Bridge of Hope

ECONOMIC SITUATION IN KENYA:
The economy has come to a standstill. There is no part of the country that has not been affected. The tourist industry which brought in about 65 billion Kenya shillings last year has already lost 60 billion shillings so far.

For the first time in Kenya's history in December last year all hotels at the coast were fully booked over the Christmas period. Many people were entering the high season with great optimism.

A friend of mine's family business is a remote luxury eco-camp in paradise (Kiweyu) was one. They were fully booked for the high season. Every last guest has cancelled. They have 100 staff.

The charter company that flies to them stopped doing so overnight so they found themselves suddenly stuck 7 hours by dhow away from lamu (the nearest town to them) with no notice.

More than 20,000 workers in the tourism sector have been laid off already.

If the current crisis persists we can expect another potential 120,000 job losses with another quarter of a million indirectly connected to it affected. That is just one industry.

The Rift Valley is Kenya's bread basket. With the illegal roadblocks transport has ground to a halt and so while grains and milk are rotting in stores in one part of the country, other parts of the country are starving.

Food shortages are imminent as many farmers and farm workers are displaced. I mention this because some people have been uneasy about giving money while things are so bad.

They feel it will just go to waste if businesses get destroyed again and people will be back at square one.I strongly feel the opposite and my visit to Kibera confirmed that.

If people have jobs, businesses, livelihoods they will try and find a way to protect them as they have something to live for and are also less likely to loot and burn. Part of this current situation is about the haves and the have nots.

Makina where the projects you have been supporting are based is already much safer than Ayani or Katwekere where people have nothing to lose. When I spoke with young men in Makina they said that they were too busy to even protest.

The French Government sponsored Food-for-Work program is keeping them engaged but they need to pay rent and need money like anyone else for survival. The fact that there is potential of earning money is a huge incentive.

One young man I spoke to was disarmingly honest. He said 'When they used to come and tell me to cause chaos before I used to go - but now I have a route to earn some money, I have work to do. I am not idle and I don't want to risk losing my job.'

In part, some of the reason that there has been so much violence in the slums is because of young disenfranchised men who literally have nothing to live for. They have no sense of ownership or in some cases even the hope of developing that sense.

HOW YOU HAVE HELPED
This Saturday just gone, Erick and I went shopping for Mama Tunza's children's home and went into Kibera. It was a beautiful day and I was pleased to note that people had started to re-build on the way to Toi Market.

Just behind Uchumi in Adams Arcade and Woodley the roadside was lined with (mainly) women selling their fruits and vegetables and mitumba (second hand clothes). In fact we bought mangoes from one such woman to take to the children's home.

Going along past the DC's office through Line Saba into Kibera was the same. There were many more signs of life and it was clear that people had been cleaning up. There were no roadblocks, no burnt out cars on the road as we approached Makina.

A well known graffiti artist Solo 7's work was caputring the mood. Instead of earlier slogans 'No Raila, No Peace' they had moved to a more muted Justice + Truth = Peace and finally by the time we got to Ayani 'Chagua Amani' (Choose Peace).

Admist his work were some very beautiful street paintings calling for the police to stop killing innocent kenyans & asking for political reconcillation. In Makina many of the young men that hang around in groups near the road were now familiar to me.

Although there are no visible road blocks in some parts of Kibera (especially places like Katwekere and Kisumu Ndogo where I did not venture) cars are still being stopped and you have to pay in order to be allowed past.

Erick assured me that the reason I have not experienced this is because in Makina and Olympic people are aware of the projects and are keen to support them. The men's group had been working hard.

They had bought the machine to clean the inside of cars and had dug and concreted a well - they had opened a file for all the receipts and given me a breakdown of the funds used.

They had also been meeting regularly and whittled the group down to 50 from 62 as they said the other 12 were not being serious. Out of the 50, 28 were actively involved in the carwash project.

Others are going to get involved in the other businesses when they start.

A local councillor - aspirant had provided the men's group with an attic office to support project activities. It has quite a view over Kibera and a burgeoning collection of pot plants in the near corner at the top of the steep stairs.

As it happened my car was filthy so even though the carwash was not fully open I was their first customer. They did a stirling job - the only difficulty was to get them to accpet payment.

Whilst they were cleaning the car - potential new customers stopped by.

I then went on to visit 11 of the 12 women's businesses that have opened. The only one I didn't manage to visit was because the owner had travelled upcountry for a funeral.

It was amazing to see what had been accomplished in such a short space of time.

However I will let the attached photographs speak for themselves.

As I walked around visiting the businesses, I was approached by different people - was there anything I could do to help them? I explained that I was dealing with groups that were already organised and self regulating.

Another women's group has therefore said that they are going to submit a proposal. There are however 3 men who I did feel have particularly compelling cases and so even though they are not part of a group I think they are worth supporting.

In all the following cases sponsors have already come forward who are willing to cover the costs but I thought I would tell you all about the cases to highlight the snowball effect I feel the projects are having.

1. The Tailor - Fred has made clothes for me in the past and works in Kibera's City Council Market. He also teaches orphans and refugees tailoring but during 'the troubles' one of his two sewing machines was looted.

He was also attacked with a panga (machete) when he tried to protect his neighbour from thugs during ethnic clashes. It only costs 8,000KSh (about 60 pounds) to replace a machine that will provide employment and help others.


2. The Welder - Husband to the leader of the women's group his business was looted and burnt. He has since obtained secure premises within the city council market and promises to take on apprentices upon receiving the starting capital of 5000KSh.


3. The Mitumba Salesman - James did not actually lose his business through the current troubles and is not based in Kibera. He is actually an example of some of the problems that have left so many young men disenfranchised.

James was a street child who used to hustle in the shopping centre in the area I grew up. He managed to earn enough from washing cars to eventually start a second hand clothes business in a small kiosk on the roadside near Karen Roundabout.

Along with many other kiosks these were torn down by the city council and the merchants lost all their stock. I will be the first to admit that these kiosks were an eyesore and were on the road reserve etc.

however they earned a livelihood for the poeple that ran them.

(remembering that every self employed kenyan supports about 17 people)

It was also interesting to note that these kiosks were destroyed about the same time that a kenyan mega-chain supermarket that sells absolutely everything was built in the area.

No provision was made for the kiosk owners at the local market - they lost it all.

As is often the case - the rich were getting richer and the poor - poorer.

James suffers from severe asthma and needs regular medication he cannot now afford. He has managed to find another location and hopes to start his business next week once he has secured a business licence.

FUTURE PLANS:
We still hope to get the other 3 businesses proposed by the men's group up and running soon. The men's group are also calling themselves Bridge of Hope (its very kenyan to have more than one name)

in honour of the link between themselves and all of you who are supporting them.

The women's group are committed to helping their other members get back on their feet once their own businesses are running reasonably. They have invited me to visit them once a week and are also happy for any of you to visit them.

The youth group that supports Mama Tunza's children's home are hoping to find premises. They want to start music/ drama/ art groups that engage youth and keep them busy, & promote positive messages about how different tribes can work together.

We have agreed to have a review in April to see how things are going on the ground and find out what everybody is up to. Erick continues to enjoy his new job and looks forward to starting driving lessons when he gets his first salary.

I feel that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.