Miia Määttä

I spent three months training for my
social studies in the spring of 2004 at Camp David Centre in Mombasa. The center had been opened two days before my arrival in the country. This training period was extremely rewarding for me as I got to be part of the initial phases of the centre's work and see how it got running. At the start of my training, as the work searched for its form, we visited slums and met people there. Since the work had started before the center had even been opened, the workers had already made contact with many of the people living in the slums. Gradually people learned of the center and they
came there on their own to ask for help.

Ultimately my job there ended up being part of the launch of a program to assist school children. This program is being carried out with the Finnish Hope for Tomorrow organization. We received people at the center. We also made house calls to the homes of children looking for sponsors to make going to school possible and we made contact with, for example, schools. We discussed what the best way would be to organize bringing the children and sponsors into contact with each other, to arrange correspondence between them etc. Elementary school tuition is free of charge now in Kenya, however most families can not afford to pay for necessities such as school uniforms. High school tuition is still so expensive that most kids do not have the possibility to further their education after elementary school. Getting an education is fundamental in stopping the cycle of poverty and improving the lives of the slums' children.

From a Finnish perspective the social culture of the slums is quite colorful. There are many different tribes and social classes in the country and therefore many languages and religions. In order to understand the relation of these things and their effect on the minds and lives of the people living in slums, one must understand the country's history, the effects of which can still be seen to this day. The fact that the center's customers are Africans living in a country that has just gained its independence from colonization is very significant when working as a western person in this country. Colonization has left its mark. This can be seen, for example, in the position of the English language as the second official language of the country as well as in the country's school system.

There are over 40 different African tribes in the country. Each tribe has its own language and customs and throughout the history of Kenya there has been a lot of tension between these tribes. I got the impression that the slums were also divided to some extent according to tribal borders. On our home visits the center's workers who belonged to the Kampa-tribe came into contact with members of the same tribe living in the slums and enjoyed speaking their own language with them. On arrival in the country I did not really pay attention to which tribe each person belonged. However, little by little I began to take notice as it became apparent in several occations.

In addition to these tribes, there are many Indians, Arabs and westerners in Kenya. The Arabs and Indians are very recognizable due to their clothing. The Africans dress partly in local costume and partly in western fashion. The western ways are admired, but at the same time the importance of emphasizing African identity and building the country are surfacing. The African people are the most poor and oppressed people throughout history, which affects ways of thinking to this day. A western person is called mzungu, which means white man as well as rich man. Working with our customers this setting was often a great drawback.

With all these different cultural groups in the country many religions were represented as well. The Islamic mosques were very visible and the call to prayer could be heard all the way into the apartment flat I lived in for a couple of weeks. The Hindu temples were also seen in the street scene. Different Christian churches could be found everywhere and the sermons and singing echoed to the streets. In my conversations with locals I also learned of the local religions of nature, even though I didn't bump into them otherwise. Religion was not hidden, it was very apparent in everyday life.

The centers clients lived in slums surrounding the city. The volunteers, apart form the Finnish coordinator of Hope for Tomorrow and myself, were mainly from that same area so they understood the lifestyle of the residents of the slums. There is a lot of unemployment and poverty in Kenya and these problems are of course most apparent in the slums. Money is talked about and the gap between the rich and the poor is very wide. Due to poverty, crime and prostitution for example, are big problems especially in the slums.

Community is a big aspect of the local culture. This can be seen in how neighbors will help a family or a lonely sick person with getting food. However, it did not become clear to me how well people generally knew the other residents of the slums. Education is highly valued, but higher education is very rare because it is so expensive. Dropping out of school because of payment difficulties is a very common problem. People placing their children in school even though they know they can not possibly pay for a large amount of the fees shows some kind of optimism and desire for a better life.

In the beginning I lived in a hotel area on the
northern side of the city center. The area has
beautiful beaches, hotels as well as expensive apartments. After a month I moved into an apartment building in the center of the city to live with Catherine and Fridah, where I stayed for a couple of weeks. Finally I moved closer to the center with Joyce, the centers nurse. We lived in a suite of rooms on the bottom floor of a two storey building with Joyce, her three children and her brother. My friend Sari came to visit from Finland for six weeks and she stayed with us too. All the possible sounds of the street could be heard in my room. In the morning I awoke to the moos of a cow or the crows of a rooster. Beneath our window there was a barber shop and we listened to whatever music the barber happened to be playing. In the evenings this barber and young
people from our building would gather to talk and
sometimes we would join them to ponder the ways
of the world.

During my free time I wondered around the city of Mombasa and because the city center was quite small it became very familiar to me. The center is built on the coast of the Indian Ocean so the view is spectacular all around. Moving around is easy using the matatu, provided that you knew where they were going. A matatu is a minibus you wait for on the side of the road and jump into when the right one passes by you. The most famous sight is probably the Fort Jesus built by the Portuguese. We, Joyce's oldest son George and I, visited it together since he is very interested in history.

Food was cheap and the local cuisine is very tasty. Stores ranged from dirty market stalls to expensive supermarkets. All the necessities could be found in stores. The only thing we needed from Finland was rye bread. Mangoes and bananas were very cheap as they were in season. Every other street had a coconut vendor, from whom you could purchase coconut juice. The vendor makes a small hole in the coconut from which to drink. I spent one weekend with Sari in a hotel, which was built in the middle of a nature reserve outside of the city. The animals roamed freely around the hotel and I spent the whole weekend photographing nature. The local nature is vibrant and colorful and it's definitely worth getting acquainted with. Mostly my free time was spent in different Christian meeting and with the locals I had gotten to know.