KENYA: Descendents of Sudanese WWII soldiers celebrate Ramadan in Kenya's biggest slum

Record ID: 361835

  • Title: KENYA: Descendents of Sudanese WWII soldiers celebrate Ramadan in Kenya's biggest slum
  • Date: 11th August 2011
  • Summary: THE OUTSIDE OF NUBIAN RESIDENT MINARA BACHU'S HOUSE BEANS COOKING OUTSIDE THE HOUSE VARIOUS OF MINARA BACHU AND HER FAMILY MEMBERS COOKING FOOD FOR THE BREAKING OF THE RAMADAN FAST (SOUNDBITE) (English) MINARA BACHU, NUBIAN RESIDENT SAYING: "You tend to sacrifice yourself entirely to God, you fast from dawn to sunset, no eating, drinking, nothing, and you keep praying,
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: People,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAEBQGNAISD3BWQUHCVDDP50XK3
  • Story Text: Five times a day during Ramadan, Zena Bashir, an elderly resident of Kenya's biggest slum, Kibera washes herself before going to the mosque to pray.
    She comes from the Nubian community of Kibera, decedents of Sudanese soldiers who fought with the British in the Second World War.
    One hundred years after settling, Nubians in Kibera are still fighting for recognition as an official tribe or community in Kenya. They say the land given to Sudanese soldiers by the British army was there's before it became the sprawling slum it is today.
    But despite losing much of their land to other settlers, Zena says Nubian customs have been kept alive.
    "I live here, I was born here, my mum my dad and my children we all live here. We don't have any other place we can go to, this is our home for us and our children. Nairobi is our home," she said.
    During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Zena joins the rest of Kibera's large Muslim population in prayer at the central mosque.
    As women and young children flood into the upstairs of the building, the voice of the local Imam rings out across the neighbourhood reminding those who are fasting that resisting from food brings them closer to God.
    Nubian community leader Ibrahim Athman Said, says living in a place like Kibera where poverty is so close at hand, makes celebrating Ramadan even more important.
    "So Ramadan is very important because during Ramadan which is also a way of coming into peace with those who are poor because you have money but you are denying yourself it but there are people who don't have money, who don't have food to eat and you are meant to feel how they go about their daily affairs," he said.
    Kibera, which has over 170,000 residents is the second largest urban slum in Africa and one of Kenya's poorest neighbourhoods.
    Which is why Said says Nubians in Kibera often end up giving money to their Muslim and Christian neighbours in the slum during and after fasting.
    As dusk falls over the tin roofs and dusty streets of Kibera, Nubian communities gather to prepare for Iftar, the daily breaking of the Ramadan fast.
    Smoke wafts from the chimneys of every compound where traditional Nubian food is prepared for the night time feast.
    Minara Bachu, says the process of fasting, praying and then eating helps bring the community together in faith.
    "You tend to sacrifice yourself entirely to God, you fast from dawn to sunset, no eating, drinking, nothing, and you keep praying, your faith really improves and increases," Bachu said.
    By the time darkness falls her family has already tucked in to plates piled high with meat samosas, dates, potato rostis and fragrant rice.
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