Collective Lens: Photography for Social Change

Environmental Grafitti has a gallery of Nigeria's Floating Slum in Lagos. The photos are inspiring yet heartbreaking, and depict daily life in this harsh environment.

Shacks sit atop rickety stilts while flotillas of trash slowly drift past down below. Crowds of people paddle past through the stagnant waters in boats, and foul smells fill the air while the baking sun beats down. And yet, in this sprawling floating slum, where basic human needs are barely met, the people refuse to succumb to despair despite the hardships they face.

Lagos is reported to have the largest number of street children in Nigeria. The untidy appearance of these children shows a clear picture of the ordeals they pass through. Most of these kids leave home because of the maltreatment they get from their guardians/parents and in some cases, they are sent out to 'hustle' for money; most of them are the bread winners of the family and as such they engage into several activities like hawking different wares on the streets and begging for alms to sustain themselves and their families.