PBI-Switzerland screens ‘Nairobi Half Life’ in Bern with Kenyan human rights defenders

On December 11, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project posted, “Yesterday, on International Human Rights Day, PBI Switzerland organized a public screening of ‘Nairobi Half Life’ in Bern.”

PBI-Kenya notes, “’Nairobi Half Life’ is about the struggle for survival of young men and women from poor backgrounds who try to find a decent life in Nairobi but often end up in criminal activities for lack of opportunities.”

Their post adds, “The movie was followed by a panel discussion with Rahma Wako from Mathare Social Justice Centre and Samuel Kiriro from Ghetto Foundation who are currently on a speaker tour in Switzerland.”

Rahma is a human rights defender, an advocate against gender-based violence and works with the Mathare Social Justice Centre. Samuel is the co-founder of the Ghetto Foundation, “a community-based organisation set up by a group of young people in Mathare ghetto, Nairobi, Kenya, who have been able to escape a life of crime.”

After the screening, PBI-Switzerland posted, “An exciting conversation last night following the film ‘Nairobi Half Life’ at the cinema REX Bern. The two Kenyan activists Rahma Wako and Samuel Kiriro shared their basic human rights work in the slums of Nairobi.”

To see a trailer for ‘Nairobi Half Life’, please click here.

Nairobi’s informal settlements include Mathare, Kibera and Dandora. A crucial issue in these settlements is the extrajudicial (police) killings of young people.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has highlighted, “Living conditions are shocking and intolerable [in these settlements]. Residents often live without water and sanitation and are in constant fear of eviction.”

The PBI Annual Review notes that in 2018, “Four international volunteers accompanied members of two grassroots organisations and twenty-nine human rights defenders working in the Nairobi’s urban settlements and the Mount Kenya region.”

PBI established the Kenya Project in December 2012.