On November 14th, the team of Medecins d’Afrique (Doctors of Africa) Kenya carried out a sensitization on drug and alcohol abuse at Kibera Kids Youth Organization Center Hall, in the slums of Kibera. 30 members attended the sensitization and paid keen attention. The interactive question/answser session at the end of the visit was very interesting. Most of the participants left contact details so we could stay in touch afterwards. The MDA Team to the site as usual included Josue Tchishibandji (Country Rep), Lea Bansimba (HR), Paul Mburu (Field Coordinator) & Salome (Volunteer).

Kibera slums is well renowned all over the world as the biggest slum in sub Saharan Africa, home to around 1,000,000 inhabitants within a region of less than 5sq Miles. This population faces severe social, political, cultural and economic challenges. The HIV record in Kibera is higher than any other area in Kenya, while the poverty index is among the highest in the world. Food and Nutrition deprivations are common factors in the region, with the majority of households barely able to afford one meal a day; a balanced diet notwithstanding. Due to the many factors and lifestyle influences, alcohol and drug abuse is a normal way of life, as the community attempts to rub away the harsh realities facing them. Indeed, the very place where we carried out our campaign was surrounded by many idle youths smoking marijuana, and the air was filled with the smell thereof!

As it is with our Sensitization and Mentorship campaign, we got contacts to the director of the Kibera Kids Youth Group through one of our team members who worked as a volunteer with the Ministry of Gender and Social Development in Kibera. The director was tasked with the responsibility of mobilizing youth around the community and inform them of Medecins D’Afrique aims and objectives. The turnout was good, and we were able to speak to over 30 members, who paid keen attention to the presentation and at the end of the session, we had an interactive question/ answer session. We intend to widen our outreach to this vast area so as to cover more of this very vulnerable target group.