another derailment.  According to the new enumerations done by Pamoja Trust, there are 5071 homes, 3836 businesses, and 262 institutions (including churches, medical clinics, and 49 informal schools) within this 60 meter zone.

Pamoja Trust submitted a draft of the new RAP on May 15, 2010.  In it they propose that, in Kibera, parameter walls be built 23 to 25 meters from the center line of the track.  With the remaining 5 to 7 meters (of the 30 meter total) they plan to create a paved 3 meter wide footpath that runs parallel to the perimeter walls and a 3-story building to house the displaced residents of Kibera and their businesses. Schools, churches, and clinics will not be relocated. The RAP gives the following options for students attending schools that will be demolished:

“Some of the public schools may be able to accommodate additional pupils within some of the classes… within the public schools additional [classrooms] can be constructed to accommodate more pupils…However, both solutions will call for additional teaching staff…and that may take some time to actualize.”

Students of an informal school within the proposed saftey zone

In Mukuru, part of the railway reserve is shared by Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya Power and Lighting Company so it is not possible to build a three-story structure next to the perimeter walls as is proposed in Kibera.  Instead, the RAP suggests purchasing land somewhere in Nairobi and providing the necessary infrastructure (water, storm drains, and roads) so that the displaced people can build their own housing units.  The security of tenure granted to the displaced would be 45 years.

On the 16^th through the 18^th of June, 2010, Ngazi Ya Chini held meetings with the PAPs of Kibera and Mukuru.  They analyzed the new RAP and discussed problematic areas, such as mistakes in the enumerations and too little area for resettlement. The residents of Kibera agreed that it was impossible to fit all of the people, businesses, and a 3-meter wide path into the 5 to 7 meter wide areas the proposal allotted for.  Mukuru residents were concerned that there was not a specific relocation site written in the RAP and that they would only be given 45 years of tenure over this unknown site.  One member stated, “Why would I build a house if it’s only secure for 45 years?”

Member of Ngazi Ya Chini noting mistakes in the enumerations

With help from Hakijamii, Ngazi Ya Chini will submit a counter proposal using input from these community meetings to ensure that the concerns of the PAPs will be heard.

After submitting the counter proposal Ngazi Ya Chini can only hope that the World Bank, RVR, and Pamoja Trust will modify the RAP to address the needs of those people most directly affected.

My first week in Nairobi was a blur of traffic, exhaust, and crowded streets.  My first thoughts were on how much more developed Nairobi was than Bamako, Mali (I spent a little over two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali.).  Everyone seemed to be driving a car and wearing a suit.  While looking for a secure apartment Christy (my fiancé and colleague) and I found that the rent was as much as where we live in the U.S.

We met with the Hakijamii; the organization we would be interning for.  They help connect grassroots human rights organizations so that they can come together and clearly articulate their problems to the government.  During our first week we visited two people’s settlements (slums).  They were a stark contrast to downtown Nairobi.  While downtown Nairobi has high rise buildings and clean wide streets and sidewalks, the people’s settlements have tiny mud houses and sewage running down narrow dirt paths (See pictures above and below). I had always heard about the inequality in Kenya, but you need to see it in person to truly appreciate the injustice.

On a visit to Korogocho people’s settlement we saw the Dandora dump (located inside Korogocho).    The government is currently trying to clean up and move the dump to a new location.  The 30-acre dump takes garbage that includes industrial and medical waste. A U.N. study found high levels of lead, mercury and cadmium at the site and surrounding slums in eastern Nairobi.

Another study was done to see if these high levels of toxins were affecting the local population.   328 children had their blood tested to evaluate the level of toxins.  The results showed that half of the children tested exceeded the internationally accepted level of  lead concentrations in their blood. Most of them suffer respiratory problems.

Cleaning up and moving the dump sounds great until you realize many people in Korogocho earn a living by selling things they find in the dump.  We met one woman who was washing used plastic bags, collected from the dump, in the polluted Nairobi River to resell (See pic below).  She explained that she would rather earn a living selling used plastic bags than become a prostitute like many women in her situation do.  While the dump is unsanitary and leads to many problems in the settlement it also provides income for many of the residents.  If the dump moves many of these people will lose their means of income.

Proponents of the move and clean up said that they would employ the people already working in the dumps to clean it up and will build a modern recycling facility which will later employ these same people working to clean up the site.  The problem is that many of the promises made are not kept.  We talked to some young men who were helping with the clean-up.  They told us that they started the cleanup, but they had stopped because they were not being paid.

On Friday we went out to a bar with a Kenyan friend to celebrate the start of the world cup.  After being in the people’s settlement earlier that day it was shocking to be in a bar watching a game on a large flat screen TV while drinking a beer.  The beer cost two dollars, more than the woman washing trash bags could earn in a whole day.  The bar was packed full of working Kenyan’s drinking and enjoying the night.  I wondered how this could be?  How can these two different worlds exist so close to one another?