Saturday, September 17, 2011

Life in the Slums


A volunteer in one of the slums




There are many roots to the issue of, with poverty and lack of education definitely being two of the main root issues. Our team in Kenya routinely visits the slum areas where many people live among the dirt and squalor, without access to any proper education at all.

Because these people are desperate for work of any kind (construction, begging, brothels), they have their families and children with them, and tuck away into these hidden shanty villages throughout the region. The parents do not have jobs and children not attending any type of schooling so they loter around the slum and often without parental supervision. This leaves them especially vulnerable to abuse, as they can neither attend school, nor go to the police or medical system or social services for assistance of any kind.

So with the backing of Christian organizations and partners, our team visits these well-hidden slum regions, to build trust and relationship, as well as to provide simple medical aid (bandaids, disinfectant for wounds) and also to provide some basic education, teaching the children to read and write. We also provide education about traffickers and how they lure people into the darkness that exists all around them. This also gives us a chance to monitor what is going on and help prevent trafficking to these highly-vulnerable communities. And of course, we spread the love of Jesus with hugs, smiles, prayers and just by being present with them, right where they live!

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