“Now I have sleepless nights not because of fear of insecurity but thinking of the solutions of the people of Korogocho, I really want this place to change,” he says. Despite being born in a military navy camp in Mombasa where his father was an officer, his heart has always been to help the less privileged in the society. It is not his first time working in a slum though. “While studying in Peru, I volunteered in Phorrilloa, a big slum in the capital Lima. My heart has always been to work to uplift people in the slums,” says Fr John. He says he chose to live in Korogocho because he believes that if you want to change people you must be ready to live with them, it is much easier to know their problems. Today the Comboni missionary has founded many Community Projects that seek to better the lives of slum dwellers. With the help of donors from Italy he has managed to tarmac the main road that cuts through the slum opening it up and making it accessible. “With the tarmac incase of fire, the fire brigade crew is able to access this area. We are so grateful to father for what he has done to us” says Paul a resident. The priest also runs a waste management project where young men and women are employed to recycle waste materials from the nearby Dandora dumpsite. “From this waste management project I earn a living from where am able to feed my family” says Wanjiku who makes beads from the waste plastic materials. Fr John has also helped many youths go back to school especially young girls who had dropped out of school because of early pregnancies. He has built three primary schools, a health centre and several water kiosks for the dwellers.
He continues to champion for the relocation of the nearby Dandora dumpsite through a campaign dubbed “stop dumping death on us” The missionary who has worked in the Korogocho slums since 2005 says he has seen a lot of positive change. “I have seen youths leave crime, prostitution, and other evil things that happen here, they have embraced a good life where they are earning a honest living from now.” Fr John’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2012 Fr he won the inaugural Franco-German Human Rights award, for being a champion of human rights. According to him, this gave him the platform to be able to tell the story of Korogocho to the world. “I was the first Kenyan to get this award .Through this award; I had a chance of making Korogocho known to the world” He however does not have kind words for organizations that he says misuse slum dwellers. “Every year the government and non governmental organizations get a lot of donor money to start projects to empower these people but most of the time it goes to the wrong pockets and the little that they are given is in form of handouts so as to cheat donors when they come around .This is why the slums keep on increasing day in day out,” he laments. According to Fr John the Church should follow the example of Pope Francis and enhance pastoral life within the slums. People should not see the slums as places of violence and crime as people in the slum are much alive in terms of their faith. “We have a Pope who thinks of the people in the slums .This a revolution and we are expecting a lot of support from the Church now,” he concludes.
People scavenging at the Dandora dumpsite
A young man at the Waste Management plant where refuse from the Dandora dumpsite is recycled acting as a source of employment for the slum dwellers.
THE SEED - VOL 25, No. 8, AUGUST 2013
25