Bwaise is a densily populated slum and flood prone
Bwaise is one of the poorest slum areas in the city of Kampala, Uganda. The fastest population growth has resulted in encroachment on the wetlands, the construction of unplanned buildings, and poor drainage systems. These developments have made Bwaise prone to flooding, shortage of developed infrastructure and poor service provision has exposed the town dwellings and residents to severe challenges including water-borne diseases.
The number of people living in Bwaise in the informal settlement is over 90,000 but currently, the population is increasing rapidly due to the migration of people from different part of the country especially poor rural areas and neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Congo, South Sudan among others.
Why Ki-mombasa in particular
An article from the New Vision reads, “located about four miles north of Kampala on Bombo Road in Bwaise, Ki-Mombasa derives its name from Mombasa, Kenya’s coastal city. The current slum was a wetland until the late 1950s when people started settling there. In early 1960s, however, the place attracted two sex workers, Kasifa and Nakawunde, who often travelled to Mombasa for commercial sex before returning “with lots of money”.
With the “wealth” from prostitution, the duo managed to construct several mud-and-wattle houses and became celebrities across Bwaise. Hence the name Ki-Mombasa.
However, unlike Mombasa, which is a centre of tourism, Ki-Mombasa is not the kind of place you would like to visit. Occupied by a mix of Rwandese, Kenyans, Lugbara, Banyankore, Baganda and Congolese, Ki-Mombasa covers about eight acres with a 4,000 population, according to the LCI chairman, Noordin Ssentamu. Many women say they are attracted to the slum because of its easy access to the city, while men cited cheap alcohol and sex workers.
Save for metal fabrication and a few retail shops, prostitution and bars are the leading sources of income in Ki-Mombasa. Older women babysit sex workers’ children to earn a living.
Dilapidated mud-and-wattle houses are what dominate Ki-Mombasa. For most houses, the roofs have caved in and the walls are crumbling, yet rent is not that cheap! Finding latrines is a nightmare.
Despite its filth, Ki-Mombasa has remained a top destination for men seeking the services of sex workers. Hundreds frequent the slum daily to buy cheap sex workers.
According to Namuddu, over 500 sex workers, some as young as 15 years, operate in Ki-Mombasa. On a tour of the area at about 8:00pm, we counted several houses, which double as homes, bars and lodges.
At night, the women lay their children under beds as they conduct their business. The tiny rooms in the brothels have several beds, meaning that at least four couples share one room. Yet Agnes, a 17-year-old sex worker, says on a busy night, one bed can accommodate two couples”. https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1304932/ki-mombasa-sex-drugs-crime-rule
When I read the above article in the New Vision online, I was moved to carryout an outreach in Ki-Mombasa Bwaise, not just to give them food and clothes but to also preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
Negative effects of Corona virus
Covid-19 added on the already damaged situation by killing most bread winners in homes leaving child headed families and single mothers, these have been left with no source of income thus turning some of them into prostitutes, beggars among others. they really need all the support they can get.
Most vulnerable communities
We are reaching out to single mothers, widows, child headed families, prostitutes, elderly and people with disabilities with food and clothing. We believe that despite the fact that most people living in Bwaise might be poor but the above-mentioned category are more vulnerable due to the circumstances they are living in.
It’s a different kind of birthday
Well 15th May 2022 will be the birthday of the executive director of Slum Youth Rehabilitation and Development Organization-SYRADO and she, instead of throwing a lavish birthday party she decided to celebrate it with the vulnerable in Bwaise. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
A Samaritan sowed a seed which fell on fertile ground (I was there)
“There was a time in my life when I had nothing to eat and I could go to the dustbin to collect some posh that Kabira workers used to eat. The cook would throw the leftovers in the dustbin and we would go and collect them before they could get dirty. When the cook saw us he started calling us every evening, giving us the left overs with beans to eat with. Because of him me and other children I was staying with did not starve and we always looked forward to evening when we could get food from that gentleman. I can never forget his generosity and I can’t find him anywhere right now to thank him but what I can do is to help not to starve. He sawed a seed that is now grown and bearing fruits”
The ever increasing basic commodity prices
High commodity prices have made the situation worse. The government is silent on escalating basic commodity prices that have left the most vulnerable sleep hungry and others starving to death because they cannot afford to buy food, that is why we are taking Sugar, rice, beans, maize flour, soap, cooking oil, salt and clothes to the people of Ki-mombasa Bwaise. We are also taking the word of God. You can join us in kind by contributing food stuffs and clothing or you can give cash and we buy on your behalf.
It is Biblical
Matthew 25:31-40 …………. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (NIV)
LET’S FEED BWAISE TOGETHER
NB: most of the pictures were sourced from internet on different sites that have been to Bwaise Slum.
