Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, is located in the lower East side of Africa. Kibera is one of the saddest places in the world. Kibera has few or no schools. It suffers from a lot of poverty and lack of education. It’s in an area which is home to “approx. 2.5 million slum dwellers in about 200 settlements in Nairobi representing 60% of the Nairobi population, [but] occupying just 6% of the land. Kibera houses almost 1 Million of these people. Kibera is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest in the world” (“Facts”).
Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water. “It is crowded shoulder to shoulder and enjoys little formal infrastructure. Most of its houses are built from recycled materials and it has neither a central sewer system nor piped fresh water” (Uniben).
One of the most significant problems that Kiberians face is HIV/AIDS. “One fifth of the estimated 2.2 million Kenyans living with HIV live in Kibera where there are at least 50,000 children orphaned by AIDS” (Facts). HIV/AIDS has a daily impact on their lives. How many individuals are infected with HIV/AIDS? Many, but to know the impact of HIV/AIDS on Kiberians is difficult, because it depends on the angle you look at it.
The real impact of HIV/AIDS in Kibera is a question that many individuals should consider asking themselves every single day. The world should be educated about this daily problem that most Africans face to prepare themselves. It is extremely significant to view the problems we Africans face and to discuss them in order to find better results or solutions to them. Helping out in Africa, which many non-African citizens do, is a gift that can never be paid back.
In 2006, the United Nations AIDS program and the World Health Organization says, “more than forty million people [in the world] live with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, or with AIDS itself” (Timeline). 40 million? How scary is that? That’s four times the population of NYC expected to die in every 10 or less years. In 2009, it was estimated that 1500 people are living with HIV in Kenya ("UNICEF - Kenya - Statistics.").
“In Kibera there are no government clinics or hospitals. The providers are the charitable organizations: AMREF, MSF, churches plus some others” (“Facts”). This shows the lack of government involvement in Kibera. It shows that Kenyan government does not care about Kiberians living conditions. While Kenya has many other clinics and hospitals around the country, they ignore the place where much of the hospitals are needed. AMREF, African Medical and Research Foundation, is a non-profit organization that helps provide “good quality and affordable health care closer to those who need it most - improving access to health treatment and preventing poor health through community education” ("AMREF”). AMREF is among the most significant organizations that are helping to improve better heath in Kibera.
Since government doesn’t involve itself in Kibera, other non-government organizations are helping out, such as UNICEF. UNICEF is helping children become well educated and sufficient to become leaders in their communities. Some of the youth listen, and then take the initial step in helping themselves and other peers. Some youth don’t listen: they ignore the fact that HIV/AIDS occurs and that they should be careful. “Educating boys and young men about HIV and AIDS presents one of the biggest challenges in modern day Africa, home to 70 percent of the people in the world living with HIV” (“Facts). They are just in their teens and they are extremely very hard headed. Some do listen and most of them just ignore the fact that it exists. Trying to teach them is one of the hardest tasks most people have ever taken on in their life. During an interview, one young man said, ‘“The biggest problem is ignorance,’…‘If we can just gather them together like this to teach them about HIV and AIDS, then there is a chance they can be saved. Some listen to us. Others don’t — one day they might regret it,”’ (“UNICEF”). The challenge is that most of these individuals do not want to be helped. This is true for many people; you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped
Poor, uneducated, ignorant and helpless. That’s what they are; actually that’s what we are. In most cases, Africans only can solve some of the problems we have. In many communities in Africa, there are a lot of dedicated workers who are willing to do a lot for their community and country, but they just need the funds and someone to lead. For example in the book, “it happened on the way to war” when they had a war on trash, “hundreds of residents…gathered for [the] final cleanup” (P. 168), for a cleanup that “meant going knee deep into the slums of sewage, waste, and dead animal and hauling out tons of garbage in pushcarts that [was] so heavy [that] they required a half dozen men to solve them out of the slum” (162). None of them were paid. In comparison to American kids, a lot of them wouldn’t help out in a community cleanup without a reward. Also, we see “Tabitha had taken $26 and build a clinic” (P. 165), free for all Kiberians residents. What Africans need is the funds. They are able to help themselves if they are helped with what they can’t afford.
Many Africans in the U.S. avoid talking about their background, hiding their problems, so they are not in the highlight. If many Africans had worked together, we would be facing fewer problems. But instead, millions of Africans are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, living in poor conditions, suffering lack of education, and lack of help, while many governments are corrupt, doing nothing for the county and stealing all the money. Many politicians stay in power until they are either kicked out by a coup or western involvement.
In conclusion, the Africans AIDS problem is a daily thing that is affecting many individuals and family. A head of house that can’t afford food for its family doesn’t have money to pay for medical bills. Many organizations are trying to help out, which is extremely generous of them. If some wealthy Africans had tried to help out in their homeland, things would have been different. Everybody should be helping out. Because as it goes in one AIDS songs, “today is me, tomorrow is someone else” (Unknown).
"AMREF | What We Do." AMREF | African Medical and Research Foundation | Changing Lives by Improving Quality of Life. 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
Barcott, Rye. It Happened on the Way to War. ; A Marine's Path to Peace. Bloomsbury, 2011. Print.
Centre, Uniben Energy. "AllAfrica.com: Kenya: Dirty, Crime-Ridden Slum Is Where Mutunga Calls 'Home'" AllAfrica.com: Home. 1 July 2011. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.
"Facts and Information about Kibera - Kibera." Kibera UK - Working to End Poverty. 2007. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.
Kibera-Webster’s Timeline History 1920-2009. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. www.websters-online-dictionary.org
"UNICEF - Global Movement for Children." UNICEF - UNICEF Home. Jan. 2001. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.
"UNICEF - Kenya - Statistics." UNICEF - UNICEF Home. 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
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