If a picture says a thousand words, I am afraid these cannot begin to describe our short trip into Kibera, the largest slums in Nairobi and in the world for that matter; 1.2 million people live in Kibera. We saw no one over the age of 25 or 30. The adults did not smile but the small children came running up to us smiling to shake our hands and greeting us warmly with the only English phrase they know, "How are you?" We were taught by our guides that the children would not understand any reply other than "fine."

I had seen pictures of Kibera before, both from Matt and on the news during the election violence of Kenya last December and January where over 900 people were killed here. We were taken back by the smell which no picture can describe. I felt like I had been put into a rank garbage can with sewage running down by my feet. All food (fruits, vegatables and raw meat) were covered with flys. Beautiful small babies had clusters of flys on their faces. Our guides told us that no one with sense walks through Kibera at night because of the 'flying toilets.' Imagine if you dare no plumbing, no toilets, only plastic bags filled with human refuge thrown as far as possible in whatever direction and you get the picture of flying toilets. Needless to say the path we walked was covered old plastic bags.

In front of each home, people put up small shops to sell what items they had. These items ranged from clothes and shoes, to food, to old plumbing pipes and fixtures. We only saw one person purchasing anything. The average person here lives on less than one dollar a day and usually eats one meal a day. Medical care is limited if non-existent. One of the LDS Bishop's here in Nairobi grew up in Kibera. He was able to go to school and escape the slum. He now works in Kirbera as a director of a small health clinic called St. MAC (MAC stands for mother and child). This good bishop uses an ultra-sound machine which was donated to him. His clinic is primative and far from the sanitary enviroments we are accostumed to in the US. But in comparison to the rest of Kibera, it is pretty clean. This bishop was actually our guide and he was very interested in our medical backgrounds. He does not have the proper schooling to run an ultrasound machine in America, but he and his small staff of five are doing all they can to improve the lives of the people of Kibera.

We spent about one hour walking through Kibera but are feeling its lasting effects on us since.