KCC slum

Last Friday, Simon, Hilary and I took time off from our normal workday to join a group of volunteers working in a slum in the town of Naivasha, about 1 hour North West of here. The KCC slum was established in 1972 as a short term solution to a housing crisis for nearby flower farmers. There are now over 6000 people living in the small, overcrowded area. Many of the houses are just about the size of your bedroom at home (unless you live in NYC!) and house anywhere from 5-10 people. There is no electricity or running water. Most families wash, bathe, drink, and cook with the filthy water from the nearby river.

A group of volunteers were first introduced to the KCC slum just a month or so ago – they were so taken aback by the dire living conditions that they chose to begin a feeding program for the neediest children. A short half mile from the houses, the volunteers were generously given a small piece of land from a local farm owner and have successfully built 3 structures that can be used for classrooms, dining, and kitchen. Most of the work was completed by residents of KCC, as a means to make a small income. The only other work opportunities for these people is working in the nearby farms, which pays only 100shs ($1.30) per day. As the majority of the families cannot afford the school fees, or uniforms for education, most children have received no education. Therefore, the plan for the program is to one day have a functioning and sustainable school, feeding program, and to provide daily clean drinking water. For now, a successful day is one where 70 children can visit, play, and receive free food. The meal takes 2-3 hours to prepare since the water (dirty brown from the river) needs to first be boiled, and then food prepared. The ‘tasty’ concoction is called Uge. It is basically porridge – for those of you in the Dirty Dirty, it looks a bit like mashed grits that somehow turned brown…For most of the children, this one meal is all they will eat for the whole day.

We were invited to the slum, in part, to donate some of our money to the program, but also to visit and play with the children. As soon as we arrived, 70 children came running at us, excitedly shaking our hands and asking the only thing they knew how to say in English, “how arree yoouuuu!?!?” It ended up being quite the fun day. I, of course, was in heaven since I was handed a baby within minutes of arriving and did not put him down until his little brother came to fetch him at the end of the day. There were 5 babies (~ 6 months), all of whom came on the backs of their older sibling (~8 yrs old) because their mothers were either no longer alive or were working the fields. These babies…oh the babies…not one of them had a diaper on. Most did not even have underwear. By the end of the day, ‘my’ baby peed on me twice, and I just considered myself lucky that nothing else happened! It was so sad to see.


Simon spent most of his time with little Simon (about 1 yrs), – in part because he was a cutie and in part because he loved that they both had name tags on that said Simon! LOL. Near the end of the day, little Simon squirmed out of big Simon’s arms, and in tears, hobbled over to one of the buildings and sat down. When Simon went to check on him, he found that he had pooped in his over-sized shorts. No underwear. An hour later, he was retrieved by his big brother to be taken home, still in tears, smelling of poop. None of the kids were in good condition – in comparison to the children here at Maddison they looked malnourished, dirty and overall unhealthy. It was apparent that most of their bellies were filled with worms and fungal infections had caused dry flaky skin all over their faces.

At mealtime, the children are each handed an enormous cup (for their little size) which is then filled to the brim with Uge. Little Simon, had already mastered the use of a big boy cup. For my little one, only a couple months old, I fed him with the same cup. Each time I tipped it towards him, his whole face got lost behind it. But he finished it all. I have never seen a baby eat so much in one sitting. But I’ve also never seen a baby so hungry and malnourished.


All in all, the day was wonderful. It touched our hearts in a different way than the children do here. I can only hope that some of those children will find their way to a home like Maddison, where they will be taken care of, well fed, and educated.