St. Catherine is located in the west of Kibera, the biggest slum in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and one of the biggest slums in the whole of Africa. The slum is approximately the size of New York’s Central Park, and its population is broadly estimated between 200,000 and 1,000,000 — no official count exists. The UN estimates there are between 500,000 and 700,000 inhabitants. The majority of the residents live in 10×10-foot tin shacks with up to 7 other people. There are many international Organizations which try to improve the people’s situation. UN-Habitat built latrines, so that 50 inhabitants can share one on average. Doctors-without-borders are located there, as well as US AID and other aid-Organizations. The conditions are critical, because more and more people are constantly moving to Nairobi in search of jobs. Every year, the number of inhabitants in Nairobi increases between 5-10%. Now populated with around 4 Million people, this means that Nairobi is going to reach 10 Million inhabitants around the year 2025, while counting just 3,000 inhabitants in the year 1906.
This huge influx of people cannot be handled by the city any more. Furthermore the area around Nairobi is mostly closed with buildings, so that there is no space for small vegetable or animal farming. The consequences are massive areas of poverty, leaded by Kibera. To give the children of Kibera a hopeful future, education is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately there is just a small supply of education, at the same time the number of children per family is very high. Getting no support from the Government, their only hopes are self-help groups and support by outsiders. One of the biggest self-helped groups in Kibera is St. Catherine, where help is urgently needed.