A young woman steals her way down darkened passages in Korogocho --
one of Kenya's largest slums. Crime, prostitution and drug use are
rampant in the locality where a quarter of a million people reside and
the young woman's eyes dart around erratically on the lookout for
danger.
It should be one of the
happiest days of her life -- she is pregnant and has just gone into
labor. She is also one of the fortunate few that can afford to go to
hospital. Some women face a homebirth where, instead of medical
equipment, they must make do with cotton wool and razorblades. But the
journey to hospital leaves her vulnerable to opportunistic assault.
For Aggrey Otieno, a
human rights activist, this scenario is exactly what he is trying to
prevent. A facilitator of social change, he has dedicated his life to
improving the living conditions -- especially for women and children --
in the Kenyan slum where he spent his childhood.
"Korogocho has been in
the news for all the bad things ... HIV/AIDS is very rampant. People who
do drugs are here. People who do prostitution are here," says Otieno.
"It is our responsibility who stay in the slum, to bring the change that
we want."
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