Joseph Mazige
18 June 2008
Kampala — Loud music, noisy children, drunkards and a host of ducks welcome you as you make your way to Soweto slum. The other welcome note is Karibu (welcome) to a drinking spree.
The eastern Uganda slum, probably named after South Africa's Soweto slum, just like any other slum world-over, is inhabited by people who make the bulk of the urban poor.
According to the United Nations Habitat, a slum is defined as place of residence lacking one or more of the five things: Durable housing, sufficient living area, access to improved water, access to sanitation and secure tenure.
Soweto is located at the extreme east of Jinja Municipality and has a population of over 5,000 people living in the worst situation.
I set off at 9.41a.m.
on a Saturday to get a feel of the life in this slum. It had rained the previous night - the paths were not only muddy and slippery but produced a stench I have not encountered in a long time. Children between the ages of five and 15 loiter around while most adults are busy either selling local brew or drinking it.
"When I first came here, I was shocked on seeing the kind of life these people led. Today, I'm not and I know what to do with them," said Dr Janet Power, a volunteer doctor in the slum.
Mary Teresa Kafuko, a social worker with the Catholic Diocese of Jinja, who has worked in this community for years says the living conditions have not changed due to the influx.
"As we try to take up the challenge within the slum, more people come in. The number keeps increasing. This place is like a camp for displaced persons and the leaders are not bothered about their (people's) plight," she says.
The majority of the people in Soweto slum hail from northern Uganda - running away from Joseph Kony's LRA rebel insurgency, according to Ms Kafuko. It should however be noted that there's been relative peace in the northern region for over two years following the peace talks between the rebels and the government in Juba, Southern Sudan.
"People out there do not know how bad the situation is in this place and the President should come and see some of the people he leads and the life they lead," she says, adding that the government should come up with a scheme to provide low income housing for people in the slums.
When the Catholic Diocese started a project for the slum dwellers to start small businesses, the response was good and a number of women are now engaged in income-generating activities.
Nothing is planned in Soweto - especially not the housing.
There are several routes crisscrossing each other and a host of mud and wattle houses, most of which are roofed with papyrus or grass. God knows what would happen if a fire broke out.
An average grass-thatched hut here goes for Shs3,000 a month and the few rooms covered with iron sheets cost Shs5,000 in rent per month. The slum is also congested and due to the high poverty levels, at least two families of about 10 members pool resources and share one hut. But that's not the only problem.
According to Ms Kafuko, the crime rate in the slum is on the high, especially because of alcoholism. She says she works closely with Police to ensure that criminals are brought to book.While people in other communities are busy working to make ends meet, the Soweto inhabitants spend most of their time drinking local potent gins distilled within the slum area.
Spontaneous fights, theft, adultery, drug abuse and defilement are the order of the day. Many women have children whose fathers they claim they do not know.
Sanitation is a big challenge to the progress of the UN Millennium Development Goal of achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers by 2020. Bathrooms are in a sorry state with stinking waste water due to lack of proper drainage channels.
Whenever it rains, a strong stench engulfs the whole slum area and the neighbouring suburbs like Walukuba Housing Estate.
Illness and deaths are rife in Soweto due to the poor sanitation. There are a few ramshackle one-stance latrines and use of these is restricted. Some people share one communal. The rest of the community uses polythene bags and the waste is littered all over the place in addition to that of the children who neither go to the toilets nor use polythene bags.
The wanting health facilities and an outbreak of an epidemic is another threat following the heavy rains. Burials are made right here. Several graves could be seen near homesteads or within some compounds. "We cannot transport bodies to the villages. You just have to bury next to your house," says Clement Onyango, who has been a resident of Soweto Slum since 1993.
A team of volunteers was here last year to give free medical treatment to the people especially the children and pregnant women. The common diseases here include malaria, fevers, skin diseases and intestinal worms. The doctors, led by Drs Janet Power and Mark Russell both from England are from the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO).
Expectations of better access to education are however unmet, for most slum-dwellers rejected the nearby primary school, Masese Co-Education, saying it belonged to the Karimojong community living nearby.
Despite the circumstances and complexity, life goes on in Jinja's Soweto slum.
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