Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
An Observation from Some Foreigners from America on the Slum of Korogocho
Nairobi, Kenya
“I’m Not Human”
By Anita Graham, Community Voices Heard, New York City
What’s the matter American foreigner? You act like you’ve never seen a group of people forced to live in an uncivilized manner.
Stop staring at me! Are you confused? What are you thinking? Why do you want to take my pictures?
Say what? You are visiting Nairobi for the World Social Forum and your heart hurts. Why?
I’m not human! I don’t have blood flowing through my veins! I don’t put on my raggy pants one leg at a time! I don’t have eyes! So, stop staring at me! Close your mouth!
Hey foreigner, don’t step on that pile of garbage! Don’t you know my babies and children play there! They are just like baby animals! Don’t you know that?
What did you say? Yes, that is a group of three-year-old children playing in garbage, urine, and feces in the gutter water!
You say they have three-year-old children that sleep in beds in America? What, don’t tell me they also have three year old children in Nairobi that have beds too! Well, what about these three year old girls in Korogocho that sleep in garbage and smell feces and urine all day and night?
What American? When did this happen to us? Why don’t these little girls have a toilet to use? These little girls aren’t human! Don’t you know that? Toilets are for civilized people! I’m not human! My children aren’t human! They play in feces, urine, garbage, and dirt! They eat here when we get food and sleep here too!
Did you say what’s that smell? Oh that’s not any goats. That’s my community.
Why don’t I mop? American when it rains my shack (home) which is 10 x 10 for at least 7 people gets mopped automatically, mop, that must be a word be a word for civilized people! Do you see a floor? My floors are dirt! What kind of question is that?
What did you say any American? How did this happen to us? Well American, I will tell you…is it my fault the big monster came in and…
Agnes, Member/Leader, Community Voices Heard, N.Y.C.
“I thought you were coming to teach us. I didn’t know you came to steal from us by taking our land, homes, and environment. I actually thought you were helping. So here I stand with what you left me with. I sit and sleep around feces, that’s what you gave me.”
Stephen, Board Member, Community Voices Heard, N.Y.C.
“I think the government targeted people who couldn’t contribute anything to the country. They had no use for the people of the slums. They don’t want to waste resources on them.”
Shirlene, Organizer, New York City Housing Action Network (NYCHAN)
“The big monster came in and did nothing and left nothing. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. We don’t have a constitution to support us. The people of Nairobi! Suffering is our luxury, in comparison to those who are spoiled in richer countries, such as the U.S.A.”
Agnes, Member/Leader, Community Voices Heard, N.Y.C.
“In the secular society in order to receive any “rights” the power administering the rights first has to see the people as deserving or worthy of the right.”
Who on God’s green earth has the right to withhold the basic civilized commodities of sanitation (a toilet), food (nourishment), shelter, a home, health care accessibility?
In my personal opinion, the government is creating the very poverty stricken society they proclaim they are trying to prevent!
In the world wide diaspora of poor prevention of communicable diseases poor protection, and poor sanitary precautions, and little or no access to health care, little or no access or pathway to education and employment. How on God’s green earth can the government stabilize and enhance the economy when the poverty diaspora is growing daily worldwide because they refuse to provide basics for poor people?
Until the powers to be begin to offer pathways and accessibility to the basic protections or shelter, sanitation, prevention and education, all the legislations in the world won’t even protect them “the government” from the consequences of communicable diseases and poverty!
First, I am human, just like you! If you don’t provide for me than I will create an uprising of my people and “take” from you! The government and corporations simply cannot have All the money. No justice No peace! Poverty and wealth. They must share!
Nameless, Nairobi Politician (by choice)
When the BIG companies come to Nairobi, they should tell the truth. They use trickery and before they get here they say one and once they get here we discover they tricked us.
by Anita Graham, Community Voices Heard
Nairobi, Kenya
“I’m Not Human”
By Anita Graham, Community Voices Heard, New York City
What’s the matter American foreigner? You act like you’ve never seen a group of people forced to live in an uncivilized manner.
Stop staring at me! Are you confused? What are you thinking? Why do you want to take my pictures?
Say what? You are visiting Nairobi for the World Social Forum and your heart hurts. Why?
I’m not human! I don’t have blood flowing through my veins! I don’t put on my raggy pants one leg at a time! I don’t have eyes! So, stop staring at me! Close your mouth!
