Children of the slums

Hi Guys

Today I visited the slums to see how most of the locals live. Boy how hard this was to see. First we went to a house which had 6 rooms, each room was no bigger than a master bedroom in a house. In each of these rooms lived a family of 4 or more. They had 2 mattresses and not much else.



In this one house (the size of one of our homes) housed more than 28 people. They shared a toilet block, which I did not look inside, but after my toilet nightmares in the villages I can only imagine what this was like!

 

 They had no kitchen so all the families used the hallway to cook in.

 

 

I spoke with some of the families and also to the land lady (via a translator - as my Swahili is getting better but not that good). I asked how much it would cost to live in this house. The land lady told me that it would cost the equivalent of $200 for rent for the year. I was shocked - my sunnies I had on my head were worth more than that! I felt terrible, what a different world we live in. Here I was in the position to pay for one families rent my just handing over my sunnies. So many things went through my head at that moment - I will never forget that moment in my life!

 

I would have loved to go to the cash point and take out enough money to pay the rent for the entire house for the whole year. However, I am well aware that this is a cruel world and as much as my giving them money would have been nice. I couldn't be sure that it would actually go towards the rent, things are very corrupt here. The land lady had a very nice little set up and there were some interesting men watching our every move! So on we went.

 

We moved on to look at many house near a very dirty river, there were kids playing near the river. They were all so pleased to see us. The families here told us that each year the river (which also was sewage) flooded and ended up in their huts (houses). The water reached incredible heights and bought with it disease and much more. The children we met were amazing, they have so little and lived in terrible conditions yet they were the happiest kids I have seen. All smiles, playful and laughing all the time. I gave out heaps of the packs I had put together and they loved them. Thank you all so much for all your donations, you really did make these children's days!

 

 

I will never forgot these slums and the children and their families who lived in them. We are all truly blessed to live where we do and we must all never forget it.

 



Feeling very grateful right now xxx