Day 2 Feb 2 in Nairobi Slums

Today was spent in the Mathare Slum. The slum itself is about a half mile wide by three miles where 800,000 live. It’s broken up into ten villages however there is no way to know where one village ends and another begins. We spent the afternoon in the village of Pangani. It’s hard to describe but living conditions in Mathare. Clearly this is the worst living conditions I have ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. All the more reason to come here.

 

What I read this morning in Isaiah 61:1 was so appropriate.  “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, and announce freedom to all captives”.

We spent some time at a school called Mission of Hope where 500 kids go each day. There several Mission of Hope schools in the slum that teaches 3400 kids each day. That only leaves about 125,000 who do not go to school and live off whatever the slum has to offer them. These kids are not orphans. They come each morning and go home each day.  Child sex trafficking is  big here. We will check that out before we leave. 

It reminds me of the guys who was walking on the beach where thousands and thousands of starfish were stranded by the receding tide. He came across a young boy who was picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean. The man asked the boy why was he even bothering and that he was not making any difference at all. The boy looked at the man and said, “I’ll make a difference for this one”, as he threw the starfish back into the ocean.

 Micro financing is very big here. The way is works is a group of business owners form an association of about ten. Each one of these business owner had to go through the same process. The bank is usually a Christian organization, in this case CHE is the bank. When a new person wants a business loan he or she must go in front of the business owner team to apply. The team must be willing to guarantee the loan. Then CHE assigns a loan officer and collector (same person) and the loan is made. Interest is usually 10%. The amount of the loan varies but some are around $15.00 to about $100.00. The business owner starts their business. Examples include selling soap door to door, bread business, etc.

  

STILLS USED TO MAKE ALCOHOL

 

 

There are over 500 loans outstanding with a 2% default rate. Perhaps American banks show come to Kenya and take some lesson.