Most of my shortcuts through Kibera have not disappointed in saving time in traffic and giving me a drive-by taste of life in the sprawling informal settlement — at least on the road I use. Most of my journeys have been during the day. However, this day, I was treated to Kibera by night.
This particular day, I started my journey at dusk. As the last light was fading in the sky, I was in the confines of the largest slum in East Africa. So, I caught up with the crowd of people making their way home. They likely left their families in the early darkness of the morning, and were now making their way back home. The vendors and shop owners light the night scene with tiny kerosene lamps, whose lone flames dance in the cool evening as they compete for the attention of customers to buy their fish, chips, eggs, roasted maize and vegetables, probably for the evening’s supper. Beauty salons and kinyozis litter the pathways.
Tin shacks and containers are stacked on top of each other, seemingly suspended in air and defying gravity. Skinned goats, beef and pigs decorate butchery windows. That makes me wonder where the meat is stored at night.
The energy is palpable and exciting. It is an energy that comes from a community, that attracts people from all over Kenya to live in this vast area called Kibera. The space is tight, but that does not deter the fast pace of the residents.
They make their way to their destinations, which may include stopovers at Club Bombolulu that looks more like a two-storey container. The music is loud, complemented by a flashing strobe light to draw in customers. Who knows, maybe one day, I might retire my drive-by status and actually stop by and make my way up to that two-storied container and marvel at the energy of East Africa’s largest informal settlement.
