Slovak field social worker Dária Pecháčová has been working in Kenya for several years as a coordinator of dozens of social, healthcare, and educational projects of VŠ sv. Alžbety. What makes this work so important, interesting, and even dangerous, and why is it important to stay in Nairobi? You studied social work at Trnava University. Why this field in particular? Already in secondary school, Africa as a continent interested me. At that time, the internet was not yet easily available here, but I remember how I searched for and read articles about humanitarian workers and their work in developing countries. It was exactly then that I was deciding between studying medicine and studying social work. Since I wanted to work in direct and long-term contact with people (that is, not only to examine and treat them, but to be there for them and with them later, in other difficult life situations), social work eventually won out.

What motivated you to travel to the African continent? Then and now, I perceive all of this as a kind of vocation, not a job. When an opportunity to do a 3-month internship in Kenya arose for me after my second year of study at Trnava University, I did not hesitate and went for the interview. The internship confirmed my view that this really is the right path I want to follow. And so, since 2009, I have been in Kenya continuously.

What does your typical working day in Nairobi look like? It is very difficult to describe, because each of my days is different. I currently work as a field worker for VŠ sv. Alžbety, and with colleagues we coordinate ten projects in Nairobi. I never know what is happening in the capital and what awaits us each day on the way to all our centers for Kenyan children and youth. I do not have a fixed working time either, because I adapt to what the projects need—this includes early mornings, late nights, and weekends. But I do not complain. I would not be able to finish at 4 p.m. and sit around with my legs stretched out until evening. That is not me...

How many (time-limited) development projects have you coordinated so far? First, in 2009 I worked for nine months as a field worker of Trnava University in Kenya. We had just completed two anti-malnutrition projects, which were gradually being transferred to VŠ sv. Alžbety. Since May 2010 I have been working for VŠ sv. Alžbety projects, and we have not closed or canceled any of the projects from that time.

Some development projects become self-sustaining after two years of operation (and financing from the Slovak Aid support program), when the local community takes over responsibility for continuing activities. What has your experience been—how does it work in your case? Our first project financed by Slovak Aid ends in October 2013 for us. Our two rehabilitation centers: the girls’ centre Bl. Zdenky Schellingová, the boys’ centre St. Kizito, and St. Gianna Beretta were all personally opened by the Slovak ambassador in Kenya. As for taking over project responsibility, the local community is prepared. We have trained professionals in the Kenyan team in healthcare, social, and academic areas. We try to minimize our presence and interference in how things run, so they realize their responsibility. The question of self-financing is, however, more complex. After two years of cooperation, it is difficult to say with certainty that the local community will be able to finance the project.

How do local people respond to help from you and your colleagues? They mostly respond positively and are generally grateful. Of course, there are also those who want to abuse the system, but fortunately our local colleagues in the field are able to identify and stop them immediately. We try to ensure that direct help, encouragement, and advice are not received from us—the Slovak field workers—but from their own people. That is why we have local staff and colleagues everywhere who carry out the project activities.

What projects are you currently coordinating, and what makes them so specific that VŠ sv. Alžbety continues to finance and support them also with its own funds and donations? I am mainly responsible for children’s rehabilitation centers for boys and girls from the streets, as well as a primary boarding school for children from the streets and children from socially vulnerable families. I work from field social work through institutional social work to direct work with child clients. I am also a supervisor of a university-level project for students from the slum. What links all these projects is probably the target group of aid recipients—the “street children”—for whom we offer better chances of life and survival (decent housing, food, clothing, education). Without financial support from the organization in Slovakia, this type of support could not be implemented, and the children would have remained on, or returned to, a dangerous life on the streets.

Recently, the Slovak ambassador to Kenya, Dr. Michal Mlynár, stated to a news television channel that water is one of the key survival issues for Kenyan people. Yet your team, paradoxically, did not succeed with a proposal within the Slovak Aid 2013 Call. What caused that? Perhaps the project did not fit within the priorities of this year’s call, or there was strong competition from projects of other schools and NGOs—I do not know. I cannot explain it myself. The project was submitted by an experienced Slovak company that had previously drilled wells for the Maasai community in Kajiado in Kenya, even with the support of Slovak Aid. In this case, 500 children from the primary boarding school would have been beneficiaries, as well as the community itself with more than 10,000 inhabitants. During the dry period, water must be purchased and transported from the nearest village, about 20 km away. One section of the road is about 6 km long, unpaved and dusty; in addition, during the rainy season it is completely impassable for a water tanker. They need a well there as essential as salt. What else could be more effective in this situation?

You work in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. In the professional field of development cooperation, voices are heard that, rather than helping in Nairobi, universities and NGOs should focus on rural areas. Do you share this view? The problems in the capital are still enormous. This is mainly related to growing urbanization in Kenya—every day hundreds of people move to Nairobi from rural areas. It is an incredible city of contrasts—on the one hand, prosperity in huge villas, and on the other hand, extreme poverty in slums. I understand the decisions of our NGOs—to address the causes of why people move from rural areas, to give them a chance for a dignified life in their home region and thus stop migration. I fully agree with that and keep my fingers crossed for the organizations. But we cannot all move to the countryside overnight and forget the problems there (including their solving and prevention) in the capital city...

