Abstract

What is the purpose of and the reason for this research? The main reason for carrying out this research was that I wondered why poverty has not yet been eradicated despite all the possibilities available today. This research looks at one of the constructions for improving the situation of the citizens living in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The constructions, of which there are now 52 in Nairobi, are the bio-centers in the slum areas which all together hold 60% of Nairobi’s 4 million. inhabitants. The bio-centers are sanitation buildings with biogas production under the hygiene floor with its toilets and showers. Above those sanitary facilities, the second floor has meeting rooms or offices. These bio-centers contribute to the development of their area and thus they play a part in eradication of poverty in a broad perspective. Anyone can use the facilities for a small fee, and people can even be allowed in if they request access to toilets and have no money that day.
It is of importance to underline that this work is thought as a set of tools to further develop the use of the bio-centers in Kibera using the conclusions I have found through my analysis They may be used as tools for the people working in Kibera slum on an everyday basis but they may also provide insight knowledge to funding organizations within the field.
This research has been based on empirical data collected on three levels, the users of bio-centers, the employees at the NGO, Umande Trust, and the family with whom I stayed. Focus is on the influence of the bio-centers concerning the inhabitants’ possibilities for development, therefor looking at issues associated with problems as well as those without. To underline the purpose of this work it is important to stress that my aim was to meet the people and talk to them about their everyday life as it is lived in the slum.
The method for doing this was based on qualitative interviews and participatory observations within the field of social science. The gathered data have been sorted, using Barney G. Glaser´s Grounded Theory and as a complementary angle to psychological behavior among the inhabitants Pierre Bourdieu´s social concepts has been used.
The analysis consists of two parts: the first one based primarily on my working questions using the Grounded Theory method to find the concepts connected to my main concern and to see what has improved after the initiation of bio-centers in Kibera and how these concepts are related. In the second part I have primarily used Bourdieu´s social concepts to get a deeper understanding of the underlying psychological patterns connected to culture and tradition, the patterns, which control people and make us behave the way we do.
My problem formulation has been answered on the basis of the empirical data as well as the theories employed.