Young people in Kibera, Kenya, which is known to some as Africa's largest slum, are determined to show a different face of the place where they live. With video cameras in hand, they scout the streets for stories to show the world [1] how Kibera sees itself.
The project started in April 2010, spearheaded by Map Kibera [2] and Kibera Community Development Agenda (KCODA) [3]. They began with just two young journalists and now the team is up to 14 young people who record the videos, edit and upload them to the web: not only to their own website Kibera News Network [4] but also to Voice of Kibera [5], a site which maps their videos and also other news sent in by people via SMS and other mediums.
Content is very varied: from job security issues, to reporting fires or train accidents, as well as cultural events and political activity. This next video [7], for example, shows how two young men have turned to a somewhat unusual, for Kibera, employment: they own and work at a beauty salon, providing services such as manicures as well as hairstyling:
In this other video [8] we visit Kevin Irungu, a young man who earns a living from his art:
Both of the previous examples show how creativity and hard work pay off. However, for others in Kibera making a living is a constant struggle as demonstrated by these washerwomen [9] who work hard and sometimes don't even get paid:
In Kibera, health is an important issue [10]: open sewage trenches and high population density means that communicable diseases can quickly spread. Added to the fact that many people don't have the economic resources to buy medication a disease can easily turn into an epidemic:
You can see more of the videos in the Kibera News Network [4]site or on their YouTube channel [11].