Documentary in Kibera, section of Nairobi?

[jaredangle]

I've got a documentary idea planned out for a year from now in Kibera that will branch off of my current exploration of homelessness and difficult living conditions that people here in Michigan face. Aside from expensive airfare, which I am preparing for, what are the general costs for spending about 2 weeks in the city? For example, are there hostels with bunk beds for travelers? I stayed in one for a week in Montreal that was $11 USD a night, and very, very well kept. I'm comfortable with something that is only half as nice or less, as long as it is secure to sleep in. Also, how is the city for getting around?

I'm hoping to try to stay within a mile of Kibera so I can enter and leave by walking, because too many things get missed when walking. Is English used frequently enough, or should I learn some of the basics of Swahili?

I've got a lot to learn but I will be preparing for over a year.

 

[rxmd]

I'm not an expert on Kibera directly, but Kibera is really well-known to the point that it's a tourist attraction and a showcase for the problems with media awareness and development efforts. (I work in development and my agency has a few dozen larger projects in Kenya.) There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of agencies and NGOs and western projects and informal working groups if researchers working there (Maji na Ufanisi, SHOFCO, KWAHO, Map Kibera Project, Carolina for Kibera...). You are much more likely to get accurate information from there than on RFF.

I don't know what your documentary idea is, but unless it's about the dangers of overexposure and about how NGOs can fail, it's likely that someone already has done what you want to do. Kibera is in every guidebook. People do township tours. (On related notes, your question about accomodation is probably answered by Lonely Planet Kenya.)

If you want to speak with people, Swahili is probably needed, unless you want to speak to (and subscribe to the agenda of) those people who are used to speaking English with foreign tourists and foreign aid workers.

 

[richardvanle]

There is some really good advice in the above comment. I would agree 100% with all that rxmd wrote.

Having done some work in Nairobi, and Kenya in general, I would strongly suggest that you arrange to get introduced to people in Kiberia through some existing organization or NGO. Additionally, I find a fixer who is fluent in English/Swahili and is from Kiberia. Kiberia is not the type of place that you just walk in unannounced as a foreigner with a camera and expect to get some good results. It is a densely populated, maze-like neighorhood of 2 million people. As a foreigner you will stick out like a sore thumb. A local fixer would help tremendously. But even then doing more than just poverty snaps will be hard.

The other thing is that frankly it can be a dangerous place. I'm not sure what kind of story you're planning on doing, but I doubt the poverty level and danger level you've experienced in Michigan comes anywhere even close to the level of what you'd find in Kiberia. Again, as a foreigner you will not blend in and will be seen a ripe target.

However, this isn't to say you shouldn't do this project. I would just sternly suggest a LOT of thorough legwork and research before you go.