Leni Weise, a social worker who ditched her fuller life in Germany to live with a lover she met by chance in Kibera, has opened up about the challenges and the successes she realised in their union.
Speaking in an interview with The Sun, a UK publication, the couple, Weise and Vincent Otieno, narrated that they met online but chose to move in together after their long-distance relationship became hectic.
When she flew to Kenya, Weise served as a social worker and spent a better part of her time at Otieno's house in Kibra.
Otieno, a fitness enthusiast, however, revealed that he was nervous when she decided to visit his humble abode.
"It was crazy for me because I did not know how she would take it (going to his house)," he stated.
"She grew up in Germany where she has a nice house and environment. She came to the slum but when she came, I think she liked it and did not judge. I felt comfortable afterward."
He further stated that his house lacked a washroom and the communal one outside was not ideal, and in some instances, the foreigner found it locked when she was pressed.
"In the slum where I stayed, my house did not have a washroom inside. We had to go outside and it was the middle of the night and it was risky and the toilets were closed.
"She was so pressed and was telling me she wanted to pee and I just offered her a bucket," he added.
Otieno further revealed that he was worried about her safety living in the slum due to muggings but with time, his neighbours became acquainted with his lover.
"In the beginning, it was not safe for her to come here (to the house) alone but with time, people were used to her and she was my girl, so no one bothered her," he recalled.
Weise corroborated her fiancé's stand noting that initially she was concerned with the bucket extended to her but the duo has since moved to a better apartment.
"I was a bit nervous because you usually do not pee with someone in the same room," she told the outlet.
Today, the couple have turned into online celebrities as influencers and regularly share video content, each of which fetches between Ksh26,900 ($200) and Ksh40,000 ($300). The duo live in a better apartment and has bought a car.
They, however, continue to face a fresh set of challenges online where a section of the audience disapproves of the relationship. But they remain unfazed.
"There are some genuine subscribers who watch our videos daily and are not judging us because they know us but when it comes to Instagram or Tiktok, you never know when a video can go viral reaching a lot of strangers. Those strangers can be really mean. We have faced racism," she explained.
