Good Waters - Stories From A Nairobi Neighbourhood

In early 2023 photographer Niall Houlihan spent time in Kenya working alongside a local team to document, in their own words, the lives of people in Mathare Valley – Nairobi's most-stigmatised slum and home to half a million people living in makeshift accommodation.

This exhibition is the outcome of that work. Karibu. You are welcome.

We hope you will be moved by the nine stories we share with you here.

Please note that some people may be distressed by some of the details in the stories which follow.

Maji Mazuri Mathare, Kenya aims to raise people out of poverty through transformative social programmes offering education and life chances: the Maji Mazuri Headstart Academy, youth services, IT training, a microfinance programme and disability services.
Maji Mazuri UK is a registered volunteer-run charity (Charity no: 1080544) which has been working in partnership with Maji Mazuri Mathare for the last 25 years to provide funding for their work.
Just 8p feeds a child at Maji Mazuri Headstart Academy two hot meals in a day to support their educational attainment.

Any donation raised as a result of this exhibition will be sent to Kenya via Maji Mazuri UK to support Maji Mazuri Mathare’s most recent campaign to provide a school feeding programme to the 550 children at the Headstart Academy located in the heart of Mathare Valley. The campaign has been set up in response to recurrent drought in Kenya and a cost- of-living crisis, resulting in an increased cost of food.
In an environment where regular meals are no certainty, the significantly improved academic results when children are well-fed are impossible to ignore. Maji Mazuri Mathare’s feeding programme is part of an essential social safety net for these children, thus improving their life chances.