The Mathare Special Planning Area Research Collective (MSPARC) provided a people-driven response to how the Corona Virus could be contained and managed within Mathare, a low-income settlement in Nairobi. This document provides a contrast to the top-down guidelines issued by government authorities, and speaks to the particular needs of the Mathare residents including: a reliable supply of clean water, material needs (e.g. food), the need for food and water, the inclusion of local residents and youth in disease control and prevention, ensuring non-violent methods of ensuring government laws were followed (e.g. curfew), and no stigma for those with the disease.
The sub-text of the document is its recognition that amidst the pandemic, many Mathare residents live in deep poverty and have experienced extra-judicial killings and assaults at the hands of government/police authorities.
Mathare Social Justice Centre, 4 June 2020, "Urgent recommendations for a people-centred COVID-19 government response in Mathare", contributed by Wambui Wamunyu , Research Data Share, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 11 June 2020, accessed 24 April 2024. https://www.researchdatashare.org/content/urgent-recommendations-people-centred-covid-19-government-response-mathare
Critical Commentary
The Mathare Special Planning Area Research Collective (MSPARC) provided a people-driven response to how the Corona Virus could be contained and managed within Mathare, a low-income settlement in Nairobi. This document provides a contrast to the top-down guidelines issued by government authorities, and speaks to the particular needs of the Mathare residents including: a reliable supply of clean water, material needs (e.g. food), the need for food and water, the inclusion of local residents and youth in disease control and prevention, ensuring non-violent methods of ensuring government laws were followed (e.g. curfew), and no stigma for those with the disease.
The sub-text of the document is its recognition that amidst the pandemic, many Mathare residents live in deep poverty and have experienced extra-judicial killings and assaults at the hands of government/police authorities.