Student Group Aims To Aid Kenyan Slum

Carolina for Kibera, a nonprofit group founded and directed by senior Rye Barcott, aims to raise funds to launch three projects this summer aimed at enhancing youth culture in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Barcott and senior Nathan Nelson will travel to Kibera in May to oversee the projects, which will establish a nursery school, sports facilities and youth-run businesses in the slum.

Established in January, CFK is a nonprofit, charitable corporation. Barcott said about a dozen students at UNC volunteer with the organization.

"UNC students interested in making a difference in a part of the world which is largely neglected can do so in a very direct way," Barcott said.

Barcott said the organization recently received a $6,000 joint donation from the Office of the University Provost and the University Center for International Studies.

This money will be used for the group's personal expenses such as airfare and brochure production. Barcott said all donations beyond the initial $6,000 will fund the organization's three projects, which will directly benefit residents of Kibera.

Barcott said CFK needs an additional $20,000 to fund these three projects and that the group has raised about one-fifth of the total so far. The main activity of CFK now is sending out letters to potential donors, including faculty and administrators at UNC who are familiar with CFK.

Barcott said Kibera, which is the largest slum in East Africa, is roughly the size of the UNC campus but squeezes in 1 million to 1.3 million people.

He said the slum is split into distinct "villages" -- clusters with political boundaries -- defined by their ethnic compositions. This segregation has caused the emergence of ethnic riots over the past 10 years, Barcott said.

"Kibera is known in African academic circles because of these riots," he said.

Because half of Kibera's population is under age 15, CFK's three projects are aimed at improving youth culture.

These three projects, designated as nongovernmental organizations, are intended to empower youth in Kibera. "There's so many stereotypes about the slums that are exaggerated and false and help keep the youth disenfranchised from all social, economic and political systems," Barcott said.

Professor James Peacock, director of the University Center for International Studies, serves as a member of CFK's board of trustees. Peacock said the organization is a worthy effort, especially considering the nature of the group.

"(CFK's members) are the same age as the people they're working with," Peacock said. "Therefore, they may have an effect that older and more distant organizations will not have. (CFK) is close-up -- they're working and living right there in Kibera."

Barcott is optimistic about CFK's potential. "Your initial response is to be overwhelmed, and you think that there is nothing you can do," he said.

"But when you've been there awhile, there's a sense of hope that you can do something positive by offering resources. And that's what Carolina for Kibera is going to do."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.