A clip from Good Fortune showing a Soweto Forum meeting on the slum upgrading project.
Soweto Forum can be seen in the award winning documentary Good Fortune. Good Fortune explores how massive, international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit. Through intimate portraits of two Kenyans battling to save their homes from large-scale development organizations, the film presents a unique opportunity to experience foreign aid through the eyes of the people it is intended to benefit.
On the outskirts of Nairobi, Silva’s home and business in Africa’s largest squatter community (Kibera) are being demolished as part of a United Nations slum-upgrading project (KENSUP). In the rural countryside, Jackson’s farm is being flooded by an American investor who hopes to alleviate poverty by creating a multi-million dollar rice farm (Dominion Farms).
Interweaving meditative portraits of its characters, Good Fortune examines the real-world impact of international aid. With a broad scope and intimate style, the film portrays gripping stories of human perseverance and suggests that the answers for Africa lie in the resilience of its people (movie synopsis taken from http://www.goodfortunefilm.com/).
During the film Silva (one of the two main characters) visits Soweto Forum, a community partner of Hakijamii, that fights for the rights of residents of Kibera.
If you have Netflix click here to watch Good Fortune instantly.
In its continued efforts to strengthen the capacity of community-based groups to effectively advocate for their housing rights and evoke response from Government institutions, Hakijamii supported Ngazi ya Chini in developing a cogent counter proposal to the Kenya Railways Relocation Plan. The Relocation process is partially being supported by the World Bank and must therefore strictly comply with the Bank’s own guidelines on involuntary resettlement. It should also be noted that with the new Constitution in Kenya, forced evictions are no longer permissible without following strict human rights procedures. The counter proposal is a clear demonstration of the ability of the people to be actively involved in decision-making and will go a long way in bolstering the negotiating position of the affected persons.
WASH United is a global campaign that uses the sport of football (soccer) to promote safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for all. Its launch corresponded with the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to take advantage of World Cup fever. WASH United’s campaign targets a wide range of groups from schools, youth football clubs and local communities to politicians, governments, civil society organizations and the media. By uniting all stakeholders, WASH United hopes to promote water and sanitation as a basic human right.
Beverly of Hakijamii strikes a pose with four WASH participants
In Kenya, universal access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is still far from being achieved. According to official figures, 76% of residents in Nairobi’s informal settlements do not have access to toilet facilities at household level. Instead many use open spaces or flying toilets (human feces placed in a plastic bag which is then thrown outside). Hand washing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by 35-50%, but only 5% of Kenyans use it consistently. Diarrhea-related diseases kill more Kenyan children under the age of 5 than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.
Girls from Olympic Primary School, Kibera getting ready to play the Blue Hand Game
It is crucial for Kenya’s development to have a well educated and healthy workforce to improve the struggling economy. Yet it is estimated that 50% of all hospital visits in Kenya are due to preventable water, sanitation, and hygiene related illnesses. These illnesses prevent children from attending school and adults from going to work. The need for clean water, bathroom facilities and for all Kenyans to wash their hands before eating and after going to the toilet are essential in improving the country’s economic and social well being.
On July 3, 2010, WASH United held an event in Raila, Kibera to teach children the importance of using a toilet and washing their hands. The event had many different activities for children to participate in. First was the World Toilet Cup game. The object of the game was to kick a poo ball (soccer ball) into a toilet or latrine to win a small prize. Another activity was the Blue Hand game which illustrates how germs spread. Some of the children had blue chalk on their hands while others did not. Both the children with blue hands and the children without blue hands formed a circle and tossed a ball to one another. After the game the children that originally didn’t have blue hands noticed that their hand were blue. The last game was the charcoal game where children washed charcoal off of their hands to learn how to properly wash their hands so that they were germ free. After they were done washing they wiped their hand on white paper towels to see if they had got their hands completely clean.
Brenda, a student at Olympic Primary School in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, speaks about what she learned at a WASH United event on July 3, 2010.
With the help of groups like Hakijamii WASH United hopes that individuals, communities, and the government will increase their efforts to make safe water, sanitation and hygiene available to all. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental human need and therefore, a basic human right. With campaigns like WASH I am hopefull that someday soon everyone will have access to this basic human right.