Hey foreigner, don’t step on that pile of garbage! Don’t you know my babies and children play there! They are just like baby animals! Don’t you know that?
What did you say? Yes, that is a group of three-year-old children playing in garbage, urine, and feces in the gutter water!
You say they have three-year-old children that sleep in beds in America? What, don’t tell me they also have three year old children in Nairobi that have beds too! Well, what about these three year old girls in Korogocho that sleep in garbage and smell feces and urine all day and night?
What American? When did this happen to us? Why don’t these little girls have a toilet to use? These little girls aren’t human! Don’t you know that? Toilets are for civilized people! I’m not human! My children aren’t human! They play in feces, urine, garbage, and dirt! They eat here when we get food and sleep here too!
Did you say what’s that smell? Oh that’s not any goats. That’s my community.
Why don’t I mop? American when it rains my shack (home) which is 10 x 10 for at least 7 people gets mopped automatically, mop, that must be a word be a word for civilized people! Do you see a floor? My floors are dirt! What kind of question is that?
What did you say any American? How did this happen to us? Well American, I will tell you…is it my fault the big monster came in and…
Agnes, Member/Leader, Community Voices Heard, N.Y.C.
“I thought you were coming to teach us. I didn’t know you came to steal from us by taking our land, homes, and environment. I actually thought you were helping. So here I stand with what you left me with. I sit and sleep around feces, that’s what you gave me.”
Stephen, Board Member, Community Voices Heard, N.Y.C.
“I think the government targeted people who couldn’t contribute anything to the country. They had no use for the people of the slums. They don’t want to waste resources on them.”
Shirlene, Organizer, New York City Housing Action Network (NYCHAN)
“The big monster came in and did nothing and left nothing. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. We don’t have a constitution to support us. The people of Nairobi! Suffering is our luxury, in comparison to those who are spoiled in richer countries, such as the U.S.A.”
Agnes, Member/Leader, Community Voices Heard, N.Y.C.
“In the secular society in order to receive any “rights” the power administering the rights first has to see the people as deserving or worthy of the right.”
Who on God’s green earth has the right to withhold the basic civilized commodities of sanitation (a toilet), food (nourishment), shelter, a home, health care accessibility?
In my personal opinion, the government is creating the very poverty stricken society they proclaim they are trying to prevent!
In the world wide diaspora of poor prevention of communicable diseases poor protection, and poor sanitary precautions, and little or no access to health care, little or no access or pathway to education and employment. How on God’s green earth can the government stabilize and enhance the economy when the poverty diaspora is growing daily worldwide because they refuse to provide basics for poor people?
Until the powers to be begin to offer pathways and accessibility to the basic protections or shelter, sanitation, prevention and education, all the legislations in the world won’t even protect them “the government” from the consequences of communicable diseases and poverty!
First, I am human, just like you! If you don’t provide for me than I will create an uprising of my people and “take” from you! The government and corporations simply cannot have All the money. No justice No peace! Poverty and wealth. They must share!
Nameless, Nairobi Politician (by choice)
When the BIG companies come to Nairobi, they should tell the truth. They use trickery and before they get here they say one and once they get here we discover they tricked us.
by Anita Graham, Community Voices Heard
Friday, January 19, 2007
Informal Schools in Korogocho
One of the priorities of the current Kenyan government is to ensure that all children have the right to an education. Yet, in our visit to the Korogocho slums today, it was clear this was not the case. In practice, slums are excluded from receiving most government social services, including access to education.
In Korogocho, organizing youth was a major theme for starting the informal schools. Two networks we visited, the Altawoon and the Great Hope project, use volunteers as teachers. Since government schools are limited, not all children have the ability to go to schools. The unique difference in the two networks were that they were created by youth to empower the youth of the Korogocho.
Altawoon, which means unity, began in 1992 as a study group. Today, the network has four projects two of which are education and a clinic. The education aspect had a small school with 200 students, a library for the community, and a adult literacy program. A lot of municpal programs falls on the local community's shoulders due to the fact that the government hasn't provided.
The Great Hope Project, is a school with students people leaving with HIV/ AIDS. Some of the children are from single parents or orphans, that families can't afford to keep the children. The teachers are untrained volunteers from the area, who want recogition and training from the government.
