Kenya is currently facing a critical housing shortage. Thousands of people have been left without a place to call home, with many more on the margins of poverty. DW's Edith Kimani reports from Nairobi.
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00:00A car mechanic by training, Anthony Mutunga, better known as Tee, spends most of his time
00:07with friends these days.
00:09The 32-year-old lost his job unexpectedly and for the last two years he's been homeless.
00:16The sudden and dramatic change in Tee's life led him here, to Mathare, one of Kenya's oldest
00:21slums and to a very different life.
00:26It's hard, it's hard, it's very, very hard.
00:32When you're in a capital city, you'd rather sleep hungry but at least have somewhere to
00:37sleep.
00:39Shelter is a priority because you don't know what could happen to you when you're out here.
00:44There are thieves out here, diseases, police and there are also the unknowns.
00:54Tee needs 11 euros a month for rent here, but he's rarely called to fix cars these days
00:59so food is all he can afford.
01:02It's getting dark and the clouds have gathered, rain is inevitable.
01:07Everyone rushes towards their homes as though by command.
01:11Tee leads us to a shack where a friend is allowing him to stay.
01:17The shack is damp and dark and Tee knows he'll have to pay something or leave in a few days
01:23so he keeps his things ready.
01:26In this environment, he has no control.
01:31There are two of us who sleep here, but if friends come over we welcome them here as well.
01:37The following day, Nairobi's homeless wake up before dawn.
01:41Cocooned in sacks for warmth, most sleep fully dressed in their overalls and shoes, ready
01:46for work during the day.
01:49It's estimated that some 300,000 people in Kenya live this way.
01:56For people like Jeff, three euros a day can be the difference between living on the streets
02:01or here, in a windowless room with nothing but a bed and mattress.
02:05The clothes vendor sometimes finds the money, sometimes he doesn't.
02:11Life on the edge of homelessness.
02:15It's easy to get stuck in misroutine.
02:17You look for money for food and a room.
02:20If you buy drugs or alcohol, that's all you get.
02:25And your money is gone.
02:27Just like that.
02:30We're back in Mathare to look for Tee, who we're told might be in the local drinking den.
02:35Here we find the owner, Doreen, who offers her space to those with nowhere to go.
02:42This is a life I've experienced, so I don't judge anyone.
02:46I give them somewhere to sleep, so when they get out of here, they can help others.
02:54Her customers ask us to tell their stories.
02:58We have problems like we've never seen before.
03:01Our houses were demolished and everyone was asking where we could go.
03:06We still don't know what to do.
03:08But God bless this woman.
03:12Doreen's den can sleep up to nine men, and Tee has been one of them in the past.
03:24But tonight he's fortunate to have somewhere less crowded to sleep, at least for now.