Partes del video:
0:00 Intro
0:36 ¿Cuánta gente vive aquí?
1:28 El gran problema del agua
2:15 ¿Cuántos idiomas se hablan?
3:09 Los desalojos policiacos
3:57 Navegando por el barrio
5:10 Casa local por dentro
5:36 Así son los baños
6:00 Pandillas y crimen
6:54 Líder de la comunidad
7:28 Niños y su manera de llamar a “blancos”
8:10 Centros de billar
8:21 Trucos con bicicleta BMX
8:52 Escuela local
9:41 Encargado de escuelas
10:47 Despedida
Category
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TravelTranscript
00:00 The bathrooms are just holes that lead into the water.
00:03 And this makes just swimming in it quite dangerous.
00:08 [shouting]
00:09 Do you hear that they're shouting at us?
00:11 It's a way of calling white people.
00:14 It's like they're telling us, "White!"
00:15 Here they operate various gangs.
00:17 High risk, high adrenaline.
00:20 [music]
00:29 We are in Makoko, one of the largest floating neighborhoods
00:32 in the entire African continent.
00:34 Located in the territory of Nigeria,
00:36 its population ranges from 80,000 to maybe more than 250,000 people.
00:41 Of course, there is no official census as such,
00:44 but while I'm sailing around here, I can assure you that,
00:47 in fact, it is a lot, a lot of people.
00:50 Without a doubt, tens of thousands.
00:52 This group of neighborhoods is known as the Venice of Africa,
00:56 because its inhabitants mostly move by boat,
01:00 just like the one we're in right now.
01:02 And that's their daily life.
01:04 The children go to school on these boats.
01:06 People go to work to the city on board one of these.
01:10 Here inside there are stores, there are clinics,
01:13 cattle ranches, leisure centers.
01:16 A life more than active passing before our eyes.
01:19 Well, let's explore.
01:20 The Makoko neighborhood in Nigeria awaits us.
01:23 Let's go.
01:24 ♪♪♪
01:29 Ironically, the biggest problem this community has
01:31 is getting water.
01:33 Well, despite being literally built on it,
01:36 everything is extremely polluted, full of garbage.
01:40 Well, from appreciating its tonality, this is more than evident.
01:43 There is no drainage system here.
01:46 The bathrooms are simply holes that lead into the water.
01:50 And this makes just swimming in it quite dangerous,
01:54 and consuming it is not even mentioned.
01:56 The clean water sources that have been built
01:59 have been donated by foundations.
02:01 How they work is that they dig very deep holes
02:04 that can cross the layer of pollution
02:08 until they reach a clean water source.
02:10 This is how people can get them through pumps,
02:13 and thus get hydrated.
02:16 The four languages spoken here are
02:18 English, French, Yoruba and Ego.
02:21 English and Yoruba because we are in Nigerian territory,
02:24 and French and Ego because a large part of its inhabitants
02:27 are refugees from Benin.
02:29 Which in fact, that's how this whole community was originated.
02:32 By refugees who did not have a home,
02:34 then they settled where they found available land,
02:37 and they inaugurated what is known as a Shanty Town.
02:41 Characterized by having very simple houses,
02:44 made of wood, sheet metal,
02:45 and very little support from the authorities.
02:48 In fact, in Nigeria it is very common to find
02:51 this type of neighborhood called Shanty Towns.
02:54 Suddenly, from night to morning,
02:56 new settlements begin.
02:58 This is located next to the largest bridge in the country,
03:01 and the second largest in Africa.
03:03 But from what I have learned, the Nigerian authorities
03:06 do not usually support this type of population.
03:09 It is heard more often than one would like
03:12 that these neighborhoods are literally demolished
03:15 with all the support of the authorities,
03:17 because investors arrive,
03:19 who have acquired land, who want to build.
03:22 What ironically causes a bigger problem,
03:25 because the indexes of homeless people
03:27 rise exponentially.
