Nairobi is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa with an average of five hundred people coming to the city on a daily basis. More than seventy percent of these people end up living in the informal settlements. An appropriate model of theological training for church leaders needs to be developed, so as to equip them to work with congregations and communities within the informal settlements, to address the needs and potential of people living in the context of Kibera informal settlements and to bring about spiritual and material transformation in their midst. A qualitative and comparative study was undertaken and data was collected through semistructured interviews and focus group discussions. After interpreting the data, the researcher found out: The problems and needs of the community and challenges of church ministers in the informal settlements are enormous. It includes unemployment, poor housing and sanitation, and a general lack of resources to meet basic needs; as well as negative ethnicity, inadequate ministers‟ stipends and the dependence of church members on ministers.  The existing models of theological education have not effectively equipped church ministers to face these challenges in informal settlement ministry. The research study end by proposing a model that will enable church ministers‟ witness to the incarnation of Christ among marginalized people in the informal settlement of Kibera. This model of theological training will be informed by African, Freirian and Western approaches to education. It will aim to form, inform and transform the pastoral work of ministers in informal settlement contexts. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M.A. (Theology in Missiology: Specialization in Urban Ministry)

Media in Nairobi is segmented when it comes to news and information; different media target different audience groups in the society through their preferred channels in search of news and information.     In Kibera, the biggest slum area in Nairobi and in whole East Africa, the urban slum community radio station Pamoja FM only works for the citizens living within Kibera. We aimed to find out how the youth in Kibera perceive the efficacy of the radio station as a viable source of news and information. We wanted to establish how important this radio station is to them as a tool of empowerment and knowledge to the youth.   Through semi-structured interviews with the youth in Kibera we carried out a qualitative research study during ten weeks, from October until December in 2011. We walked the field in Kibera to gather as much data as possible, and our findings were very interesting.   Key theories used in this study included the participatory communication model, the media dependency model and the uses and gratifications model.   The findings indicated that Pamoja FM has a great influence in the community as it is considered the most important source for news and information for the youth in this slum, and provides a platform that meets their needs as active participating audiences to the content supplied by the radio station. The radio is accredited to have changed the citizens´ way of thinking about tribalism since the post-election violence in 2007; the young women have assertively declared their space by playing a more proactive role in the community and audiences are empowered with home-grown problem solving skills that have bettered their lives and in pursuit for peace.

Nairobi is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa with an average of five hundred people coming to the city on a daily basis. More than seventy percent of these people end up living in the informal settlements. An appropriate model of theological training for church leaders needs to be developed, so as to equip them to work with congregations and communities within the informal settlements, to address the needs and potential of people living in the context of Kibera informal settlements and to bring about spiritual and material transformation in their midst. A qualitative and comparative study was undertaken and data was collected through semistructured interviews and focus group discussions. After interpreting the data, the researcher found out: The problems and needs of the community and challenges of church ministers in the informal settlements are enormous. It includes unemployment, poor housing and sanitation, and a general lack of resources to meet basic needs; as well as negative ethnicity, inadequate ministers‟ stipends and the dependence of church members on ministers.  The existing models of theological education have not effectively equipped church ministers to face these challenges in informal settlement ministry. The research study end by proposing a model that will enable church ministers‟ witness to the incarnation of Christ among marginalized people in the informal settlement of Kibera. This model of theological training will be informed by African, Freirian and Western approaches to education. It will aim to form, inform and transform the pastoral work of ministers in informal settlement contexts. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. A. (Theology in Missiology: Specialization in Urban Ministry)