In 2004, Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) sent out a notice of eviction to railway dwellers in Kibera and Mukuru people’s settlements. The communities reacted, bringing their objections to the evictions to court. The World Bank, upon hearing about the case, suspended funding to the KRC. In order for KRC to continue to receive funds they would need to follow the World Bank’s guidelines for resettling Project Affected Persons (PAPs). This action put a stop to evictions without relocation or compensation.
See the video below to learn more about Ngazi Ya Chini and the newest Relocation Action Plan:
To follow the guidelines KRC hired Pamoja Trust to act as human rights consultants. Pamoja Trust was responsible for creating a Relocation Action Plan (RAP), a report that seeks to ensure proper resettlement guidelines are enforced during the railroad expansion process. The consultants began by using community groups to count the number of residential houses, businesses, and institutions that would be affected by the project. They then spoke with the communities to determine what the railway dwellers considered fair compensation for their relocation. Using this information, Pamoja Trust developed the 2005 RAP.
After examining the RAP railway dwellers realized that parts of it did not reflect what they had told Pamoja Trust, spurring them to form Ngazi Ya Chini. With the help of Odindo Opiata (Then of Kituo Cha Sheria and now Director of Hakijamii), they wrote a counter proposal that was sent to the World Bank, highlighting problematic areas.
Homes and Businesses Along the Railway
Along with the counter proposal, other events caused delays in the RAP’s implementation. In 2006, the railway operation formerly run by KRC was contracted out to Rift Valley Railways (RVR), a private company. Then in 2007 the post election violence, centered mainly in the slums, uprooted parts of the railway. Most notable was a train derailment that caused 10 fatalities beyond the 5.2 meter safety zone initially proposed in the 2005 RAP.
In 2010, RVR contracted Pamoja Trust to produce another RAP. This time a 30 meter safety zone was proposed on both sides of the track. They told members of Ngazi Ya Chini that the reason for the larger safety zone was to improve operational speed, provide area to expand from one to three railway lines, and to protect railway dwellers from another derailment. According to the new enumerations done by Pamoja Trust, there are 5071 homes, 3836 businesses, and 262 institutions (including churches, medical clinics, and 49 informal schools) within this 60 meter zone.
Pamoja Trust submitted a draft of the new RAP on May 15, 2010. In it they propose that, in Kibera, parameter walls be built 23 to 25 meters from the center line of the track. With the remaining 5 to 7 meters (of the 30 meter total) they plan to create a paved 3 meter wide footpath that runs parallel to the perimeter walls and a 3-story building to house the displaced residents of Kibera and their businesses. Schools, churches, and clinics will not be relocated. The RAP gives the following options for students attending schools that will be demolished:
“Some of the public schools may be able to accommodate additional pupils within some of the classes… within the public schools additional [classrooms] can be constructed to accommodate more pupils…However, both solutions will call for additional teaching staff…and that may take some time to actualize.”
Students of an informal school within the proposed saftey zone
In Mukuru, part of the railway reserve is shared by Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya Power and Lighting Company so it is not possible to build a three-story structure next to the perimeter walls as is proposed in Kibera. Instead, the RAP suggests purchasing land somewhere in Nairobi and providing the necessary infrastructure (water, storm drains, and roads) so that the displaced people can build their own housing units. The security of tenure granted to the displaced would be 45 years.
On the 16th through the 18th of June, 2010, Ngazi Ya Chini held meetings with the PAPs of Kibera and Mukuru. They analyzed the new RAP and discussed problematic areas, such as mistakes in the enumerations and too little area for resettlement. The residents of Kibera agreed that it was impossible to fit all of the people, businesses, and a 3-meter wide path into the 5 to 7 meter wide areas the proposal allotted for. Mukuru residents were concerned that there was not a specific relocation site written in the RAP and that they would only be given 45 years of tenure over this unknown site. One member stated, “Why would I build a house if it’s only secure for 45 years?”
Mr. Joseph Mwaniki of Kianda Segment of Ngazi Ya Chini noting mistakes in the enumerations
With help from Hakijamii, Ngazi Ya Chini will submit a counter proposal using input from these community meetings to ensure that the concerns of the PAPs will be heard.
After submitting the counter proposal Ngazi Ya Chini can only hope that the World Bank, RVR, and Pamoja Trust will modify the RAP to address the needs of those people most directly affected.
Click here to see the May 15, 2010 draft of the Relocation Action Plan
Strengthen grassroots people's capacity to effectively participate in advocating for the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights.
