It was an early December morning when I followed Bunty Granville Ross as she picked her way through the narrow, filthy streets of the sprawling mass of Mathare slum. An elegant lady in her fifties, she could not have looked more uncomfortable or out of place in such surroundings.
Bunty is a senior representative of the Lonhro Hotel group, which had identified a project that they would fund, and Albert 2001 may like to undertake. Many years ago the Mathare valley was a quarry; the slum’s origins lie in the makeshift shelters of the quarry workers. 13 villages with a collective population of over 600,000, constitute the Mathare constitute the Mathare squatters community, inhabiting a strange and almost futuristic landscape. Between the houses run open sewers which are clogged with garbage and rotting waste and as we progress, children's smiling faces emerge from behind brightly coloured fabrics to chant ”Hello...how are you?”
Eventually we arrive at our destination and I am greeted by the Reverend Daniel Ogutu in front of a rotting, but securely padlocked door. This was the entrance to the Mathare Outreach Group’s kitchen, a 25ft by 15ft high construction much the same as the others. As Daniel struggled with the door I was introduced to Rosemary, the boss of the kitchen. About 40 years old, she is the largest African lady in the world with a character and smile to match. Rosemary explained that it was here where she prepared and cooked food for 450 children, 3 times a day. The door opened revealing a moving mass of insects scurrying along the floor away from the incoming light. The walls were sooty black as all the cooking was done on an open fire, inside without any ventilation. The roof timbers were rotten and their covering was a rusty, tangled mess of ill fitting galvanised metal sheets. The general idea was that Albert could carry out repairs by way of a patch-up job. Parts of the foundation were reasonably recoverable but this ‘building’ simply had to go.
This would be a major task and a big challenge for the Project Albert Team. I told Roly Wright what needed to be done; he scratched his head and remained hesitant for a full 7 minutes. Work at Mathare commenced simultaneously with the Westland’s task and would essentially be manned by the lads from Wittering. After innumerable problems of access, materials, transportation and funding were solved, the existing kitchen came down and the new one began to take shape.
The Outreach Group now boasts one of the few brick buildings in the Mathare community. Two solid fuel cookers with proper chimneys, a double gas hob, a sink with running water and a serving hatch into an adjacent building have all been installed. The whole construction was decorated and tiled. The Mathare Outreach Group can now feed more children, more effectively in a considerably better facility. Everybody came to know and love Rosemary; at the handover ceremony she stood before us and wept tears of joy. |
