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The impact of the World Social Forum (WSF) on the people of Kibera: "People think it is quite a failure"
radio interview with Pastor Nick Macharia, PEPKAG and Tenderfeet (Audio interview and transcript)
(by Indymedia Kenya]
Indymedia Kenya - Ok so im on the phone here with pastor Nick Macharia who
is speaking from Kibera, in Nairobi, in Kenya. The world social forum
is on at the moment. Macharia can you tell us about the impact of the
World Social Forum in Kibera, what people think about it, are they
being listened to, are they getting a chance to tell their story to the
world and can things be improved also?
M - People think it is
quite a failure, the impact has not been felt in the slums because one,
the participation of the people in the slum has not been realised.
Because apart from the organisers, they are buying some tee-shirts and
taking them to the slum "Kibera for peace" and marching, there isnt
much. Because people on the ground dont know even what the world social
forum is for and the ideals, and again the occasion the
_____________________ its very far away from the slum. If people from
the slum have to participate they have to pay more than a hundred
shillings 2 and 4, and they are not able to raise that money because
they live below the povery line, less than dollar a day, so if you tell
these people to give 2 or 3 dolars to attend that meeting, then it does
not bring anything to them. Initially we thought that the best way was
to take ask at a meeting where the problem is. we dont see the need of
people going outside kibera to speak about the problems of Kibera and
there is space and everything is there in Kibera. I think if are to
make impact the organisers will see the importance of going to the
people who really need these services and cutting off those people who
only want to make cash out of the situation.
Indymedia Kenya - And is there talk of some of the independant media people coming out to Kibera?
M - Independant media - Yeah i recieved a telephone call from Daniela
and she they told me about the kind of people who will be coming to
Kibera to _________________ among the peole there and to see for
themselves what we are doing there. And Im glad because
_____________________________ in the afternoon, they told me we will
meet here in town and go there and they are waiting to do some
interviews and perhaps to give our overview over the whole thing.
Indymedia Kenya - Aswell as the situation, what message can come from
Kibera or is coming from kibera? Has Kibera something to tell the
world, has it something to offer the world in terms of people working
together or solidarity, or just trying to deal with situations as best
you can?
m - I think the message is very clear that these
people feel abused. Now that we are living in times when the
information is accessible to them and now they know what they need and
they can be able to ___________ more clear because they are more
informed than they used to be. I think the message is if people are
sincere to come and help the Kibera people they should come directly to
them and give land assistance directly. But when that assistance goes
through other stages sometimes they feel people are using them to make
______________ as they want.
Indymedia Kenya - In terms of the housing situation, are things getting better or worse for the people in Kibera?
m - I think it is not right to even use the word house because houses
are not there in the slum. You should call them ghettos or something
because as far as i now from the stations of the courts? this a crown
land, nobody can own a house there. They are not houses they are only
some ineffectual things and these are not owned by the people who live
in them,
they are owned by people who are wealthy. Because this
is the only place which is near the town, many people move from rural
areas, they want to come and look for greener pastures in the town,
they will choose to come to Kibera where they can walk to the town to
look for greener pasture and because of this you find that the issue of
housing is not there becuase you can find one room with so many people
living in the same room. Its quite pathethic because even toilets and
other things like bathrooms and what have you, are not there.
Indymedia Kenya - Ok, well we will do as best we can to try to get that
message from Kibera out to the world and hopefully people will listen
and find out more about Kibera and from that offer support more support
or assistance or whatever in the future. So Macharia, thank you for
your time and tell the people of Kibera that we are thinking about them
and waiting to hear from them.
m - Yeah, thankyou very much.
(Apologies for poor sound quality, interview done with audio recorder held to earpiece of phone in call shop in Barcelona.)
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