"I want to be a journalist", "I want to own my own business", "I want to empower young girls"; These are the voices of Kibera; voices of young girls who have grown up in one of the most dangerous slums in the world. I walk through the small alley ways of Kibera being careful to step lightly for my feet are sinking into what appears to be mud but the smell tells me otherwise. Tetanus filled tin blows in the wind as I walk by children you ask "How are you". This always seems to be a consistent one liner when in the slums of Africa. Men gather together in their mud homes as the women sit outside rinsing their laundry and ringing it out over the sewage. Their is an aliveness in Kibera and order that you can feel amongst what appears to be utter chaos, a community that feels united in spite of the turmoil of everyday life.
"Do not be the dead sea"; this is the line I will leave you with, a line that was spoken to me the day I was in Kibera, these words came out of the mouth of a 15 year old girl from Kibera, she told us that she refuses to be the dead sea, a stagnant body of water that breeds no life or purpose, she is here to be powerful, to be used, and to be fully alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment