As I walked by the road side to Missions Of Hope International (MOHI), Pangani Center to my interview for the job advertised for the Fire Safety Advocacy position, I saw a big mural of a child and words written against the photo “Nothing about us without us”. That statement got me thinking which practical way will I get to work hand in hand with the Mathare community to include them? In my mind I had already been integrated into the MOHI mission statement that says “we educate, empower, restore and redeem vulnerable children, their families and communities through Christ”, even before I was confirmed for the job of Fire Safety Advocate for Africa Fire Mission, in collaboration with MOHI.

 After one month of three interview sessions, I was granted the job and shown my desk. We worked hand in hand with my supervisor who guided me through the process of penetrating into the community by including the residents in the process. Mathare slums are a community who are divided into different areas for government administration purposes that includes Polio disbursements, food distribution in times of crisis among other administration maters. My supervisor advised me to start from the Sub-county administration office and brief them what I intend to do and how it will impact positively to the Mathare community. It was one tedious and laborious uphill task that I got to encounter. From being requested to write letters to the City Hall administrator to aborted meetings that I felt wasted of my time and energy. This was short lived because as soon as I was still trying to figure out how I will be granted permission to operate with fire safety matters.  Then fire broke out inside of Mathare Bondeni area. The top most five story floor that housed fifty households caught fire. (One day before the fire, I had an opportunity to speak with the MOHI Bondeni center parents. I had shared with them the fire brigade number and also instructed them on what to say when they got the dispatcher.) I quickly put my protective attire and called the fire brigade only to be informed that someone had already activated the call from the community I had just trained a few days earlier. The Fire brigade got on the scene within a very short while and the fire was quickly extinguished. They were praised by the community for the first time in a very long time. This was the beginning of more beautiful things yet to come because out of this situation, I got to present the Bondeni Fire incident report to the sub-county administrator boss and I was automatically granted the “license” to operate inside Mathare community on condition that from time to time I will be reporting to him the findings and progress I am making towards my quest of reducing fire incidences in Mathare.

Africa Fire Mission invested more skills into my trade and taught me skills that helped me work with the community. I was put in class and studied CHE1 (Community Health Education 1) and CHE2 (Community Health Education 2). These were lessons that put into practice the slogan “Nothing about us without us”. I quickly got to identify the community champions in each area of Mathare and mapped them to get them trained in future. In our interaction, I came to know that the community champions’ children benefited directly in the MOHI programme. The community champions were also very happy to have me on board because they are affected directly with this fires and getting back to living a normal life is an uphill task.  I however worked with them by showing them the basics of putting out live fire. Before any engagement on the ground, I would call them for a morning brief and informed them of my intentions of getting to the ground and training the people in the community free of charge. In return they promised protection of my daily tools of trade that included my full PPE that I told them it assists me to put out real fires when the fire brigade shows up. Six months down the line, we have managed to work hand in hand with the community champions and we have put more than eight fires in which has seen up to four hundred homes get displaced. 

The road to victory is still far stretched.  I am seven months old in this mission. We are still working together with the sub-county office under new office bearers and we have blended well. The community champions are happy with the work we are doing and the fire brigades are feeling much safer when I am on the ground as they know that stones will not be thrown at them and that their tools are safe as they work in the fire scene. We are hopeful that one day,  fires will be history in Mathare, and all of Kenya and Fire brigades will stop having riot cages on their windows to avoid being thrown stones by the community for showing up late in the fire scene. For sure: Nothing for (about) them without the people of Mathare!

-       José, Fire Safety Advocate, Africa Fire Mission