LIFE UNDER CURFEW
A story of a community under threat that came together
"When Covid became a crisis in Kenya, life became terrible”, said Sharon Mwenesi, a social justice activist from Korogocho, Nairobi.
The coronavirus pandemic hit Kenya really hard.
The already fragile communities were affected the most, especially those living in informal settlements in and around Nairobi such as Mathare, Dandora and Mukuru.
Many residents who live here do domestic work in other areas of the city, but they were laid off because their employers were afraid they would infect them with the Coronavirus.
For those who still had a job, unreliable public transport made commuting home after work a big risk due to curfew restrictions.
The police officers enforcing the curfew would often impose cruel punishments, ask for bribes, or make arrests without any considerations.
A survey conducted by our teams at the Social Justice Center Working Group between April 15th and May 6th 2020 revealed horrific numbers behind these stories.
Out of 1,034 people interviewed
659 said they had observed police using violence to enforce curfew.
The majority of the reports came from the capital Nairobi.
1,444 people were reported injured in these situations, most of them in the Mukuru, Kibera and Mathare informal settlements.
57 people were reported killed.
And that's only the deaths covered in our survey, there may be more.
Out of the 876 of the 1,043 respondents who reported additional security concerns during the curfew period,
33% mentioned police brutality or extortion as their primary worry.
An additional 24% were concerned about violence and unrest in the community.
Other concerns included weak security measures, lack of basic supplies and well-being of fellow community members.
But it’s not been all bleak.
There’s been a lot of kindness and sharing in our communities and help to those in need during this terrible time.
Tailors based in the informal settlements produced affordable face masks long before public health officials started offering them.
Local artists painted vivid murals on walls and other public surfaces to remind people to wash hands, wear masks and keep social distance.
Various community-based organizations and NGOs also started sensitizing people on the COVID-19 protocols, set up handwashing stations and facilities where residents were using—most of whom have no running water at home.
To share these data insights about the life under Covid-19 curfews with our communities, we collaborated with Data4Change.
Data4Change is a non-profit that supports and collaborates with civil society organizations to create data-driven storytelling projects and campaigns.
They run a data fellowship followed by a data stories program every year.
In 2021 two of our colleagues at the Social Justice Centre — Stephen Mwangi and Antony Adoyo — participated in these programs.
They learned how to analyze and visualize data, and worked on how to communicate the data back to the community.
Meet 2 more of the #D4CMarimekkos Data Fellows: (L) @antonyadoyo and (R) @Kenyanmwangi1 from @MathareSJustice will apply their new data skills to seek social justice for people living in Mathare, one of the largest and most misunderstood slums in Nairobi. pic.twitter.com/p4jZEcuajC
— data4change (@data4change) July 23, 2021
When Covid-19 restrictions eased up we had a chance to do something unusual and special with the data, so we decided to organize an in-person data-inspired event.
The members of the Social Justice Centre giving speeches to the event participants.
At this event, which was held on 19 November 2021 in the Dandora Ward, our community members discussed their grievances and sought lasting solutions to problems faced because of Covid-19.
Women from the Mothers of Victims and Survivors network dancing at the Dandora event.
They were also able to express their anger, frustration, hopes and dreams through dancing, rap and chants.
The participants dancing and chanting along with local rappers.
The Social Justice Centre is a safe space where community members can come to start dealing with the traumatic things that they experienced during the pandemic.
The convenor of the Social Justice Centre having a good time with community members.
Watch the full video of the event below, and then keep reading to find out more.
The members of the Social Justice Centre giving speeches to the event participants.
The members of the Social Justice Centre giving speeches to the event participants.
Women from the Mothers of Victims and Survivors network dancing at the Dandora event.
Women from the Mothers of Victims and Survivors network dancing at the Dandora event.
The participants dancing and chanting along with local rappers.
The participants dancing and chanting along with local rappers.
The convenor of the Social Justice Centre having a good time with community members.
The convenor of the Social Justice Centre having a good time with community members.
When people get together, they are able to heal
Stephen Kinuthia Mwangi
Legal Coordinator at the Social Justice Centre
We created three murals at the Dandora Social Justice Centre headquarters.
First, we visualized the 2020 survey data on the number of people arrested,
injured and killed because of the violent enforcement of Covid-19 curfews in 2020.
Then, we prepared a space for the participants to show who helped them during this difficult period.
They painted colorful hearts to thank health workers, teachers, police officers,
non-profit organizations,
and their friends and neighbors.
The finished mural shows that NGOs, health workers, and friends and neighbours played a key role in people’s lives during the pandemic.
We created three murals at the Dandora Social Justice Centre headquarters.
First, we visualized the 2020 survey data on the number of people arrested,
injured and killed because of the violent enforcement of Covid-19 curfews in 2020.
Then, we prepared a space for the participants to show who helped them during this difficult period.
They painted colorful hearts to thank health workers, teachers, police officers,
non-profit organizations,
and their friends and neighbors.
The finished mural shows that health workers,
NGOs,
and friends and neighbours played a key role in people’s lives during the pandemic.
Finally, we installed an interactive data visualization mural where participants used coloured ropes to answer a survey about how they feel about their neighborhoods.
First, participants filled in the survey on paper. Questions included where they lived, their age, if they trust the police in their community, if they feel safe in their community, and if they want to make their community a safer place to live.
Second, they were then asked to draw lines between the answers on the paper, visualizing the path of their responses.
Each participant was then given a rope. The color of the rope was based on the gender identity they felt most comfortable with.
They would then string their rope between the data points that we had painted and nailed onto the wall.
Together the strings showed a pattern for how participants from different age groups and areas feel about their neighborhoods.
Let’s show you how it works! Participants started visualizing their data by filling in their location and age on the left…
and continued towards the right.
At the end more than 80 people had contributed to the mural and visualized their own data.
Bringing the data to the community had an even bigger impact than we had expected.
As Stephen said:
"It’s a very powerful way of connecting communities that have been victimised and marginalised. Instead of people publishing books that community members are not able to access or read, we put these books on walls, and people can now read them and share the knowledge."
We hope to achieve change by spreading the message about the event.
Our story has already caught the attention of some of the most popular community radio stations — Ghetto Fm, Mataani Fm and Koch Fm.
To help us spread the word even further, share this article with your own community members!
If you have any questions about the event or would like to get involved, reach out to the Social Justice Centre or Data4Change.
This story is a collaborative production between the Social Justice Centres Working Group and Data4Change, as part of Data4Change's Data Stories Programme, which was funded by Small Media and Omidyar Network.
Credits: Senior Data Researcher, Evelina Judeikyte; Data Associate, Richie Akparuorji; Graphic Designer, Surasti Puri; Journalist, Frenny Jowi; Photographer, Solomon Nzioki; Videographer, Katei Bonnie.
Built with Shorthand