The Kids from Kibera My Life

You ready?

-My name is Alex Ochieng.

-My name is Bophine Ochieng.

BOTH: And we live in Chocolate City.

MUSIC: Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes by Paul Simon

It's called the Chocolate City because when it rains,

the streets turn to liquid mud.

But most people know it as Kibera slum.

A million people live here, and thousands of us are kids,

living and playing on the streets.

Some of us even sleep rough.

But that doesn't stop us going to school and getting on in life.

We are dancers. We are acrobats.

We are writers.

'And we know a lot about how to get on in business.'

30, 40. They gave us 25 shillings.

So come and join our adventures on the streets of Africa.

We are the kids from Kibera.

This is our home.

In the heart of Nairobi, Kenya, Kibera slum stretches for miles.

Down a narrow alley is the Fruitful Center.

It's an orphanage and 30 of us live here,

sleeping, eating and playing together.

Meet Beatrice, the lady in charge.

Alex and Bophine, please make sure you shower properly. OK?

She can be pretty scary.

Make sure you shower everywhere.

But she cares for us all.

My name is Bophine, I'm 11 years old and I live in Fruitful Talent Center.

My name is Alex, I am 11 years old and I live in Kibera, Kenya.

These two are new in the orphanage.

Bophine is always laughing now, but he had a tough start to life.

When he was seven, his parents disappeared

in election violence.

He never saw them again.

Bophine ended up alone on the street, but then he met Alex.

Alex had also been living rough after his parents abandoned him.

The boys became best friends.

In Kibera, we survive on the streets by collecting and selling

old plastic bottles.

It's the best way of making money to buy food.

But now they are living in the orphanage,

and every day starts like this.

Moses said to them...

ALL: Moses said to them...

It's really hard to concentrate sometimes,

but some lessons here are really fun.

We are learning how to be acrobats and dancers.

Our star performer is the smallest in the centre.

My name is Tifa, I am seven old years.

I like acrobatics.

Like most of us, Tifa had a really tough start in life.

She was abandoned and left on the street as a toddler.

Jojo is their teacher.

He is the best acrobat in Kibera.

We are rehearsing hard

because, in three days, we are doing our biggest show ever.

World Circus Day is coming.

When Alex and Bophine were on the streets, they slept rough,

and some children still do.

My name is Cleophus and I am 11 years old.

I live under a market stall and sleep in a sack.

I sleep here because I have no parents.

Cleophus was also separated from his parents in the election violence.

He still doesn't know if they are alive or dead.

He lived with an aunt, but she treated him cruelly

and he was forced onto the streets.

I worry about my safety

because there are bad men and dogs around here at night.

For two years, he has been living under the stall.

It's owned by a shopkeeper called Grace.

It's a hard life,

but Cleophus is talented.

He writes stories and songs.

# Holy, holy, holy God's fire

# Let the diamonds go to the fire

# Let them suffer their life on fire

# Say holy, holy, holy God's fire. #

'In the morning, my job is to sweep up all the food

'from the night before,

'then I carry it through the streets of Kibera, then throw it away.'

After breakfast, I get ready for school and pack my bag.

Everything Cleophus owns is here - even his school uniform,

which he washes in the shop every night.

Although he doesn't have much, he wants to do well.

This school was specially set up for street children.

I arrive at school by six o'clock.

Nobody else is there, and it is a good time to practise my reading.

"All through the night,

"Avril counted, but she could not sleep."

Everybody in Kenya learns to speak English, and I am working hard.

Two can go here six times and two can still go here 15.

Give me a hand if you know it.

-13.

-13? Good.

With World Circus Day just three days away,

Tifa and the rest of us have a lot of practising to do.

The acrobat show ends with us making a tower of kids.

It's Tifa's job to climb right to the top.

Most of us are getting there, but where are Alex and Bophine?

They are back on the streets.

When Alex and Bophine were living rough,

they discovered rich people's rubbish

often contains really valuable stuff.

They might get 20 shillings for these shoes -

that's about 15p in the UK.

And there's more.

HE LAUGHS, COINS JANGLE

The dealer's called Mama John

and the boys have known her for years.

4kg of bottles gets 10 shillings - that's 8 pence.

Now for the shoes.

TRANSLATION:

40, 50.

50 bob.

20, 30, 40.

One, two, three, four, five and 50.

-MAN:

-Has it been a good day?

-Yes.

Yeah!

But they had better hurry back before Jojo spots

they are not in the rehearsal.

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

While Alex and Bophine head back to the orphanage,

Cleophus is just leaving his school.

After school, I like to play football.

My favourite teams are Barcelona and Chelsea.

He can't go back to Grace's shop until the evening,

so he needs to find other children to play with.

