The huge Kibera slum suburb of Nairobi–as well as the Methare-North slum–was the scene of violent riots and killings that erupted after the flawed presidential election in December 2007. These photos were taken during a pause in the violence. I visited the area accompanied by a friend, Thomas Gale, a university professor in Nairobi
who also does volunteer teaching (of French) in several slum-area primary schools.
He is seen here in photos #5 and 12.

 

Painted ads on buildings
Filling water jugs at a common faucet.
Local university professor Tom Gale (L) is also a volunteer
Women wait to fill their water jugs next to an
Kids learn early to be resilient and find play time
A young father holds his baby. Family planning is difficult
Laundry, shanties and dirt.
A woman prepares what meager food she has for lunch
What appears as masonry walls are really sticks and mud
Life must go on even amid the poverty, violence and
Life goes on as best it can during troubled times;
A few food stalls opened a couple of days after
Women trying to clean up and wash clothes during a
Sorting limes for sale at a fruit stand.
Kibera has mostly unpaved roads and people live in tin
A Muslim school in the slum
Child vendor selling fried bread during a lull in the
Kids were playful and posed for photos.
Restless and unemployed men wandered and wondered what would happen
People were restless during a lull in the rioting; some
Chief Magistrate's Kibera
Meager offerings amid the ruins of the burned market
Burned out truck and disarray from riots
Burned out vehicles from riots a dew days before
Meager health resources
People tying to cope amid dangerous times
Burned out shops and houses. No mercy was shown by
Waiting and walking to collect donated food supplies.
Kibera residents walking to food distribution centers after the riots
Riots victims gathering for food aid
Some taxi vans were unfortunately caught in the middle of
Daily chores must go on. Water is hand carried from
Trash along a charred road. Collectors were afraid to enter
Burned debris along the main road.
Charred and littered streets after the first wave of rioting
No place to go but here amid the ruins.
Picking up the pieces of their lives. Some residents moved away
A child plays on a charred truck. Violence is a
Battered and burned vehicles littered the streets. There was no
Charred streets, homeless impoverished people, and children shut out of
Burned out vehicles.
Two women huddled in their damaged homes.
Mounds of trash piled up as collectors feared for their
The large church in the background was looted and burned
The slum shacks seem to spread out for miles.
Virtually no one in Kibera can afford a car, so
A view across tin-roofed slum
A touch of technology even here in the slums. Cell
A local university professor, Tom Gale from USA, is also
During the rioting garbage was not collected.
Kibera is the second largest slum in Africa, the largest
Colorful dress helps to counteract the

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