TY - JOUR
AU - Vertigans, Stephen
AU - Mueller-Hirth, Natascha
AU - Okinda, Fredrick
PY - 2021
DA - December
TI - Resilience in a Kenyan informal settlement during the COVID-19 pandemic
JO - Acta Academica
EP - 142
VL - 53
IS - 2
DO - https://doi.org/10.18820/24150479/aa53i2/7
AB - Informal settlements have been identified as locations both where the spread of COVID-19 has generally been slower than within the Global North and measures to restrain the pandemic have further intensified local peoples’ marginality as income decreases without welfare or financial safety nets. In this paper, qualitative fieldwork is detailed which commenced in Korogocho, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, immediately prior to national COVID-19 restrictions. This March 2020, pre-Covid phase of the fieldwork, focused on a community based project and the basis for resilience in transforming local lives. During the next 12 months of the pandemic fieldwork continued, exploring experiences and reactions to restraining policies. These findings reinforce concerns about the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions on marginalised peoples’ income, food security, health, safety and gender based violence. How the local people reacted to these effects highlights their creative resilience and adaptability. The paper concludes by examining the impact of, and responses to, the controlling measures on the social relationships and cohesion that underpins the community resilience.
PB - University of the Free State
UR - https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1465104
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER