Marine changes life in slum

By Alex Kiprotich

What would you do if someone gave you $26? Many people would probably buy a packet of unga, sugar, milk, oil and soap, and sweets with the remaining cents. But the case was different for the late Tabitha Atieno who was given the amount by Rye Barcott, a US marine – then a university student – whose trip to Rwanda accidentally landed him in Kibera ten years ago.

Barcott, now a US marine who visited Kibera this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary and launch of his memoir, It Happened On The Way To War, recalled the incidental stray into Kibera that changed his view on life. "I had received a scholarship through the Burch Fellows Programme at the University of Carolina to conduct research in Rwanda on ethnic violence." Barcott says he came to know of Kibera after the 9/11 security restrictions forced him to change his plans.

Unexpected detour

He adds, "Instead of heading to Rwanda, I found myself in Kibera and upon witnessing the horrible state that people live in, I decided to take action in my own small way. I asked myself that in our world of plenty, people shouldn’t have to live like this." The amount, which Barcott says would be enough for a day’s family in the US, has changed the lives of thousands of Kibera residents who now have a medical facility and hundreds of youth who have benefited from scholarships.

From only $26 (about Sh2,340) the organisation is now valued at about $1 million a year according to Barcott, who recalled how he met Atieno ten years and sowed a seed that has grown beyond the imaginations of many.

"One day while walking along the many mud paths in Kibera she invited me to her shack and asked me why I have never asked her about her problems yet I kept on asking the youth," he said. The US marine says he was astonished because nobody had ever confronted him in such a manner.

"She told me of her tribulations and said if she only had a small capital, her life would be better," he said. Barcott says her story was moving and gave her the money, but was not expecting to ever meet her again. "Her story was convincing. Here she was jobless and had plans on how to use the amount, but I did not expect to meet her again anyway," he said.

Big change in a small way

But a year later when he came back to continue with his research on conflict, he was surprised that the woman had set up a small clinic in her ten-by ten-feet shack. "She sold vegetables and started a small clinic. Today I am happy we have built a modern one which serves more than 40,000 patients in memory of Atieno," he said.

The US marine, 32, then helped to found Carolina For Kibera, which supports the clinic and a soccer league that works to create role models in the community and fight ethnic violence.

"Solutions to problems involving poverty are possible only if those affected drive development. Ultimately, the community possesses the knowledge and motivation that are necessary to solve its own problems," he says.

CFK CEO George Kogolla says the charity has come up with programmes integrating health, social and economic programmes, which cater for needs of the residents and especially the youth.

"Poverty in Kibera is complex and we believe that lasting solutions to problems are possible when local solutions are shaped and run by the locals," he said. Yvonne Shamala, a beneficiary, says the initiatives have been beneficial to many youth. Shamala, who is studying for a diploma course in management at Kenya Institute of Management courtesy of the organisation, says she was given Sh30, 000 for her school fees.

She said many more youth have benefited from the various programmes. The programmes include the Binti Pamoja (Daughters United) Centre, which provides a safe space for girls to address their issues. There is also a sports association whose teams are drawn from all ethnic communities living in Kibera.

There is also an economic programme, Taka ni Pato (Trash is Cash), which addresses the dearth of employment opportunities in Kibera.

"It offers training in financial literacy, business skills and entrepreneurship for the youth," said Medina Abubakar, the head of economic programme.

Barcott has captured life in Kibera in It Happened On the Way to War. He says the Kibera encounters jolted his world and gave him an experience of a lifetime. "Kibera really shook up my world in such a way that I recognised that you can learn from most people in the world if you take time to build relationships," he says.

And for his effort to make a change in an otherwise hopeless situation, Barcott was named a 2011 Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.

"People should know that they should not wait to make an impact but act with whatever little one has. From the struggles of the people of Kibera, I have come to appreciate that there are extraordinary people who by all outwardly, materialistic measures of success to which the Western world ascribe, would be seen as failures but they do not see themselves as failures," he says.

Looking back at his first visit to Kibera, the marine says conditions at the slum are still appalling. "Conditions are still frighteningly appalling but the change we see is with individual’s lives within that community. We see the development of self-esteem and confidence," he says.