In Pictures

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]

14 Mar 2018

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]