Our Lives:

Photos and Descriptions by Former and Current Ruaraka EPZ

Workers

View of EPZs from Outside of the Zone

The Ruaraka Export Processing Zone is situated along Thika highway about 10 kms from Nairobi. Within it, there have been about 14 companies in the last two years, but now only two are remaining due to their impermanent nature. The others relocated to Madagascar and other countries.

EPZ workers rushing to work in the morning.

The Working Conditions Inside the Factories

This is Roylex. She is 33 and has been working in the EPZs since 2003. In the back is Juma. He is 30 and has been working in the EPZs since 1998.

Above is a department in one of the EPZs in Ruaraka zone where workers are making Levis and Dickies jeans. Working conditions are poor. There is high conjestion, poor arrangements, no proper ventilation, no safety gears and exhaust fans.

This picture shows inside one of the EPZ factories where pink papers are used to keep individual hourly production records.

This is the fifth or sixth hour of production. The 900 indicates the total pairs of jeans produced at that time. But the daily target is indicated on the green papers which is between 1200 and 1500. If they do not meet this target by 5pm, the EPZ workers will have to stay until they finish. They will not be paid overtime because they were supposed to reach the target in 8 hours.

The above picture shows how the garments are sorted into sizes. The worker is exposed to a lot of heat at the workplace..

The above picture depicts the sandblasting department. This is where they use some chemicals/ sand to put some decorations on the jeans and trousers. These guys handle those chemicals without gloves and the masks they have are of the lowest quality . As you can see, those guys cannot even wear those masks because they aren’t comfortable. Some of them have died in the past due to chemical exposure.

This man is sandblasting the jeans. This process involves spreading the trousers on the model to make it easy to spray.

The above picture displays an EPZ worker without protective gears removing washed garments out of the washing machine. It shows how the worker is exposed to the chemicals and steam from the washing machine.

Lunch time

The picture above shows how EPZ workers take their lunch. The containers holding foods are always dirty, with dirty lids. The lids make the food go bad.

EPZ workers take their meals in an open place, that is dusty. They use unwashed utensils since the people are many.

Due to low wages, workers go for the cheapest food which is maize and beans and sukuma wiki and ugali, on a daily basis.

Where We Live

Most EPZ workers live in the slums surrounding the Ruaraka Export Processing Zone. This is one of the residential houses where EPZ workers reside due to poverty wages.

This is Mathare North where most workers of EPZs live. You can see parts that are not well made and are very congested. If workers are lucky they can stay here. But to be able to live here, most also run small kiosks where they sell food.

If workers are not so lucky, these are the conditions they live in.

This is a single room where a single parent EPZ worker, with her two children, stays. It is commonly referred to as self-contained house. You cook here, eat in the same room here, sleep here, and sometimes you can even bathe in this same room. Some of these apartments have no showers and toilets, so the people use flying toilets.

This is Rachael, a single mother of two. Rachael is 28 and has worked in the EPZ since 2003. This is the best house she can afford; a single room of 8 by 8 feet which is very small and without proper ventilation.

This is the home of Tabitha Oningo and her daughter. Tabitha is 34 and has been working in the EPZs since 2000.

Work in the EPZs is very precarious. Workers can be sacked at anytime and factories can also relocate at any time. This former EPZ worker was recently laid off and this is where she now lives.

During the post election violence in Kenya, the EPZ workers were mostly affected. Since the majority reside in slum areas, most of them were rendered homeless, physically injured and moved to IDP camps.

You can see that this water is an unnatural blue color because it is contaminated with industrial chemicals that are released from the factories.

This picture depicts the poor drainage/ sewage system managed by the EPZ company located within the residential area of Ruaraka. Children are at higher risk because they play in this water.

This is a dumping place next to the EPZ residential area. The garbage stinks a lot since it is a mixture of different types of garbage. It enlarges day by day since it is the only dumping place around. The workers are exposed to high risk of dangerous diseases like cholera.

EPZ workers pass by an open sewer that has flooded a road. This is a common site where the workers stay. Their feet sometimes fall in when they come from work at night. It is a pathetic way of life.

Workers chatting at the end of the day. In this photo you can see, Roylex, Fridah, Tabith and Miriam.