Kenya Slum Sitting On Valuable Art Gets Help Auctioning Off Pieces

WaterisLife worked with a local security team to engage with residents who had the murals painted on their dwellings. Many were unaware of the paintings’ value, but were willing to give them up when the organization offered to replace the murals with new corrugated metal rooftops.

“It’s like it’s raining inside my house,” one resident told Deutsch of how the mural failed to provide enough coverage.

The campaign removed two pieces at first from the slum. The group recently went back and got four more.

The goal is to sell 10 pieces altogether, valued at $400,000. So far, once piece has sold for $10,000, Cartagena told HuffPost.

The funds will be used for a number of infrastructure programs, including installing a 5,000-gallon-per-day water filter, building a community hand-washing station and repairing hand-washing outlets for 4,000 school children, among other initiatives.