Saturday 5 March 2011

Comic Relief: Kibera slum (Nairobi, Kenya)

Some of you may have seen my blog post here about social responsibility - explaining what lies behind my commitment to give 10% of my net profits to two specific church communities working in the Pumwani and Kibera slums in Nairobi in Kenya with residents giving them skills & hope for the future.


I was at a bit of a loose end this lunchtime, and I found this one hour programme on BBC iPlayer (I think it's geo-restricted to UK only) called Famous Rich & In the Slums (part 1) where Lenny Henry, Angela Rippon, Samantha Womack, and Reggie Yates spend a week living in Kibera to highlight the need for help and the work Comic Relief are doing there.


[updated 17 March 2010 - Watch clips here:
http://www.rednoseday.com/whats-on/tv-listings/famous-rich-and-in-the-slums  or search YouTube with 'Famous Rich & in the slums' to see both episodes.

When I was in Nairobi for the three week trip in 2006 we stayed in a very nice guesthouse and were ferried into the two Community Centres (the Pumwani one is at the edge of the 5 villages making up the slum, in an area that has tarmaced roads, concrete storm drains and functioning shower/toilet blocks.  The Kibera centre was deeper into the slum so did require walking down an earthen 'pathway' into the slum itself).  We ate food prepared for us by the Communities and were escorted at all times by Centre workers - venturing into the slums only during 'working hours'.  I know the four 'celebrities' were shadowed by cameras and so not actually by themselves (most of the time) but I know I couldn't do what they did in those 4 days - I found it hard enough just being in the sewing schools and other education centres relatively shielded from the realities of everyday life for the people I met.


Anyway, have a look at the BBC programme or the Comic Relief website, they're well worth it.  (Can I suggest not watching the first third of the BBC programme if you're eating...)

Extra update 17 March - Various vendors on the Etsy website have items for sale whose profits go to Comic Relief here.  Also, if you search under Japan disaster, various sellers are donating the profits from items for sale to the Japanese people

4 comments:

Dotty said...

I was stunned to see how those people have to live and I wonder how they can keep smiling when there seems no way out. Makes you realise how trivial alot of what we moan about really is!

Isobel Morrell said...

Voice from the past contacting you - this time, not on a tax matter! Interested to learn of your involvement here, Lois! As a family, have connections with the country, and still do! Good luck and I'll be keeping a watchful eye open to see how it's going.

Meanwhile, can I bother you again? Have been brushing up my internet "skills" by blogging since I stopped chatting on this team, and now write fairly regularly about how I make, mend and otherwise create the toys I try to see at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com. The blog is www.ColdhamCuddliescalling.blogspot.com and I'd love you to call by and perhaps comment, follow and otherwise get involved! Hope you're keeping well. Will be following you this way, too, myself by the way. Don't like one-sided relationships! Cheers. Isobel

KTDP said...

Visit the KTDP on kiberatransformation.blogspot.com
or www.ktdp.org.uk

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