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Any journalist wanting a quick Africa poverty story can find it there in half an hour. And now at least one travel agency offers tours round Kenya’s Kibera slum, one of Africa’s largest.

“People are getting tired of the Maasai Mara and wildlife. No one is enlightening us about other issues. So I’ve come up with a new thing — slum tours,” enthused James Asudi, general manager of Kenyan-based Victoria Safaris.

But not everyone in Kenya is waxing so lyrical about the trail of one-day visitors treading the rubbish-strewn paths, sampling the sewage smell, and photographing the tin-roof shacks that house 800,000 of the nation’s poorest in a Nairobi valley.
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“What is this fascination with Kibera among people who do not know what real poverty means?” asked the Daily Nation.

“More to the point, how do Kenyans themselves feel about this back-handed compliment as the custodians of backwardness, filth, misery and absolute deprivation?”

Answer: Not a lot, at least according to an informal, random survey by this correspondent in Kibera itself.

While all recognize the potential for good from such attention, plus the pressure it puts on the government and others to help slum-dwellers, most said tangible benefits so far were few, while the embarrassment factor was growing every day.

“They see us like puppets, they want to come and take pictures, have a little walk, tell their friends they’ve been to the worst slum in Africa,” said car-wash worker David Kabala.

“But nothing changes for us. If someone comes, let him do something for us. Or if they really want to know how we think and feel, come and spend a night, or walk round when it’s pouring with rain here and the paths are like rivers.”
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Government spokesman Alfred Mutua has led a campaign to promote the bright side of Kenya and clean up its cities. He shakes his head when asked about the Kibera phenomenon.

“It is very sad that when dignitaries come here, the first place they run to is Kibera, the residents are getting tired of people coming and giving lip-service,” he told Reuters.

“Kibera is the ‘in’ place everybody wants be associated with, whether they are doing anything about it or not. … People look at others who are poor and destitute and get a ‘feel good’ attitude about themselves, that they are above that.”

31) ?When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

32) All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

33) And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

34) Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ?Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35) for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36) I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.?

37) ?Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ?Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?

38) When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?

39) Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You??

40) And the King will answer and say to them, ?Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.?

41) ?Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ?Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

42) for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;

43) I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.?

44) ?Then they also will answer Him, saying, ?Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You??

45) Then He will answer them, saying, ?Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.?

46) And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.?