It's not easy.

Friends are hard to find today.

But if you love football, you'll find playmates somewhere.

That's the thing about Kibera -

there is always someone there for you if you search hard enough.

Kibera is just one part of a much bigger place.

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Most of us kids have never been to the centre.

But for World Circus Day, we will be performing our show

in a big city park.

It's 6am in the orphanage.

There are just two days to go before the big event.

Alex and Bophine are back in their team.

But they'll need to work a bit harder than this.

They'd rather be out hustling.

Tifa is doing really well, though.

GIGGLING

Tifa has also been lined up for a special job.

Tifa, you should be the one in front, you know?

Our old acrobat costumes were ragged and torn,

so we are getting some new ones made from Kenyan flags.

Now, I want all of this material

to be, like, to be full of vests and shorts.

The only thing is, they have to be ready tomorrow.

-What is your name?

-Bophine Ochieng.

But tailors in Kibera are really fast.

They are straight down to work.

As the tailors get busy, Alex and Bophine seize their chance

and slip away for more hustling.

They are not the only kids doing business today.

If they stay, then they will be our friends.

Alex and Bophine should be rehearsing with Jojo

at the orphanage, but this is much more fun.

Business is a bit slow today.

They are planning to trick Mama John.

The can with the stone is hidden in the bottom of the sack.

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

Back at the orphanage, the rehearsal is going well.

Jojo still hasn't spotted Alex and Bophine are missing.

So, we are going to start again from the top,

and I want a strong team that can perform.

Is that OK? So we are going to start again, the song.

SONG PLAYS AGAIN

At Mama John's, it's the moment of truth.

Will she spot the trick?

Bophine is trying to distract her.

Bophine puts the blame on Alex.

They are busted.

But Mama John has a kind heart,

and she is still giving them 25 shillings.

That is the deal I just did.

Tomorrow, I want everyone to be here by 8am.

On the other side of town, we are having a break from rehearsals.

Jojo heads off with Tifa to collect the new costumes.

And Alex and Bophine slip back through the door.

No-one spotted they were missing.

-Hi, Fhundi.

-Hi.

I came to collect the costumes.

15 shirts, 15 shorts, right?

You can count them.

One, two, three, four...

-14?

-15.

-15. Very good, carry these.

Aaacch!

-OK, we go. Thank you, Fhundi.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Are we together? ALL:

-Yes!

You want to plan for tomorrow's show?

OK, we will start with the dance then we come back to the acrobats.

OK, let's start. DJ.

Across Kibera, night is falling and Cleophus heads back to Grace's shop.

In Kenya, it gets dark at six o'clock.

Grace makes me a hot drink and I do my homework.

Since his parents went missing,

Grace is the nearest thing to a mother than Cleophus has.

Grace is the one who is my mother,

because she cares for me a lot.

It is in the evening that I make up my stories and songs.

'It was one evening when the sun was setting and the moon was coming.

'I went to sleep and then I started to see the angels crying for me.

'I was crying with a sad face,

'but then I found my family

'and they went with me to heaven.'

When I grow up, my biggest hope is to be a pilot or a writer,

but at the moment, my biggest hope is to get a proper bed.

ALL: Today is World Circus Day!

Have you done enough practising?

Yes!

Why? I haven't seen anything.

-I am happy...

-..because it is World Circus Day.

What?

-This is World Circus Day.

-..because it is World Circus Day.

-I'm excited...

-I'm excited.

-..and I am happy very well.

I am happy every well.

Jojo gives us a final talk before we set off for the show.

Now, Tifa, tell me, how do you feel about today?

Yes!

Tifa, Alex and Bophine have never left Kibera before.

All right...

The new costumes look great - but how will the performance go?

Bophine seems confident, but we're all really nervous.

It's the fifth World Circus Day, courtesy of Sarakasi.

-And next on stage is...

-Yes?

-..Kibera Fruitful!

CHEERING

Whoa! Yeah, yeah!

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay!

Ay, ay, ay!

CROWD CHEERS Beautiful.

Oh!

It's Tifa's big moment.

Will she make it?

CROWD CHEERS

Well done, Tifa!

Jojo is really pleased with us all.

Thank you very much for working together as a team

and making sure that everything was successful.

Once again, thank you very much! Clap for yourself.

THEY CLAP

So that's us, the kids from Kibera.

And you know what?

Our hopes and dreams aren't that different to yours.

MUSIC: Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes by Paul Simon

And one dream has already come true.

Cleophus' teachers bought him a bed

and he has moved in next to the classroom.

Now he can write his stories under proper light.

So good night, my friends.

Lala salama, as we say in Kibera.