Live
play
  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Coronavirus
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
  • More
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Climate
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts

In Pictures

Gallery

In Kibera, women and children bear brunt of heavy rains

The rainy season brings relief to the drought-hit areas, but for the residents of Kibera the rains can be a sign of the worst to come. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
The rainy season brings relief to the drought-hit areas, but for the residents of Kibera the rains can be a sign of the worst to come. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
By 
Natalia Jidovanu
14 Mar 2018
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

Kibera, Kenya – The long rainy season in Kenya has begun and the country’s meteorological department has told Nairobi residents to brace for heavy rains and floods this week.

The country has gone through one of the driest periods in recent history, causing massive crop failure in most areas, consequently leaving nearly 3.4 million Kenyans at risk of starvation and an estimated 500,000 people without access to water.

While the arrival of the eagerly awaited rainfall is considered a blessing and brings great relief to agricultural areas, the rains also claim lives and cause destruction in other parts of the country.

In Nairobi, the rainy season exposes some of the capital’s mediocre infrastructure. Nairobi’s already bad traffic gets worse as the poorly drained roads flood. The privately run buses, “matatus”, raise their rates. Power supply becomes intermittent.

In Kibera – the biggest informal settlement in Kenya, a sea of rusted tin roofs, earthen walls and dark narrow paths along the eastern bank of the Ngong River, the rain is responsible for leaving a mark of destruction and losses to the estimated 500,000 – one million people who live in this one square mile settlement.

{articleGUID}

This is the time of the year when schools register minimal attendance because of the impassable roads, flooded alleys and seasonal streams flowing in all corners of the slum.

The absence of solid waste management systems means that the heavy rains cause rubbish to be washed from dumpsites to across streets and through residents’ backyards.

The river cutting along the settlement’s western boundary washes away houses, the water leaks through the corrugated rooftops, and disease spreads quickly.

While the entire settlement struggles to cope, women and children living in Kibera bear the worst of the rain’s aftermath.

