Kenya’s Kibera slum is emblematic of the country’s poverty — used by politicians, journalists, even filmmakers to as a symbol of economic depravity.
And now it’s a tourist attraction.
Some feel the extra attention could bring reform to the region, putting pressure on the government to provide aid for the slum-dwellers. But others feel these are nothing more than “pity tours” that, according to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, label the Kiberan people as the “custodians of backwardness, filth, misery and absolute deprivation.”
“They see us like puppets, they want to come and take pictures, have a little walk, tell their friends they’ve been to the worst slum in Africa,” car-wash worker David Kabala told Reuters.
The tours, like most attention the region receives, fail to pick up on the “untold stories,” said Christine Ochieng, a 20-year-old office worker. There’s a number of middle-class Kiberans who have the money to leave, but decide to stay because moving out would mean a life of relative solitude. Plus, there’s an enormous amount of art, dance, drama and sports projects in the area that are overlooked by those focused on the poverty.
What do you think? Would you take a slum tour? Do you think it’s important for people to see, or is this just another way we’re exploiting the people of Kibera?