KATOOGO SLUM

Katoogo is a slum on the shores of Lake Victoria in Ggaba, an outcast of Kampala. This slum got its name from the papyrus plants that were a dominant plant there before its invasion by the masses of people who took residence there. Many people there are low income earners and they cannot afford the expenses one has to while in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. So, the people there live a ‘simple life’. However, in the eye of reality, the life they live is not that simple like it pronounced. Life is really hard! To begin with sanitation, one cannot afford being in katoogo for it is one nasty area infested with flies and scorching stench. One time my friends and I went there to map the area and we wondered what kind of life went on there. People lived in simple structures which served as buildings and homes for the poor people. The houses are made up of mud, though some with bricks, sand and cement, and their roofing are of very old iron sheets. Some houses were actually roofed with papyrus which had also become too old to prevent any rain from entering the houses. Looking alone at the houses, a few were modern which depicted a bit on some differences in the income levels amongst the people; one would draw a quick conclusion that Katoogo is poor.

Then, there was poor accessibility of a place because of its poor transport system. The paths were too narrow that too often I doubted whether or not we were treading through path ways or that we were trespassing_ the houses were very much close to one another, leaving very small corridors which served as paths for navigating the place. Most disgusting among all was that the whole place was flooded on actually a hot sunny day. I wondered what it looked like when it had rained! I think every creature would be submerged in water except for the lucky few which could float.

Oh! As the problems were not enough yet, clusters and clusters of garbage were seen floating about the floody grounds of Kato go. And somewhere there, I turned my head to see a very huge mountain of garbage heaped near someone’s house. But no one there seemed to bother. It seemed normal for them to live in such an environment. Even the children were busy playing there football made out of balls of waste polythene bags. They seemed to be very happy playing and running all over about the slum, some hitching their pants up because they did not fit them. The clothes were extra size for them and most of them were torn. The physical impression about the children’s health was that they did not look healthy at all. Perhaps they had a poor diet and also I came to notice that there was one and only one clinic in the whole Katoogo, which clinic was also substandard. I imagined what it would do if people caught severe diseases which were almost probable, the cholera and other related diseases.

Lastly, but not least about the problems I noticed while there, was the education. I saw only one nursery school in Katoogo. And when I inquired from the local people there, they told me that even the school dues were a very big challenge for them. Some of them told me they have some children who school from St. Denis, a nearby secondary school, but they could not really raise the little that is asked for proper running of the school.

At home, when I came to rest, I wondered what to do help the residents of Katoogo. Indeed, I am still a student who cannot do much but I believe that you who is reading this, can afford to give a hand to help Katoogo people. You good give a shirt or anything for as long as it is intended to reddem the poor people from their agony.