This is a dissertation about Kibera, a large informal settlement on the margins of Nairobi, Kenya. Based on seven years of ethnographic fieldwork and related participant observation, this thesis explores the interactions between young people, grassroots groups, and national and international NGOs in Kibera and how these influence youth journeys to adulthood. International development practitioners working in Kibera have focused their efforts on young people, especially given Kenyan census figures documenting that 78% of Kenya's population is below the age of 35. This demographic trend poses both challenges and opportunities, but Kenya's gerontocratic leadership has, for the most part, failed to find solutions to improve opportunities for young people. Population increases have resulted in increases in crime, income inequality, and un- and underemployment. These changes are exacerbated by protracted liminality, a long period of ambiguous status, experienced by young men and sanctioned by custom as a way to moderate inter-generational tensions. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fill in the gaps and compensate for the failure of public policy by providing basic social services to improve the systemic political, economic and social issues affecting Kibera’s youth. This study follows a group of young men who have discovered that they can alleviate their liminality by practicing resourcefulness in Nairobi’s vast informal economy, an action colloquially referred to as "hustling." Specifically, these youth hustle the "shadow aid economy" that has emerged as a byproduct of Kibera's saturated NGO environment. The outcome of this is not an upending of the traditions of age and seniority in Kenya—these young men will continue to experience liminality in certain contexts and situations. The ultimate result is that youth create networks of reciprocity and build internal hierarchies in the settlement as they hustle, which leads the most successful NGO hustlers to create alternate means of advancement and shift the criteria of respectability to accelerate their progress towards adulthood.

This thesis examines the media discourse surrounding Kibera, an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Using a qualitative content analysis, this study identifies and critically analyses reoccurring themes in the descriptions of Kibera in the UK broadsheet paper The Guardian. The claimed relevance of such analysis rests upon the assumption that discourse matter; certain narratives can influence beliefs and policy concerning the management of urban informal settlements, with material effects for these places and their residents. The result of the analysis shows there are varying and conflicting themes in the portrayal of Kibera, describing the community in both negative and positive terms. However, the imageries move between two extremes, either describing Kibera as an urban dystopia of crime, suffering and filth, or emphasising stories of hope, success and the entrepreneurial spirit of Kibera’s residents. Missing in the articles are descriptions of Kibera in terms of being an ‘ordinary place’, where people live their everyday lives and make ends meet. Drawing on earlier research about connections between language and representation in the construction of marginalized places, this paper discusses the possible consequences of hyperbolic and sensationalistic discourse, arguing for a more nuanced portrayal of the Kibera community and its residents – depictions that won’t further marginalise Kibera and its people, nor romanticize life in this highly populated low-income community.

This thesis aims to study the perception of local knowledge within Wale Wale Kenya, a small local organization operating in Kibera, Nairobi. The people who run the Kenyan organization have all grown up in Kibera and thus have strong local roots. An analysis of the Kenyan organization however extends beyond the “local” because of its collaboration with its partner organization Wale Wale Sweden. The partner organization contributes among other things with volunteers and interns from Sweden. The main research question guiding the thesis concern show local knowledge is perceived by two development NGOs, Wale Wale Kenya, and its Swedish partner organization Wale Wale Sweden, and how that relates to their sense of place of Kibera. The thesis is a result of qualitative field study at the organization Wale Wale Kenya where semi-structured interviews and observations were made. The findings show that the focus on the local aspect contributes to the creation of representation, understanding and passion within the organization. Furthermore, local knowledge is seen as unique and useful since it is linked to the particular place where it will be used. Local knowledge is also valued for its long-term perspective, a strong anchoring in the local community and that it empowers the members who run the organization. However, exposure to other places, beyond the locality of Kibera through influences by interns andvolunteers, is highly valued. Local knowledge is not seen as bounded to the local place but is also a result of the local interacting with global social processes.

No description available.

Kibera är världens näst största slum, livsvillkoren är ofattbara. Allra värst är situationen för flickor som av olika anledningar inte kan eller får gå i skolan och ständigt nedvärderas i samhället. Det finns ett starkt samband mellan flickors begränsade sociala samvaro och deras frånvaro från skolan.  Projektet undersöker hur arkitektur kan skapa en tryggare miljö och öka interaktionen flickor emellan. Mitt projekt är en strategi med det slutliga målet att generera en trygg och inspirerande miljö för flickor, en hållbar utveckling genom social förankring. Strategin handlar om att öka flickornas samvaro i vardagen genom att skapa en gemensam plats för sysslor och möten. En gemensam plats, en station som tar tillvara på klimatets möjligheter och effektiviserar sysslorna, samtidigt som flickorna träffas, utbyter kunskap och delar erfarenheter.  I samarbete med olika grupper för flickor och kvinnor som finns i Kibera, kan stationerna byggas på för att innehålla flera olika funktioner. Det kan t.ex. vara bibliotek, verkstäder för arbete, samlingsrum för möten och utbildning.

No description available.