03:29 The most recent massive bloody event
03:32 that was heard related to this issue
03:34 was in 2012 in this community,
03:36 in which authorities came to evict,
03:39 and the inhabitants, when showing resistance,
03:41 were shot and dozens, perhaps hundreds,
03:45 lost their lives.
03:46 The largest in Nigerian history
03:48 was that of the Maroko neighborhood,
03:50 which in the 90s was completely demolished,
03:53 leaving tens of thousands of families
03:55 without a roof under which to sleep.
03:57 Wow, sailing through these waters is quite surreal.
04:00 Yes, it is a very peculiar way of life.
04:02 Having a boat is essential,
04:04 and this presents an additional challenge for families.
04:07 Because if it breaks, it gets too wet,
04:10 you get stranded,
04:11 and there is no other way than to swim through these waters,
04:14 which, I tell you, are very, very dirty.
04:17 It seems very peculiar to me to see clothing stores.
04:20 Many of them even sell imitation clothes,
04:23 Gucci, Balenciaga.
04:25 There are hairdressers,
04:26 workshops to fix boats,
04:29 improvised gas stations.
04:31 Everything entirely governed by the same inhabitants
04:34 and by the few foundations that have been donated here.
04:37 Look, this girl sells sodas,
04:40 sells water,
04:41 those in the back sell fuel.
04:43 She has a boat-to-boat purchase here.
04:45 Oh wow, and she has everything,
04:46 it's a little store in motion.
04:49 Look, she has her malt, her sodas.
04:51 Here she even has sweets, cookies.
04:54 The main economic activities here
04:57 are fishing to sell to the main land,
04:59 and domestic trade.
05:01 They do have their own economy here,
05:02 because there are a lot of people.
05:04 A family invited us to visit the interior of their home,
05:12 so that we can learn more about the way of life.
05:14 And look, this house itself is very beautiful.
05:17 It has the main bedroom,
05:19 it has a fairly large living room,
05:21 a television,
05:22 which this house gets electricity
05:25 from solar panels that they have.
05:27 And look, this is the second bedroom,
05:30 where the bathroom is,
05:32 which we can appreciate what I was telling you a while ago,
05:36 that there is no drainage system.
05:38 Look, it has its toilet, okay?
05:40 It has a little pocket and everything to sit down,
05:43 so you can sit here.
05:45 And indeed, everything you do here falls straight into the water.
05:48 Of course, as in every massive neighborhood,
05:51 several gangs operate here,
05:53 the ones with the most power being
05:55 the so-called "area boys",
05:57 the boys of the area.
05:59 These usually operate, of course,
06:00 here inside, between the water alleys,
06:03 but above all they commit robberies on the outskirts,
06:06 being the most common operation
06:08 of the one they tell me,
06:10 on the bridge that passes through there,
06:12 which is the Third Mainland Bridge,
06:14 where they grab vehicles that stop
06:16 or go at low speeds.
06:18 One of the most common operating methods
06:20 is to put wires, garbage on the street,
06:23 so that the tires are damaged,
06:25 the cars have to be on the side,
06:27 and at that moment they go,
06:28 they steal the car,
06:29 they grab all the belongings,
06:31 and in very undesirable scenarios,
06:33 they also kidnap the drivers.
06:36 This is why there is a collective wisdom
06:38 in Lagos, that if you are going to cross the bridge,
06:41 especially at night,
06:43 do not slow down, go very fast,
06:46 because that is what you want to avoid.
06:48 We are now talking to one of the leaders
06:50 of the community,
06:51 who was a very well-dressed man,
06:53 very colorful, very cult apart,
06:56 and it was an experience,
06:57 I must say, a little intimidating,
06:59 because of how he speaks to you,
07:00 because of how he refers to himself,
07:01 because of how he stands,
07:03 because obviously, the leader has to be
07:05 an imposing person,
07:06 and he was asking us,
07:07 like, ok, I understand that you are recording
07:09 your documentary,
07:10 any problem you have,
07:12 any person who threatens you,
07:13 whatever,
07:14 do not hesitate to come with me,
07:15 because I want to keep the neighborhood
07:17 as a safe place,
07:18 and yes, obviously, he has his drivers,
07:21 he has his escort,
07:22 an experience, I tell you,
07:24 a bit imposing,
07:25 but that made me feel pretty safe.
