Research demonstrate that cities in the developing worlds, including those in Africa, are growing at such a fast rate that central gorvernments and local authorities are unable to cope with demand for provisions such as shelter, water, waste disposal, utilities, physical and social infrastructure.

Such urban explosion is the result of many factors such as rapid general population growth, rural-urban immigration in pursuit of illusive job opportunities and diminished agricultural fortunes. The result has been rapid proliferation of slums, where urban dwellers, unable to benefit from public provisions, attempt to improvise from a very poor resource base.

Majority of slum dwellers are either jobless or under-employed, and have to survive through all possible means. Their lives are characterised by poverty, disease, ignorance, immorality, drug abuse and other vices. In a sense, it is in the slums where modest outreach efforts show significant impacts on the lives of people.