Kibera…, make yourself at home! Researching the community development in Nairobi’s informal settlement of Kibera

The report presents findings from research conducted on a community development in the informal settlement of Kibera in Nairobi. The research was conducted as a base for my Master’s Thesis in the year 2006 and focused on the community-based youth organizations. Apart from observing and describing their activities I recorded the emic perception of life in Kibera and views on poverty. I found out that the common outsiders’ discourse and description of life in an impoverished settlement differs greatly from the view of its young adult inhabitants. Due to the youth’s enthusiastic and indeed philosophical attitude to life I decided to focus on the positive aspects and reveal the wealth present in Kibera. The wealth, as I tried to show, rests in the young proactive population of Kibera who are striving to be recognized and respected