Alissa Wächter - First Few Months in Nairobi, Kenya

Just a couple of months in to the MATUL Nairobi, Kenya program I have mastered the art of a bucket shower, Swahili language classes are in full swing at four days per week as well as a class at a local university, two online classes through Azusa Pacific University, a microfinance internship with a group of women from the slums, and settling into a new church home. I live in the community of Kibera, just a 3 minute walk from Kibera slum, which is the second largest urban slum in Africa. No one knows exactly how many people live in Kibera, but the population is estimated to be between 200,000-800,000. Yet it is only the size of New York's Central Park. The conditions for residents are dismal, as there is only one latrine (toilet) for about every 50 households, and there is no sewage or waste disposal system, so human waste and garbage is dumped into the river that runs through the community or left along the roadside. Crime and disease run rampant, and the U.N. estimates that 1 in 5 children die before their fifth birthday.

While these statistics are heart wrenching, Kibera is also a place full of life and resiliency. One of the frustrations I've had since moving to this community is that Kibera is depicted to outsiders as a suffering, dirty place without human dignity (tourists will spend money to get tours of the slum so they can take pictures of children playing in piles of garbage). But Kibera is FAR from that one-sided picture. It is a lively community with shops, restaurants, pubs, schools, services, churches and mosques. The streets are bustling with people on their way to and from work, with children playing, and with women draped in beautiful fabrics selling fried sweet bread straight out of the oil. The people who live here are hard-working and extremely resourceful – they are students, artists, employees, and family members. While there are many tragic things about Kibera, it is also a place that is truly alive. I live with a wonderful host family of seven in a 2-bedroom home. We share meals and laughter and prayer together on a daily basis.

One of the most interesting and rewarding experiences of MATUL thus far has been participating in the microfinance internship. I volunteer with an organization called Kipepeo, which teaches women from Kibera slum how to make handmade cards for a livelihood that are sold around the world. In addition, the women participate in a micro-savings group that teaches them to save money. The group then loans out the savings to members to start or expand their businesses. The group members are taught Christian economic principles and are discipled through daily devotion and prayer. One of the women said the following about her experience: "I have known the significance of love, thanks to Kipepe. Some of us are orphans. Some are widows. Some are married. Some are separated. Some have been abused. But here we have each other and we can discuss freely and we support each other. We are a family. Kipepeo has changed my life – physically, spiritually, and economically."