What feedback did you receive from street children after they were identified early and placed in rehabilitation centers? How visibly did their lives change before your eyes? When we accept a child into a children’s rehabilitation center, that first moment is really intense and memorable. The child comes in a very neglected state, cannot read or write, and often does not know basic hygiene habits. The first encounter with a toothbrush and toothpaste, regular bathing, and going to the toilet all happen with us. Some children (especially boys) even arrive on the first day under the influence of some intoxicant, most often glue. The first six months in the center are usually the hardest—for them, and for us as well (for us Slovak social workers and especially the local social workers who work continuously with the children). After two years, however, children are independent—they can cook and clean by themselves, have developed a sense of responsibility, and can write, read, and do arithmetic.

Can you mention a “success story”—a positively progressing or completed client story from your rehabilitation center? Our oldest boy, Joseph, finished secondary school last year and now works in the Lunga-Lunga slum as a community social worker with HIV-positive people. He found the job himself. We remain in contact—I often visit the center with him so he can give presentations to the other children. Another boy is studying at the best state secondary school (Maranda High School); he is currently in his second year and is among the best students. We also have a girl in her first year at the best state girls’ secondary school (Starehe girls), who, thanks to her excellent results in primary school, received a government scholarship and is essentially studying for free. These young people visit us and talk with other children in the centers, trying to motivate them. That is the best feedback.

Which problem in Kenya do you consider most critical (illiteracy, family size, unemployment, extreme poverty, hunger, etc.) and negatively affects your projects as well? With street children this is always a vicious circle. We take a child into a center, where they receive a chance at a better life and take hold of it. Meanwhile, their mother, who still lives on the street, gives birth to another child, and another one a year later. Girls who remain on the streets (because they have no opportunity for resocialization or placement in centers) give birth when they are 15 years old. So there are additional and additional children who end up on the streets again. Most organizations working with this target group fail precisely on reintegration of children after the rehabilitation program. That is, after two or three years of life in the center, they do not have a place to put the children (mostly due to lack of funding), and so children end up on the streets again...

Although you have been working on projects for over five years, your person had not so far been exposed to extreme media visibility. Did one episode of Modré z neba change everything? How do you assess your appearance on TV in retrospect? I tried to represent the organization for which I work. As best as I could. The type and character of the program is not mine to judge.

How did this program help your projects in Kenya? This program helped especially the project operating on the principle of remote adoption of Kenyan children. It helped us find adoptive parents—“sponsors”—for children in our centers. Thanks to financial support from Slovakia, they can go to school. Because of the broadcast of this program, more people from across Slovakia are interested in the development activities of VŠ sv. Alžbety.

What type of reactions did you encounter? Who and why did people assess that program and your appearance negatively? I encountered both positive and negative reactions. The positive ones, of course, came mainly from family and friends. Some could better understand what we actually do in Nairobi. The negative reactions came mainly from “colleagues from the sector,” namely people from other Slovak development organizations. They assessed this type of media exposure negatively, and discussions about ethics or lack of ethics of that program followed, particularly regarding so-called “developmental pornography.” Paradoxically, I received the most of these voices from people who never worked long-term in Kenya, and therefore cannot know the realities of this country and how organizations function there in detail. It is a pity no one even asked for our opinion—since we were the main protagonists of that broadcast and experienced the filming ourselves, and also saw the edited final result on television. It is obviously worth realizing that even in this field of work (and in obtaining funds to operate) there is strong competition, opinion divergence, rivalry, and even aggressiveness among NGOs and their members.

You also oversee the project Dobrota sv. Alžbety, focused on Slovak parents adopting Kenyan children at a distance. How many children are currently in the program, and how many were there before and after the broadcast of that TV Markíza program? The number has certainly doubled, and all children who previously did not have “sponsors” now have adoptive parents from Slovakia and can go to school comfortably.

In what ways can the work of a field worker in the Kenyan metropolis be dangerous? As I mentioned, Nairobi is a huge city full of contrasts. That is also related to the security situation—it has high crime rates. As field workers, we have rules that we must respect—we try not to drive alone by car in the evening, we take care of security at home (we have a night watchman and dogs, and always lock all locks). When someone does field social work here, they usually move in slum areas or peripheral parts of Nairobi. It is always advisable to go with a group of local people, be appropriately dressed (not provocatively), and not carry valuables...

It looks like you are not intending to return home from Kenya any time soon. What would make you permanently leave the African continent and move back to Europe? Hmm, at the moment I am satisfied in Nairobi. Right now, only some negative family event would force me to return, but I do not want to think about that... Working with children absolutely fulfills me; our projects have become very close to my heart.

Text: Božena Baluchová, Photo: D. Pecháčovej archive, Dobrota sv. Alžbety