Inadequate infrastructure in informal settlements leaves much of the population to struggle alone for their basic needs. In Kibera, the residents come home to a place without sewage system, rubbish pick-up and adequate drainage channels. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
Inadequate infrastructure in informal settlements leaves much of the population to struggle alone for their basic needs. In Kibera, the residents come home to a place without sewage system, rubbish pick-up and adequate drainage channels. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Most of houses in Kibera are made of mud and corrugated iron sheets that leak easily when it rains. Women use containers to drain the sewage water from their homes, a task that can take several hours or an entire day to complete. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Most of houses in Kibera are made of mud and corrugated iron sheets that leak easily when it rains. Women use containers to drain the sewage water from their homes, a task that can take several hours or an entire day to complete. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
During the rainy season, Kibera's narrows alleys transform into a mess of red mud, rubbish, human waste and plastic shreds. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
During the rainy season, Kibera's narrows alleys transform into a mess of red mud, rubbish, human waste and plastic shreds. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
The poor drainage and lack of roads in the slum make it hard for the residents to move from one point to another. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
The poor drainage and lack of roads in the slum make it hard for the residents to move from one point to another. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Women and children are the first to experience the effects of floods and poor sanitation. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Women and children are the first to experience the effects of floods and poor sanitation. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
A group of women clean the open sewer that runs in front of their residential compound in the Soweto area of Kibera, trying to prevent the rainwater and rubbish from flowing inside their homes. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
A group of women clean the open sewer that runs in front of their residential compound in the Soweto area of Kibera, trying to prevent the rainwater and rubbish from flowing inside their homes. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Lack of proper drainage channels is one of the major causes of the flooding in the slum. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Lack of proper drainage channels is one of the major causes of the flooding in the slum. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Phenice, a grocery and vegetable vendor in the Gatwekera village of Kibera, cannot afford to close her stall when it rains, as her family depends on her business for survival. With the arrival of heavy rains, preparing, displaying and storing products and food becomes a constant challenge for the female vendors. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
Phenice, a grocery and vegetable vendor in the Gatwekera village of Kibera, cannot afford to close her stall when it rains, as her family depends on her business for survival. With the arrival of heavy rains, preparing, displaying and storing products and food becomes a constant challenge for the female vendors. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
Dirty waters remain stagnant in most streets through the slum during the rainy season, posing a greater risk to the health of the residents. Children are often the most vulnerable to waterborne diseases caused by sewage contamination and environmental deterioration. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Dirty waters remain stagnant in most streets through the slum during the rainy season, posing a greater risk to the health of the residents. Children are often the most vulnerable to waterborne diseases caused by sewage contamination and environmental deterioration. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
The poorest Kiberans are forced to build homes atop the banks of the river. This is the area of the slum where the impact of the floods is more severe. During the rainy season, the river overflows, inevitably destroying homes and claiming lives. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
The poorest Kiberans are forced to build homes atop the banks of the river. This is the area of the slum where the impact of the floods is more severe. During the rainy season, the river overflows, inevitably destroying homes and claiming lives. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Cutting along the settlement's western boundary, the river is associated with death and destruction of property during the rainy season. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
Cutting along the settlement's western boundary, the river is associated with death and destruction of property during the rainy season. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
A child watches the brown waters of the river rising with the rainfall from atop a bridge in the Lindi area of Kibera. With the arrival of the rains, the river becomes a roiling torrent that carries sewage and all forms of waste downstream. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
A child watches the brown waters of the river rising with the rainfall from atop a bridge in the Lindi area of Kibera. With the arrival of the rains, the river becomes a roiling torrent that carries sewage and all forms of waste downstream. [Natalia Jidovanu/Al Jazeera]
Pollution, lack of infrastructure and poor sanitation propagate the cycle of poverty and gender inequality, as women and girls pay the heaviest price in the floods. They are most often the water handlers, responsible for cooking, cleaning and laundering, exposing themselves to dangerous microorganisms in the contaminated water. And they are also the ones who bear the burden of caring for those who fall sick from waterborne diseases. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]
Pollution, lack of infrastructure and poor sanitation propagate the cycle of poverty and gender inequality, as women and girls pay the heaviest price in the floods. They are most often the water handlers, responsible for cooking, cleaning and laundering, exposing themselves to dangerous microorganisms in the contaminated water. And they are also the ones who bear the burden of caring for those who fall sick from waterborne diseases. [Brian Otieno/Al Jazeera]

More from Gallery

In Pictures: Muslims start Ramadan under the shadow of pandemic

Muslims gather for prayers during the start of the holy month of Ramadan at the Al Akbar Mosque in Surabaya, Indonesia. [Juni Kriswanto/AFP]

In Pictures: Building the stage for the Qatar 2022 final

Lusail Stadium's ongoing secondary steel bracings going up, Lusail, Qatar. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Almost heaven: West Virginia entices nature-loving remote workers

The goal is to leverage one of West Virginia's most appealing assets, its epic natural beauty, to stem the tide of population loss in the only state in the United States that has fewer residents now than in 1950 [File: Michael Virtanen/AP Photo]

In Pictures: 60 years since Gagarin’s historic spaceflight

Soviet cosmonaut Major Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit Earth, in his space suit. Gagarin's 108-minute mission on April 12, 1961 marked a historic achievement for the Soviet Union. [AP Photo]
Most Read

Elite privilege consumes $17.4bn of Pakistan’s economy: UNDP

UNDP Assistant Secretary-General Kanni Wignaraja [Handout photo]

Biden to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 11

The remaining US troops in Afghanistan are expected to be withdrawn by September 11 [File: Omar Sobhani/Reuters]

How colonialism eroded Pakistan’s history of religious fluidity

The complex containing the shrine of Ram Thaman, a 16th-century Hindu saint, where the annual festival of Vaisakhi begins in Ram Thaman, Pakistan, this year on April 13 [Haroon Khalid/Al Jazeera]

Russia’s Ukraine manoeuvres are a response, not a provocation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the war-hit Donbas region, eastern Ukraine, on April 9, 2021 [Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP]
  • About
    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
  • Our Channels
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
  • Our Network
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners
Follow Al Jazeera English:rssinstagramyoutubetwitterfacebook
logo
© 2021 Al Jazeera Media Network