Page 41 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 5
P. 41
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AFRIKA IS GOD’S
BUT I WAS
BORN IN KOROGOCHO
UN-SLUM YOURSELF, STEP INTO THE FUTURE
Kyesubire Greigg
few years ago, I met a
A Liz, had a quick smile and laugh and I began asking questions so
beautiful young lady
I could understand. As we talked
that drew you in then you saw
she kept coming back to the po-
the depth of trouble in her eyes.
born and raised in the
Korogocho slum in Nai-
robi. Korogocho, sometimes She was struggling to figure out sition that people should under-
life and find work when she opt-
stand her need and help her be-
called Koch, is one of the largest ed to serve as an intern at the cause she was from Korogocho.
slums in Nairobi, with approxi- congregation I attended and so In her mind, that was a good
mately 150,000 to 200,000 peo- we met. Her daily narrative was enough reason to be granted
ple living on about 1.5 square how hard things were, how little help. I understood her position
kilometers. This population den- she had, how life was unfair and but I couldn’t get over how lim-
sity has become the home of how people should have mercy ited it was.
drug and alcohol abuse, domes- on her because she was from You see, she was not the first
tic violence, rampant HIV/AIDS, Koch. She was so caught up in person or the last one to be born
crime, poverty and generally a the troubles that many would lis- in Koch neither was the she first
hard life. It isn’t very hard to live ten for a while then quietly walk or last to use that as a way to
in despair in a neighborhood like away. gain sympathy or empathy from
this. She asked me to help one of the people. Unbeknown to her, she
Elizabeth Oteng’o fondly called programs she was working on used her place of birth as a
www.msingiafrikamagazine.com heal . restore . rebirth . Afrika | 41
