Dailymail, a UK publication the other day ran a story: The brutal reality of life on Nairobi’s streets: The pictures that reveal the hardships of Kenya’s capital where gun crime is rife and young girls are forced to turn to prostitution.
Interestingly, it was published at a time when Nairobi was hosting one of the most iconic leaders of our time, Pope Francis. The timing of the negative pictorial was of course meant to water down the City’s successful hosting of the Pontiff and it made Western readers, a majority from UK happy. They were happy to call Kenya a basket case, calling Nairobi the most dangerous city and practically saying we need to be re-colonised to get any sort of progress, or happiness.
It is a fact that Nairobi is not perfect. It has got it’s share of problems, just like any other City. However, crime, drugs, prostitution is worse in most of the Western cities than it will ever be in Nairobi. We are amateurs when it comes to those vices.
Unlike what the West populace would like us believe, there is more strife on their polished streets than there is on the backstreet of Nairobi, or Dar es Salam, or Kampala. To prove this point, here is a compilation of pictures to show you the London they never show you as well as the Nairobi they never show you.
DISClAIMER: BUILD254 does not own the pictures used and does not intend to profit from their usage. Credit goes to respective owners.
THE LONDON THEY NEVER SHOW YOU
This is not a street in Nairobi or Accra…it is London itself, but would they want you to see this?
…and neither is this. Still in London…
And getting bloody is not exclusive to African cities…
3 bedroom, Ksh3 million in 3 weeks -the Koto magic
It can get crammed too…
Let not the British cops’ medieval looks fool you, they can be brutal, just like our very own, but will they acknowledge that?
Question: Do you think these girls in the streets of London are going for a Bible study? Justify your answer…15mks
And these?
Thought we were done with this sort…
Now, if the mean police don’t get you, these idiots will. But, the streets of London are spotless…
Yes, these are people, spending the night on corridors, and you still think you got it rough in Nairobi?
Homelessness has little respect for anyone…
Not gender…
Not age…
In fact, the ‘sophisticated’ and ‘civilised’ cities are meanest to their elderly…
You age, you are thrown into a home full of strangers or the street bench…
Your family that ‘feels sorry’ for the ‘poverty’ in African cities would not be bothered with the inconveniences of caring for their elderly…
This is affluence, a side Londoners will overlook while pointing fingers…
And when winter hits, you’ve got to walk under your bed…
Yet, according to DM et al, such desolate pictures can ONLY be found in cities like Nairobi
They walk past but surprisingly do not see the mess right in front of them…
But isorait!…
THE NAIROBI THEY NEVER SHOW YOU
It is true that our cities are plagued with their own sort of problems, just like any other. But does the Western media has to only focus on that? Nairobi, for example is an amazing city and below is evidence…
Contrary to what DM et al would like their readers believe, Nairobi is not made up of three huts and a jungle…
It is a beautiful city that, yes, runs on electricity…
It is beautiful during the night…
And even under the sun’s glare…
Those are water lilies floating on the man made lake at Uhuru Park…
And yes, you can enjoy boat rides on it…
…or you can just soak in the purple awesomeness
If you look over the lioness’ back, you can see the city outline. Yes, we are guarded by Simba and co.
And giraffes at Nairobi National Park can pose for a picture
And our girls are beautiful…
I mean really beautiful…
If you care to share this with Americans, we don’t sleep on trees…
You can get an awesome apartment in a gated community…
…or if your pocket allows, you can get an amazing villa…
in any of the numerous outstanding neighbourhoods…
…or book into some astonishing lodges…
to those who said Nairobi hasn’t moved an inch since they left it 50 years ago…I say we have built a few stuff…
Our highways may not be as huge as yours but we do not need them your size…
As I said, we are not in competition with your cities…
They take us from A-B…
Our buildings have grown taller too…
Not anywhere as tall as yours but they serve our purpose…
And they are beautiful, may I add…
…but the most amazing thing about Nairobi…and African cities in general…it is HER PEOPLE…
We are a bunch of amazingly happy people…
Your sympathies are misdirected because our laughter is genuine…
You need a smile, we give you one…
That is not a face of material wealth, it is a face of genuine happiness
Really, we are a jovial lot…
It starts at an early age…
Ask one Obama, he recently discovered what he has missed for 50 years…
We are playful too…
Accommodative…
Creative…
We love our wild animals…
…are proud of our cultures…
And fiercely patriotic…
…point is, Africa has her challenges, but that is not all there is in the continent. There is more good than bad. But foreign media chooses to report on just the bad. It just is not fair. Travel and experience. KENYA HAKUNA MATATA!