07:28 Do you hear that they scream at us?
07:31 The word that the locals scream at you the most
07:33 is "llabo",
07:34 especially the children,
07:36 at first I thought it was like,
07:37 hello, how are you?
07:39 and I, ah, llabo, llabo.
07:40 Then they explained to me that it is a way
07:42 to call white people,
07:44 so, they see us and it's like
07:47 they tell us, white, white.
07:49 And let's see,
07:50 they say it in a very friendly way,
07:52 it is not really in a despective context,
07:55 it can have a despective context,
07:56 but in this panorama it is simply,
07:59 it is the babbling,
08:00 they are children, it is innocence.
08:02 So there it is, llabo,
08:03 a new word added to my travel dictionary.
08:06 These are the most common leisure centers
08:11 where they play billiards,
08:12 here they serve drinks,
08:14 it is the most common entertainment,
08:16 of these of billiards we have seen many
08:18 throughout the population.
08:20 Wow, we met here a boy
08:22 who does tricks with BMX bike,
08:24 truly impressive,
08:27 he turns it around,
08:28 he does some tricks
08:30 that are not appreciated
08:32 in the most viral videos on YouTube.
08:34 At one point the boy put someone
08:36 lying on the floor and jumped him with the bike.
08:39 High risk, high adrenaline,
08:41 and very kind my brother,
08:43 I leave you with some of the epic images.
08:45 I went to visit the largest school
08:54 in the community,
08:55 which receives the name of Part of Solution.
08:57 To date we visit, they have an estimated
09:00 620 students,
09:01 and also serves as an orphanage,
09:03 32 children live here.
09:05 They have their bedrooms with mattresses,
09:07 they also have their kitchen area,
09:09 classroom in which English,
09:12 French and economic wisdom are taught.
09:15 Just today they were teaching a lesson
09:17 about the importance of saving,
09:19 some basic financial knowledge,
09:21 really very useful,
09:23 a very cool job that the managers do.
09:25 The person who directs this whole project
09:27 started it 10 years ago,
09:29 and currently has 12 teachers,
09:32 which he funds with donations
09:34 and with his own money.
09:36 Sincerely an incredible and extremely important
09:38 work that he does for the community.
09:41 My name is Tyrell,
09:42 I started this school project about 10 years ago,
09:46 but the school is not enough
09:47 to accommodate all the children,
09:49 so that's why we need more support,
09:51 so that all the kids can go to school.
09:53 As big as the community is,
09:54 there's not even one thing that we can say
09:56 this is what the government has done.
09:57 We don't have people that can stand for us,
09:59 most of the people here are not educated,
10:00 they didn't go to school.
10:01 If you want more information,
10:02 I leave you below in the description
10:04 a website,
10:05 as well as an Instagram profile
10:06 in which you can learn more,
10:08 or even if you get to be,
10:10 make a donation.
10:11 Ty-Woo brought us to see the school
10:14 that they are building now,
10:16 where they will be able to accommodate more children.
10:18 His goal for this year, he tells us,
10:20 is to be able to educate 1,000 children,
10:23 so 600 and a bit, the ones he has right now,
10:26 plus the 400 that are left
10:28 in this construction that is happening.
10:31 Honestly, an admirable man,
10:34 who loves his community,
10:35 who wants to do more for it.
10:37 The kind of people for whom I feel very grateful
10:39 to be able to meet.
10:40 Well, there you have it,
10:47 a tour of one of the largest floating communities
10:50 in the entire African continent.
10:52 First of all, I am left with the warmth of the people,
10:55 the excellent reception,
10:56 the smiles, the laughs.
10:58 What do you stay with?
10:59 I read them below in the comments.
11:00 Thank you very much for joining me.
11:02 See you as always, you already know,
11:03 in a few days with a new video.
11:05 Goodbye.
11:06 (upbeat music)
11:11 you