Page 72 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 5

AFRIKAN ARTS

small contracts and the little that near a huge mound of trash, the (US$ 95) per month, in a slum.
I get goes towards sustaining photo will sell. Now they have Will a parent who earns maybe
ShutterfilmFoundation, while put this face out in the world that KES 20,000 (US$200) be able
other funds go towards meet- Kibra is a very dirty place. I’ve to pay his or her rent and also
ing personal needs. Our friends had some friends who come and pay fees for his child? They’re
also support us from time to they say they want to tour Kibra, making things too expensive for
time. Sometimes I go knocking so I take them to my village and the youth in Kibra to afford, so
on doors to ask for financial sup- they say this is not the Kibra they can’t rise up.
port. that everyone knows. So I take
Our purpose, mainly, is to be them to the place that people There’s been a lot of fund-
able to train Afrikan youths to be are usually taken to and say to ing from overseas for Ki-
able to tell our own stories. There them, this is also Kibra - the dif- bra, what do you think the
have been many documentaries ference is the standard of living problem is, because it’s like
made about Kibra, but they nev- and sometimes that standard is the funding does not reflect
er tell positive stories, they al- a choice.
in the place?
ways focus on negative things. The other big problem we face
I read some statistics that were
Trust me, crime is everywhere is in terms of artists’ self-inter-
saying we have about five hun-
in the world, poverty is every- est; some see a growing pho-
where; lack of hygiene is every- tographer, and then try to kill his dred and eleven organizations
where. This is a global problem. dreams, wanting to be the only in Kibra alone. That means this
is a business. To me, there’s no
You can’t just say Kibra is a dirty photographer in the area, it’s all
country that can grow or can
place. The problem is that when about self-interest. Most photog-
sustain itself through donors.
people come to Kenya they are raphers in Kibra hate competi-
usually taken to a very specific tion, but it’s not about compe- There are some organizations
part of Kibra. Kibra is very big tition it’s about today I’m alive, that are in Kibra that are doing
nothing. Kibra is a hub for some
and encompasses a lot of areas. tomorrow I might not be there.
greedy individuals to earn from.
Why just come to a certain vil- No one is guaranteed tomorrow.
The international media also
lage and say that’s Kibra? That You as a photographer, when
was a problem for artists who you die, what will you have left? benefit in some ways. In 2013,
came before me as well. For the Will you have mentored some- there was a crisis in Kibra, there
was an international pressman
photographers in Kibra it’s all one who can fill your position?
who gave a citizen money to go
about business. They don’t think That’s the mentality lacking in
and buy petrol to start a fire so
about the community. They say most artists in our slum.
to themselves that if they take a There is also a film school in that they could get a story to tell
photo of a child who is playing Kibra that’s charging KES 9500 outside there. Akon said, ‘It’s a

SHUTTERFILMFOUNDATION NUBIAN PROJECT
72 | heal . restore . rebirth . Afrika