Korogocho is one of the largest slum neighbourhoods of Nairobi, Kenya. Home to 150,000 to 200,000 people pressed into 1.5 square kilometres, northeast of the city centre, Korogocho was founded as a shanty town on the then outskirts of the city.
In 2009 it was estimated to be the fourth largest slum in Nairobi, after Kibera, Mathare Valley and Mukuru kwa Njenga.
Etymology
The name Korogocho is a Swahili term meaning crowded shoulder to shoulder.
Location
Located 11 kilometres northeast of the Nairobi city centre, Korogocho's 1-1.5 square kilometres were originally on government owned land which was a vacant outskirt when it was founded by rural migrants to the city in the 1960s. It borders one of Nairobi's main rubbish dumps, Dandora. Korogocho is an electoral ward within the Ruaraka constituency in Nairobi County, and is divided into nine "villages": Gitathuru, Grogan A and B, Highridge, Kisumu Ndogo, Korogocho A and B, Ngomongo, and Nyayo.
As Korogocho expanded, it grew onto private land, and almost half its land is now owned privately.
Ethnicity
Korogocho residents come from more than thirty ethnic groups, although most are from the Kikuyu, Luo, and Luhya peoples. It is also significant to note large muslim community who are also residents of this area.
Infrastructure
There is little formal infrastructure serving Korogocho's residents. Most housing was built by families living there, and is made of found or recycled materials. Despite this, many of the residents pay land rent for the right to live there. Others pay rent to those who have constructed their habitations. There is no central sewer system or piped fresh water, and crime rates are high. An informal council of elders and chieftaincy, like that found in much of Kenya, also provides land and housing for some widows and others in greater need.
Small scale farming is commonly practiced, despite the crowded conditions. There is no system of street lighting, resulting in increased insecurity and the construction of special lighted safe areas by government and NGOs. There is a Kenyan Police station, along with the chieftaincy at the very centre of Korogocho village. Crime is endemic, and law enforcement in the shanty towns are poor. Organised crime groups are said to operate here. In 2004 the Zambian diplomat Osward Banda was murdered and his five-year-old son, tied to his dead father, was left in his car in a Korogocho street.
Health
With poor infrastructure, few resources, overcrowding, and proximity to the dump, health in Korogocho is poor. Several organisations provide free clinics in the slum, while other organise HIV/AIDS prevention work. The area has been singled out by officials because of high illegal drug and alcohol abuse, and had an estimated 14% HIV infection rate in 2008.
An education centre has been set up in Korogocho called the " Caretakers Orphans Education Centre" CEOC funded by charitable donations in the UK to help HIV orphaned children gain an education,food, and basic medical attention. https://web.archive.org/web/20110129230728/http://thebusinessphone.com/the-caretakers-orphans-education-centre/
Korogocho is one of two informal settlements included in the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS) operated by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) since 2002. The NUHDSS collects data on demographic events (births, deaths, and migrations), health outcomes (morbidity, cause of death through verbal autopsy, child vaccination, and nutrition) and socio-economic outcomes (marriage, education, livelihood, and housing characteristics). It is the source for numerous research publications indexed on the APHRC website. (The other informal settlement included in NUHDSS is Viwandani.)
Development programmes
Slums, covering only 5% of Nairobi, provide homes for 2.5 million Kenyans, well over half the city's entire population. Several large Italian development projects are based in Korogocho, including those funded by Italian Government and World Bank debt swaps, and a coalition of Catholic Church charities, Bega Kwa Bega, founded in 1991 and based on an earlier project by the Italian Comboni Missionary society, begun in 1973.