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    Mathare Slum is one of the oldest and the worst slums in Africa.

    Situated three miles east of Nairobi city’s central business district, Mathare slum is home to over 700,000 people occupying an area of two miles long by one mile wide

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    Children and youth

    The children and youth in Mathare slums live under pathetic conditions.Most of the children come from single parented homes, while others come from very poor families since their parents are sick, unemployed or underemployed. Orphans who are helpless after both or one of their parents die of HIV-Aids or other causes are forced to face the harsh reality of unbearable slum life. These children and youth have no one to care for them in this dangerous slum.

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    No Municipal Services

    There is a high risk of fire in Mathare and Nairobi’s slums andrural informal settlements because homes are poorly constructed and the materials used are of inferior quality. In addition, people live in overcrowded conditions; and electricity connections, where they exist, are often unsafe. The absence of proper roads made it difficult for fire services to reach the informal settlements and lack of ready access to water contributed to fires spreading between houses and other structures extremely quickly.

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    What are Slums like?

    Many families of five or more adults and children live in small shacks about three meters square madeof mud, sticks, cardboard and flattened tins. The wall of one shack is the same for the next. The homes have no water, no electricity, no toilets, no garbage collection and no sewage lines. When itrains, the roof leaks. Rainwater often pours through the roof and walls. On sunny days it is still toodark to read or do schoolwork inside. As the sun is too hot outside, they cook inside on small charcoalstoves. Although they have little worth stealing, as soon as it gets dark they must lock their doors.

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    Biggest Worry

    In the Slums and Rural areas cannot afford to be sick or to get proper treatment when they are. Water is also a big problem. People must buy their water in 10-20 litercontainers and carry them home, that is the same as 1-2 flushes of a toilet but it has to last their families for a whole day or more. They even pay more per liter for our water than the rich people who get it through their taps. A lot of sickness is caused by too little water or too much water. When it rains a lot, the water flows through the garbage and human waste, down the hill and through their homes. Then they are surrounded by contaminated water and many kids get sick and die. AIDS is also a serious threat.

Welcome to CSRD

"It is Hope for the Children of Mathare" The establishment of the Center for Social and Rural Development, Inc

The establishment of the CSRD indicates an intention to share the work of CSRD more widely, to attempt to disseminate and promote its approach to the benefit of a wider group of people - both practitioners and organizations.

By forming ourselves into a Center for Social and Rural Development we are bringing to the communities a resource to help rural people and communities develop.

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Mathare Valley, part of the bigger Mathare, lies in the east of Nairobi. Mathare forms the most famous, largest uncontrolled urban settlements in the city, reaching staggering densities of 1,250 people per hectare.

Mathare is a collection of slums in Nairobi, Kenya with a population of approximately 500,000 people;

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