Kenya – Going to the toilet
Where can you go to the toilet? This is a daily problem for residents of the Kenyan slum Kibera. There are paid toilets all over the suburb. ‘You’ll be shocked’, a woman warns.
The filthiness of the area is overpowering. Cholera and tuberculosis are rampant. ‘In the hospital the doctors advise me to live in a place with fresh air’, a woman says. A ramshackle, improvised shower is used by 200 people. The waste water flows through an open sewer through the neighbourhood. Women are afraid to visit the toilet at night: too dangerous.
Most slum dwellers in Nairobi have no access to clean water. Most slums have no legal status: they are ‘illegal settlements.’ That is why local authorities do not feel responsible for providing essential facilities, such as access to clean water and sanitation.
3 Comments | Show mapSlum Stories aims to create an opportunity for people living in slums to tell their own stories. These stories do not necessarily reflect Amnesty International's position.
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Do people sleep on beds or on
Do people sleep on beds or on the floor? also where do people go to the toilet? is it just anywhere they want?
I understand that the economy
I understand that the economy of Nairobi relies on the huge cheap labour from Kibera and Matira slums.
The city should be ashamed in ignoring the basic sanitation needs of the million people living in these slum conditions and providing the cheap labour for the rich to get richer.
How terrible! how can they
How terrible! how can they NOT provide water and sanitation for their people?! I understand there are rules, and that they need to be kept to a certain degree, but if they're not allowed to live there, then were are they supposed to go? I believe the governments should provide cheap, clean and accesible houses or at least soil where they can build their homes. Is there anyone who works do change this?
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