A friend of mine in Kenya made reference recently to serving some of the poorest people on the planet in one of its most corrupt countries. It is true that Kenya does not rate well in Transparency International's corruption perception index, and we have had first-hand experience of working with individuals who, it transpired, had alternative motives for engaging with us. We have made mistakes. On occasions, we have trusted the wrong people.
However, there is a resounding "but". We may have been naive in our dealings with certain individuals, but time and experience have reinforced the deep trust that we have been able to build with the majority, and in particular with our longstanding local partners and volunteers. Without this trust, we would not be working in Kibera today.
Our partners who live and work in the Kibera community are fantastic and we trust them with our lives. On our last visit, I had been filming in one of the more congested parts of the slum and was keen to get back to the rest of the UK team. My guide, Billy, who was born in the slum reassured me. “Don't rush” he said, “when you're with me, you're at home here”.
Trust.
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