From guns to gardens: Former gangsters fight hunger in Kenya

MATHARE, Kenya (AP) — Joseph Kariaga and his friends once lived the “gangster life” in Nairobi’s Mathare slum, snatching phones, mugging people and battling police. But when Kariaga's brother was shot dead by police, the young men took stock.

“We said, 'We cannot live like this. We are going to lose our lives.’ Many of our friends had died,” said Kariaga, now 27. “I reflected on my life. I had to change.”

Now the men are farmers with a social mission. Nearly a dozen of them founded Vision Bearerz in 2017 to steer youth away from crime and address food insecurity in one of Kenya’s poorest communities.

Despite challenges, Vision Bearerz makes a modest but meaningful community impact, including feeding over 150 children at lunches each week. Some residents praise the group and call the men role models.

Amid cuts to foreign funding by the United States and others, experts say local organizations like this may be the future of aid.

Vision Bearerz works on an urban farm tucked away in the muddy streets and corrugated-metal homes that make up Mathare, one of Africa's most populous slums. Estimates say about a half-million people live in this neighborhood of less than two square kilometers.

Some 2 million people, or 60% of Nairobi’s population, live in informal settlements, according to CFK Africa, a non-governmental organization that runs health and poverty reduction programs in such neighborhoods and is familiar with Vision Bearerz' work.

Lack of infrastructure is a key challenge in these communities, which are growing amid sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid urbanization and booming youth population, said Jeffrey Okoro, the group’s executive director.

Poverty pushes youth into crime, Okoro added.

“Most folks in slums such as Mathare are not able to earn enough to buy a decent meal, and kids who are under 5 are twice as likely to be malnourished,” he said. “One of the other major challenges affecting young people is gangs, and the promise of making a quick buck.”

The farmers of Vision Bearerz know this well.

“When you are born from this land, there is not much you have inherited, so you have to make it yourself,” said Ben Njoki, 28, whose face tattoos are reminders of a gang-affiliated past. “You have to use violence.”

In 2017, not long after Kariaga’s brother was killed, Njoki and other young men made a plan to change. More than a dozen people they grew up with had been killed, and they realized they would follow if they did not find an alternative to crime, said Moses Nyoike, 32, the chair of Vision Bearerz.

To keep busy, the group began collecting garbage and would split profits from trading vegetables, buying produce in another county and reselling it locally. They noticed a gap in the supply of vegetables to Mathare, and with permission from authorities they cleaned up a garbage dump and began planting.

Polluted soil, and water rationing, made it a tough start. Then, inspired by a TikTok account that showcased farming in a Colombian slum, Vision Bearerz tried their hand at hydroponics. With the help of an NGO that supports community enterprises, Growth4Change, they were able to get materials and training in urban farming methods.

Today, Vision Bearerz grows vegetables, raises pigs and farms tilapia in a small pond. They sell a portion of what they produce, with revenue also coming from running a car wash and public toilet.

With the earnings, the group buys maize flour to make ugali, a dough-like staple food, and beans, which supplement produce from their farm in weekly lunches for children.

Vision Bearerz also runs outreach programs to warn against drug use and crime, and has sessions where women teach girls about feminine health.

“The life I was living was a lie. It didn’t add up to anything. We just lost people. Now, we are winning people in the community,” Njoki said.

Davis Gichere, 28, another founding member, called the work therapeutic.

Challenges remain. Joining Vision Bearerz requires a pledge to leave crime behind, and there have been instances of recidivism, with at least one member arrested. Lingering criminal reputations have led to police harassment in the past, and finding money to buy food for Saturday feedings is a weekly struggle.

Funding cuts across the development space, including the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, make the prospect of new financing dim.

At least one other group in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, Human Needs Project, does similar work of urging youth away from crime and addressing food insecurity through urban farming.

It's a model that can be scaled up or copied elsewhere, said Okoro of CFK Africa.

“The future of development is locally led organizations," he said, noting they are best suited to understanding the needs of their communities.

Kariaga still feels the pain of his brother’s death, but is proud of his new job.

“Farming can change the world,” he said, a silver-capped tooth glinting in the sun.

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Reformed gangsters and members of Vision Bearerz Youth Group feed fish at a fish pond in the Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Reformed gangsters and members of Vision Bearerz Youth Group construct a greenhouse in the Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Residents walk through a small and crowded market in the Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Ben Gachege, a reformed gangster and a member of Vision Bearerz Youth Group, gesturers during an interview with the associated press in the Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Joseph Kariaga who once lived the "gangster life" holds a piglet in the Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

A view of residential structures in Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Joseph Kariaga who once lived the "gangster life" speaks during an interview with the associated press in the Mathare informal settlement of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)