Mathare Valley is a part of

Mathare Mathare is a collection of slums in Nairobi with a population of approximately 500,000 people; the population of Mathare Valley alone, the oldest of the slums that make up Mathare, is 180,000 people. Mathare is the home of football teams Mathare U ...

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. It is in the

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

area. Other informal settlements in the Nairobi area include

Huruma Huruma is a low-income residential estate located in the northeast of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It borders Kariobangi and Dandora to the east, Moi Air Base to the south, Mathare to the north to west and Eastleigh to the southwest. In April 201 ...

Kiambiu Kiambiu (sometimes spelled as ''Kiambio'') is a slum in Nairobi, Kenya with 40–50,000 residents. Kiambiu is 4 kilometers east of the center of Nairobi. Its name comes from the Swahili word ''"mbiu-mbiu"'', which translates as ''"to be on the ru ...

Korogocho Korogocho is one of the largest slum neighbourhoods of Nairobi, Kenya. Home to 150,000 to 200,000 people pressed into 1.5 square kilometres, northeast of the city centre, Korogocho was founded as a shanty town on the then outskirts of the city.

Mukuru Mukuru is the Supreme Creator (God) of the Himba and Herero people of Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia a ...

and

Kibera Kibera (Kinubi: ''Forest'' or ''Jungle'') is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the largest urban slum in Africa.http://www.dominionpa ...

. It has a high population density. It is a few kilometers from the centre of Nairobi. The Mathare River flows in the valley.

Details

The Mathare Valley is one of the oldest and used to be one of the worst slum areas in Nairobi. People live in 6 ft. x 8 ft. shanties made of old tin and mud. There are no beds, no electricity, and no running water. People sleep on pieces of cardboard on the dirt floors of the shanties. There are public toilets shared by up to 100 people and residents have to pay to use them. Those who cannot afford to pay must use the alleys and ditches between the shanties. "Flying toilets" are plastic bags used by the residents at night, then thrown into the Nairobi River, which is the source of the residents' water supply. Approximately 600,000 people live in an area of three square miles. Most live on an income of less than a US$1 per day. Crime and HIV/AIDs are common. Many parents die of AIDS and leave their children to fend for themselves. Mathare Community Outreach tries to care for as many of these orphans as possible, but their resources are limited.

Mathare facts

* 70% of Nairobi's population of four million lives on 5% of the city's land area. * Mathare Valley contains a population greater than the cities of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, or

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, yet the slum covers an area of only three square miles. In comparison, Seattle covers 80 square miles, Boston 42 square miles, and Denver 150 square miles. * It is estimated that one of every three adults in Mathare is HIV positive. ** The average life expectancy for a person who is HIV positive in Mathare is five years or less. * Common health problems for children in Mathare include dysentery, malnutrition, malaria, typhoid, cholera, infections, tetanus, and polio. * Juvenile heads of households are common. This is a situation where a child or teen, some as young as 8 or 9 years old, is left to care for younger siblings, since both parents have died of AIDS. * There are an estimated 70,000 children in the Mathare Valley, with only 3-4 schools to educate them. Many children do not attend school. * Without an education the children in the Mathare Valley often turn to a future of crime, prostitution, drug abuse and disease. Religious and non-profit organizations are growing in the Mathare Valley. For example, th
Mission Of Hope International
(MOHI) and

Compassion International Compassion International is an American child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian aid organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that aims to positively influence the long-term development of children globally who live in pover ...

educate tens of thousands of children in schools, using tools that address issues such as HIV, health issues, and the need for employment. Students' parents are educated regarding health issues and provided with opportunities for job training or microloans to facilitate job creation.

References

External links

OneLife Africa
{{coord missing, Kenya Suburbs of Nairobi Slums in Kenya