• Flash

Mukuru is a Slum Village in Kenya, just outside the east African nation’s capital city of Nairobi.  They call it a “Slum Village” with no sense of irony, and to the outsider, the emphasis would seem firmly on Slum. The statistics are so wretched as to become mind numbing: the life expectancy in Mukuru is 40 years, the population density is 50,000 people per square mile, the poverty line rests at $1 a day.  Yet beyond the numbers are the people: a sea of bright, vibrant, open faces, searching for the opportunity to live a life of dignity and respect.  One of those people working hard each day to change the emphasis of Mukuru from Slum to Village is Moses Wahor.  This is his story.  Moses Wahor was born and raised in Mukuru, one of 20 slum villages that ring Nairobi.  He lives in a 10′x10′ corrugated metal shack with eight of his siblings, and considers it fortunate that his family has a roof beneath which to dwell.  They, like all of their neighbors, are squatters, subject to eviction at any time.  Most of the residents you see in Mukuru are children or young adults- half the population is under the age of 25, and the adults lucky enough to have jobs work as laborers in the city or in factories outside the Slum Villages for $2 a day.  Family earnings are low and there are not enough schools; as a result, children are frequently seduced into prostitution and drug trafficking, activities that lead to HIV/AIDS infection.  These children, many of them HIV orphans themselves, are the next generation of Africans facing a grim future if something is not done to change their lives.

Within the community, you will find people who are agents for that change.  Moses Wahor is one of them.  When tomorrowpictures.TV arrived in Kenya to gather footage for a documentary on HIV/AIDS, Moses was assigned to the team as a local production assistant.  He was bright, friendly, and far too wise in the ways of the world for someone so young.  As we grew to know him, we discovered that Moses had been a student at the Africa College for Social Work, earning a degree so that he could return to Mukuru and make a difference.  Unfortunately, he had been forced to drop out of school because he didn’t have the funds to pay for tuition.  His, like so many others, was a dream deferred.

Moses worked hard each day, escorting a camera crew through the treacherous maze of the slum village, providing keen and quiet insight.  Without his guidance, our trip wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as it was, and at the end of our time in Kenya, we felt we owed Moses Wahor something more than the few dollars he earned each day as a production assistant.  With that in mind, we were able to contact his college and arrange for tuition to be paid for the remainder of his education.  What follows is a portion of a letter from Moses:

“I am hereby inspired forever since the day I met you dear friends by the kind of work we did as a family in Mukuru slums. You really cared for me, you taught me much that I did not know before you guys came, and to summarize all this you are great in Gods presence may he bless you even as you are planning to come back for real work which is ahead of all of us.

Yours in service,

Moses Wahor”

tomorrowpictures.TV isn’t publicizing this donation for our own benefit- what we gave on Moses’ behalf was relatively small in the grand scheme of things, but we realize that all tidal waves begin with small ripples on the water.  Moses Wahor’s college tuition is one small ripple.  You can create one of your own.  By donating the equivalent of a week’s worth of Starbucks, you can start a ripple of your own that might change the world.  Is it worth it?  Moses thinks so, and we hope you agree.

If you’d like to know more about the Mukuru Slum Village, and how you can help, contact us at Info@tomorrowpictures.com.

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