Mukuru Slum, Nairobi

The Mukuru slum is located in the eastern part of Nairobi.  It is in the middle of the industrial area, where the majority of Kenya’s exported products are made.  Mukuru is said to be the second largest slum in Nairobi after Kibera.  The estimates of the population of the dwellers in the slum range from 50,000 to 100,000.  Most of them make living by working in the industrial area, and on average they earn KSh 200 (approximately $2.3) per day.  However, their income is unstable and unpredictable.  They cannot find job some days, and thus their monthly income fluctuates from KSh 4,000 to 6,000.  This is quite low for a man to feed his family and send his kids to school.  Life is much harder for the unemployed.  Although many young Kenyans migrate from rural areas to Nairobi with full expectation of their bright future in the city, the reality is that few can succeed in finding a good job.  Most of them end up living in one of the slums and join the unemployed group. 

On weekdays, the roads in this area are filled with large trucks coming in and out from factories.  The traffic here is crazy even from the local standards (heavy traffic is a part of daily life in Nairobi).  Due to the factories and heavy traffic, people are living in a harmful environment.  Air pollution, water contamination… you name it.  Moreover, the slum is built on a huge swamp, which makes dwellers vulnerable to frequent floods especially during the rainy season.  Sadly, it is a global phenomenon in urban areas to see poor people living in worse environment.

As the Mukuru slum is an informal settlement, the infrastructure is not maintained by the government.   Although many roads in Nairobi are unpaved, the condition of the roads in the slum is still eye-catching.  People hop from one rock to another to cross the “road” that has turned into a swamp.  Cars make brown splashes, and brave motor cyclers dive into the mud.  But some roads are completely impassible due to huge brown puddles that submerge the whole surface under water.  Water pumps are made by the dwellers, but they are poorly maintained.  Some are leaking, and thus people loose their precious water.  The sewage is exposed to the air, surrounding the area with stinking smell, and children get sick as they play around the sewage. 

The inhabitants of the informal settlement are in a vulnerable situation.  I saw some houses built in bricks, which implies long-term settlement.  But the dwellers are not entitled to the land as it is government-owned, and the settlement is always at risk of turning into rubble.  They need to move out from the slum in order to truly settle down and sustain their living.  However, living outside Mukuru is expensive, and commuting to the industrial area will add financial strain.  The key is to increase their income via capacity building, but even if people gain skills, the chance of finding high-paying job remains slim.  One breakthrough may be child education.  Children in the slum usually do not interact with people outside their community, and thus they don’t learn about life different from their parents’.  Girls get pregnant early, and marry with a boy who is also from the slum.  If we can cut the negative spiral, we may be able to make a significant change in the situation years later.

[This piece is based on interviews with NGO workers, community workers, and dwellers during my visit to the Mukuru slum on June 30th.]