Named after one of the Masaii tribes in the area, Kaputiei was conceived from Ingrid’s belief that “you can’t move out of poverty if you are living in hell.” The land for Kaputiei was acquired through great travail (and that is a story all on its own) in 2002 and is located a little over an hour’s drive outside of Nairobi. It is surrounded by open plains and refreshingly free of the noise and pollution of the city.

The town is laid out into neighborhoods and will eventually be comprised of some 10,000 people living in about 2000 homes. If you are familiar with Habitat for Humanity that is a good comparison: simple affordable homes, spaces for gardens and small yards, local building materials, and sweat equity put in by the new homeowners. In the case of Kaputiei, the bricks and roof tiles are made out of sand, aggregate, and cement in an on-site factory by the homeowners and local hires. Although this is affordable housing, it remains out of reach for the very poor and this is one of issues that keeps Ingrid awake at night and searching for tenable housing solutions for those still on the lower rungs of the ladder out of poverty.

“Martin (left) and Evans (right)”
Photographed by Malcolm King-Fontana

Each house has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen with a sink with running water (coal stoves are used), and a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower. All the rooms have solar light. There is a water recycling plant that cleans the waste water through a series of filtering processes and then pipes clean, grey-water back to the town to be used to flush toilets and irrigate gardens. Clean water is drawn from huge bore wells underground and because the water is being recycled there is not concern about the aquifers being drained.  During our visit we found out that because of water being diverted for construction, residents don’t have access to running water during the day so they must rely on water tanks or wait until evenings and early mornings for running water.

“Kaputiei Kitchen”
Photographed by Malcolm King-Fontana

Kaputiei has a primary and secondary school as well as an orphanage that is currently home to 36 boys. They would like to add a girl’s home as well but haven’t been able to raise the funds. Most of the boys living there met Ingrid when they were living on the streets, some of them when they were as young as four or five and now they are about to graduate from high school. After graduating, finding sponsors for the kids to go on to college is exceedingly challenging and many are unable to attend university. Apparently getting grants and loans for college is quite difficult and the system is rife with corruption and red-tape.

We spent the afternoon visiting with the boys who live at the boy’s home, two of whom I met during my trip in 2010 and have kept in touch with, eating ugali and chard, and being treated to a drum and dance performance. Martin is an amazing drummer and a serious student, orphaned at four or five years old. He doesn’t know who his parents were or exactly when and where he was born. He is praying to be able to attend college and pursue studies in law. Evans is a very talented football player and fervently wants to go to college to study journalism.

“Claris with her granddaughter at her shop in Kaputiei”
Photographed by Malcolm King-Fontana

Though both of these young men, nearly finished with high school, were rescued from the unimaginable circumstances of very young kids on the street, their concern about their futures was palatable. Because of the extreme funding shortages, lack of space, and orphaned kids in need of a home, once the kids living at the orphanage complete high school they have to leave Kaputiei. The likelihood of a relative or benefactor to assist them with college is slim to none and the ability to find work that could finance going to school is improbable. Most of them do not have relatives with whom they can live. Essentially, they will be back on the streets with all of the dangers that entails. These young people are so willing and studious and resourceful and so passionate in their desire to live meaningful lives and to contribute to their communities, it is painful to the point of despair to consider their future possibilities. But that is an indulgence I think is very unfair given their tenacious hope and effort and one I believe we ought not succumb to even when the light seems very dim indeed.

When we listen deeply and ask real questions, as Fran Peavey suggests, “we can work to dissolve individual and collective denial and help reveal the profound uncertainty that is embedded in all reality.” And, I would add, the opportunities to be surprised by both sorrow and joy, the full Monty. Uncertainty leaves space for possibility. I am asking myself about ways that I want to show up in my life that may directly and indirectly create a more equitable world. That ought to keep me busy for the rest of my days…

“The drummers and dancers of Kaputiei”
Photographed by Malcolm King-Fontana