In the time since my last post I began an internship at Kibera Girls Soccer Academy or KGSA in Nairobi. This post is about Kibera, the history of the school, and what I have learned in the six weeks I have spent working there.
First of all, what is Kibera?
In encyclopedia terms, Kibera is Africa's largest slum and the second biggest slum in the world. It covers one square mile in the southwestern corner of Kenya's capitol, where I live. Kibera boarders one of the most affluent neighborhoods (in that strange city-irony) in Nairobi, Karen, known for its big houses, ex-pats, and well-to-do schools.
The average family in Kibera lives in a one room 12ft by 12ft foot shack with mud walls, a tin roof, and a dirt or concrete floor. A small percentage of families have electricity, but it is not always reliable. The majority of families do not have running water. Toilets, usually just a hole in the ground, are few and far between and very often unsanitary. Residents pay to collect water from one of two pipelines that run through the slum for daily use.
Due to many factors, Kibera has high rates of alcoholism, unwanted pregnancy, domestic abuse, and drug use.
But...What is Kibera to me?
If you have never been to a slum before, it is at first overwhelming. You think life works one way and--despite the pictures you have looked at online, despite the articles you have read--that one way is all you know.
You are struck first by the close proximity of so much life: so many shops and houses, so many children, so many people laboring in the sun. You taste a hundred different smells at once: sweat, piled up garbage, mud, something sweet cooking. Once you step off of the road and you walk into the heart of Kibera, you stumble walking, stepping, sometimes jumping, over muddy puddles filled with garbage.
The slum is immense. When you stand on the train tracks that connect Kenya to the Ugandan railway running through Kibera's center, it is a living, breathing, thing sprawled out before you.
And little by little, Kibera finds its way into your being.
And little by little, Kibera finds its way into your being.
Despite all of the negative stigma surrounding the slum and the reality, Kibera is a place like any other. It is the place nearly one million--a third of the city's population--people call home.
Struggle does not mean that life does not continue. Poverty does not necessarily mean that there is no pleasure. Children play in the streets, when they see me a dozen voices chant "How are you?" in unison. Women get their hair done, they dress up. There is music, radios blasting from matatus and playing in shops.
When all your life Sarah McLachlan ballads and images of starving African children in the worst conditions possible have been pushed at you to donate, to give, to buy Toms shoes-- it is no wonder that we easily forget that people live in places like Kibera.
School and the Girl Child
Although I have already highlighted some of the difficulties of life in Kibera, young women living in the slum are at a disadvantage not only for their poverty, but also because of their gender. There are expectations of a girl child: she is often expected to work at home, to tend to her siblings, and to prepare for life as a wife and mother herself. Unwanted pregnancy rates amongst teenagers living in the slum are high. Physical and mental abuse of women is common.
Additionally, although Secondary Education in Kenya was made free in 2008, many struggle to pay for the cost of the required school uniform or to provide lunch every day for their child. Many families who have the ability to send one child to school, favor the male child instead of the girl, who is left at home. Many girls even miss school because they simply don't have the necessary sanitary napkins to wear during their periods or the money to buy them.
School is not always the priority.
Kibera Girls Soccer Academy
I first heard of KGSA last semester when one of my Kiswahili classmates showed us a few Youtube clips from the school, where he had worked the year before. I could never have imagined, watching those videos, that I would be there in a few short months. The world works in mysterious ways.
I first heard of KGSA last semester when one of my Kiswahili classmates showed us a few Youtube clips from the school, where he had worked the year before. I could never have imagined, watching those videos, that I would be there in a few short months. The world works in mysterious ways.
Kibera Girls Soccer Academy is located in the middle of Kibera. The founder, Abdul Kassim, saw the gender inequality and the situation girls faced growing up in the slum, and decided to do something about it. He began a small all girls soccer team as a way to provide support and foster positivity amongst young women. But, when several team members dropped out due to unintended pregnancy, he began to realize that the solution was something more--education.
The rest, as they say, is history. Since it began, KGSA has really developed. Today around 130 girls attend the school. Many volunteers from Kibera have been taken on as part of the full-time teaching staff, committed to the empowerment of young women. the school itself has expanded too. Where it was once a single room classroom, there are now 3 classrooms, a library, and a science lab.
In addition to academics, soccer remains an integral part of the learning experience for many of the girls. The soccer team teaches them about teamwork, and accepting wins and defeats with poise and positivity. Clubs, such as Journalism Club, are equally important as they cultivate individual interests.
My experience
Most days I arrive at work around 10AM, usually in time for chai and mandazi. Note: If you have read my other blog posts, I have probably stressed the importance of the chai ritual here (and how addicted to it I have become), but let me just say again chai is really important, guys. Also, mandazi are delicious East African doughnuts. It's a good way to start the day.
My duties vary from day to day, but I love the irregularity.
Some days I teach the Form 1 and Form 2 students, respectively, beginning French lessons. On my second day at KGSA, before I began teaching, I was led into the classroom by the girls themselves. They wanted to learn French, they said. And so it began. Teaching French to 30-something girls at a time provided in a cramped classroom with no materials but the chalk I have in hand, provides a new kind of challenge to me. But when the girls themselves are so passionate about learning the language (and making fun of me), half of the challenge is over.
Most days I arrive at work around 10AM, usually in time for chai and mandazi. Note: If you have read my other blog posts, I have probably stressed the importance of the chai ritual here (and how addicted to it I have become), but let me just say again chai is really important, guys. Also, mandazi are delicious East African doughnuts. It's a good way to start the day.
My duties vary from day to day, but I love the irregularity.
Some days I teach the Form 1 and Form 2 students, respectively, beginning French lessons. On my second day at KGSA, before I began teaching, I was led into the classroom by the girls themselves. They wanted to learn French, they said. And so it began. Teaching French to 30-something girls at a time provided in a cramped classroom with no materials but the chalk I have in hand, provides a new kind of challenge to me. But when the girls themselves are so passionate about learning the language (and making fun of me), half of the challenge is over.
Other days, I observe tests, or assist in marking papers. Since the school term officially ended on November 22nd, I have been helping out with the Journalism Club, assist in editing videos and teaching how to edit using Final Cut Pro software.
Everyday I consider myself lucky that life presented me with such an experience. I have gotten so much out of my time in Kibera, KGSA, and the amazing staff and girls I work with. I can only hope that I have been able to give them a small portion of what they have given me.
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| Waiting for of the term awards ceremony to begin. |
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| KGSA girls and me :) |
Please take the time to find out a little bit more about what I do and the agency I work for:
Click here to find more about the school and the KGSA foundation.
Also, here is an excellent TEDtalk about KGSA.
--Alissa