- by Teraya
In Korogocho, organizing youth was a major theme for starting the informal schools. Two networks we visited, the Altawoon and the Great Hope project, use volunteers as teachers. Since government schools are limited, not all children have the ability to go to schools. The unique difference in the two networks were that they were created by youth to empower the youth of the Korogocho.
Altawoon, which means unity, began in 1992 as a study group. Today, the network has four projects two of which are education and a clinic. The education aspect had a small school with 200 students, a library for the community, and a adult literacy program. A lot of municpal programs falls on the local community's shoulders due to the fact that the government hasn't provided.
The Great Hope Project, is a school with students people leaving with HIV/ AIDS. Some of the children are from single parents or orphans, that families can't afford to keep the children. The teachers are untrained volunteers from the area, who want recogition and training from the government.
- by Teraya
Waste is not waste until wasted
We went to Korogocho, which at 200,000 has the largest slum population in Nairobi. One of the biggest problems in the community is around the environment and garbage. The slums are right next to a landfill where all the garbage in Nairobi is dumped. There is a lot of illegal dumping, and when the toxins from the garbage combusts, all the gas floats into the community endangering the lives of its residents.
The community's response to this problem (and many others) has been to organize young people. In this case, young people go around to collect garbage from individual homes to bring to the dumpsite, which alleviates illegal dumping, provides clean water for showers, and encourages community-wide recycling, among other benefits.
It was a humbling experience, thinking about how much garbage I threw out just before packing for this trip. The culture of consumption in the US has spread globally and the impact of things we take for granted becomes someone else's problem in their backyard. The idea that waste is not waste until wasted is one that I want to think about especially in terms of my own practice and consciousness.
On a personal level, being part of the GGJ delegation has been great. As I write, the communications team who put this blog together is reflecting on the day together. Having this time and space to talk, debate, and share different perspectives is just as much a part of the experience as being in Kenya and learning about the context of struggle in this country. I am thankful to have the privilege to be in this space.
by Helena/CAAAV
photo by Ansje Miller
GGJ Delegation—Day 1
As part of the orientation for GGJ delegates to Nairobi, the Five C's gave a performance that provided a glimpse of what to expect from our participation in this year's World Social Forum.
The group, composed of long-time Kenyan activists, performed in Swahili and English, using both traditional and popular music. In the picture here, the Five C's are singing a piece they titled, "Another World is Possible." The Five C's were invited to perform for the GGJ delegation by one of our local hosts, Njoki Njehu.
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by Carlos/Chicago JWJ
As part of the orientation for GGJ delegates to Nairobi, the Five C's gave a performance that provided a glimpse of what to expect from our participation in this year's World Social Forum.
The group, composed of long-time Kenyan activists, performed in Swahili and English, using both traditional and popular music. In the picture here, the Five C's are singing a piece they titled, "Another World is Possible." The Five C's were invited to perform for the GGJ delegation by one of our local hosts, Njoki Njehu.
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by Carlos/Chicago JWJ
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Welcome To World Social Forum- Kenya
This blog will address what the goals are for yourself and or GGJ. Please write about your pre -WSF outlooks or reactions and analysis to site visits / meetings.
GGJ Mission
GGJ Mission
Grassroots Global Justice is an alliance of U.S.-based grassroots groups who are organizing to build an agenda for power for working and poor people. We understand that there are important connections between the local issues we work on and the global context, and we see ourselves as part of an international movement for global justice.
We believe that movement building is grounded in the development of grassroots organizations and leadership development to achieve local, national, and global justice.
We believe in building relationships of solidarity between and among organizations in the United States and across the world. We have much to learn from and share with our international allies.
We believe that as a US based organizations, we must be committed to building a strong enough movement to prevent the US government and US corporations from suppressing popular movements and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.
We believe in creating opportunities for convergence that facilitate resource sharing, popular and political education, skill sharing and dialogue between organizations.
We believe in joint action, that acting together in the U.S. and globally we have more power to create social change.
We believe by working together — Another World is Possible, a world based on the principles of international solidarity, justice, peace, dignity, equality, human rights, sustainability and democracy!
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The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF/OC) were represented by Malcolm Suber, national organizing coordinator, and myself at the 7th WSF. PHRF/OC participated in WSF delegations with Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM).
The primary mission objectives:
1. Educate the international community about the present conditions and ongoing struggles of the Survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
2. Advance the cause of the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
3. Build broad international solidarity for the Gulf Coast Self-Determination and Reconstruction Movement
Click here to read the Executive Director's full report