Is This A Sure Foundation?

What do the poor people living in a slum in Kampala, Uganda use for a foundation for their mud homes?

Rock? Wrong.

Sand? Wrong.

Concrete? Wrong.

Garbage? Yes!

In all my travels to Kampala and all the times I have walked through the slums, I had never been told that some of the poor living in these slums used garbage for a foundation, nor had I seen houses built on garbage foundations – until this April. Until I walked deep into the slum Natete with Benon and Joseph.

Natete is a large slum on the edge of Kampala that floods every time it rains. The poorest live in the lowest sections of this slum and their homes constantly flood. If it begins to rain in the middle of the night, they have to hurriedly move out of their homes to beat the flood water. There is no relief. As soon as the flood waters recede, they move back until the next rain comes.

And this flood water that fills their homes is not pure and clean. It is filled with pollutants and what ever else your imagination can dream up. Toilets are flooded and all that refuse is flushed out and sent downstream into homes. I have actually seen a dead goat floating down a large ditch overflowing with flood waters. The living conditions are beyond horrible. I know of nothing to compare this with in the US. The human suffering in Katrina and Nashville do not compare. Life is not fair.

So, these poor people use garbage for foundations. Why? First, it elevates the house a little. Maybe some of the flood waters will not make it into their homes. Second, its permeable. The waters can seep through it and move on. Third, they can afford it. They actually spend a few schillings to have garbage brought in and dumped where they want to build.

Pray for these people in Natete. Life is hard. Relief is no where to be found. And there are very few to no options?

IMFC and Manna Ministry will begin work in this section of the slum Natete August 2010.