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ANYANGO:
A FEMALE HOUSEHOLD HEAD
Anyango
[not her real name] is a 45-year-old lady living in two rooms of
about 10 by 8 feet (3mx2.5m) in Korogocho. She and her husband
were living in their rural home, but due to acute suffering and
lack of basic necessities, they decided to move to Nairobi in
search of greener pastures in 1983. She joined her husband who
had come to Nairobi earlier and settled in the same slum, where
they currently live. Her intention was to engage in small-scale
economic activities in order to supplement her husband’s
income. He was a casual labourer in a construction firm. A single
lady who did not have any dependants initially accommodated her.
The lady has since died.
A large part of Anyango’s
life has been occupied by working as a house help for different
middle and upper income families in Nairobi. She has no formal
education and could not get any formal employment. Her husband
has been co-operative as Anyango goes to work for other families.
He takes care of the children while she is away. As the number of
children increased with the birth of a grandchild, she had to
stop being employed as house help and engage in small-scale
enterprise. This also allowed her to take care of the children.
She has several dependants: her husband, 4 children, a
grandchild, and two brothers. The family lives in two rooms
constructed of mud walls, plastered floor and an old rusty
corrugated iron sheet roof. What serves as a seating room has 4
wooden stools, a wooden table and a bed at the far end. The other
room is used as kitchen and bedroom for the children. It had an
old mattress on the floor where all the children sleep. One child
was seated on the floor doing homework while another
four-year-old boy was washing plates on the floor. Anyango used
to save about Ksh. 500 per month during her employment. She used
the savings for starting her business in 1984, after leaving
employment and she began with a grocery kiosk but has been
changing the type of business according to demand. At the time of
the interview she was selling boiled maize, yoghurt, fresh milk
and vegetables. Anyango spends Ksh. 600, 2000 and 2000 on rent,
food and medical bills respectively per month. She also spends
Ksh 350 per month for the three children who are in primary
school. The two in lower classes pay Ksh. 100 each while one in
upper primary pays Ksh. 150. She is a member of a selfhelp
women’s group, which is strong and presents dances at
political rallies. The interview took place when she had just
arrived from a political rally organised by the ruling
party.
Occasionally she borrows money from the group.
Anyango enjoys a good relationship with her neighbours. In
particular, there are three other households within her area with
which she has close associations and they always assist each
other when there is need. There were no windows in any of
the rooms, and the rooms were extremely dark. A little tin lamp
had to be lit to facilitate the in-depth discussion. Sanitation
around the house was poor, no drainage but
a stagnant and stinking trench, with rubbish strewn around the
house. Anyango prefers to live in a slum because the rents are
low and the cost of food is also reasonable. Although she lives
in a congested environment, in her rural home she has a 1 acre
piece of land, which is not used. What she referred to as a
bathroom was a makeshift corner, covered with plastic paper with
a sewage with a wooden structure put on top. The family shared a
toilet with several other households. Discussions indicated that
the toilet often gets full and those who use it join hands to
drain it physically, by using a plastic container on a drum which
is disposed of by handcart. There is a water point near the house
provided through a joint effort of the Kenya Government and some
Australian donors. Water costs Ksh. 2 per 20-litre container.
There are six general grocery shops within the vicinity
selling most of the family’s requirements. Anyango observed
that there used to be many bars around the house but these had
been closed down due to insecurity. There are many health and
educational facilities within the vicinity, which are
profitmaking and are accessible so long as one can pay. The only
nearby public school is expensive and admission is not easy to
get. Anyango lamented three problems in the slums: the level of
insecurity within the slums, poor sanitation and congestion. She
noted “there is constant theft regardless of time –
the only advantage of living in slums is just cheap housing and
cheap food prices”. Her final comment was that these
advantages “can cost one their life as insecurity is too
great”. She aspires to save money and be able to invest and
educate her children. She does not want her children to have a
bad future similar to the one she experiences due to lack of
education. She noted that adequate savings will not only enable
her to educate her children but she will also be able to build a
house in her rural home, purchase livestock and install a posho
mill.
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