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At the age of 60, 80 or maybe 100, the karateka grandmas of Korogocho slum are learning the rudiments of martial arts in order to survive in one of Kenya’s most dangerous shanty towns.
Only a dozen or so kilometres from the heart of the capital Nairobi, Korogocho’s residents — all 155,000 of them — are crammed into an area measuring just 1.5 square kilometres.
Even venturing into one of the main streets in broad daylight to queue at a water point is a calculated risk.
In this sun-baked universe of mud bricks and rusting corrugated iron, devoid of vegetation, the mat of the “Streams of Hope and Peace” association looks like a haven of tranquility and optimism.
Inside, 20 elderly women, barefoot and clad in shapeless dresses and headscarves, are sitting on a mat encouraging one of their number who is hitting a punchbag.
The blows lack force, but Sheila Kariuki, the teacher, says that’s not the crucial thing.
“You don't need to hit hard to be accurate,” says Kariuki, only 29.
“Accuracy is the key to the technique.” She demonstrates the vulnerable points on a young man acting as guinea pig for the class: the nose, chin, collarbone, and, of course, the genitals.
This self-defence group began in 2007 as way of fighting back at the young bandits of Korogocho who took to raping women three or four times their age.
“Young men believe that young girls are all infected with Aids, so they’d rather go to the old ones,” explains Mary Wangui, 73.
