Africa's propaganda trail, part I: The missing millions of Kibera. Kibera's slums assault the senses like a barbeque in a hot toilet.
Raw waste carves gullies along the ragged ribbons of bare earth that serve as side streets and alleys, where children crawl and play in dirt you wouldn't step in unless you had to; for all my cringing, nobody seemed to mind much. Forests of twisted aerials sprout from the rooves of shacks raised up from the mud and topped with sheets of metal. The main streets are full of the hustle and bustle of the ultimate free market, the sort of anarchic community libertarians beg for, but would beg to be rescued from. AirTel signs and M-PESA logos compete with butchers and charcoal-sellers, bombarding the senses with a barrage of colour that still can't quite match that smell. From time to time celebrities are deposited in the slums by shiny new trucks, where they cry at children to appease the gods of television and self-promotion.
Map Kibera. Maps of Kibera - Kibera.