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Out There: Ujima Village

Zion Smith, 9, on the playground of the mostly deserted Ujima Village complex. His is one of the few families left.

Zion Smith, 9, on the playground of the mostly deserted Ujima Village complex. His is one of the few families left.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Tainted soil forces the shuttering of the complex in the South L.A. area.
Of more than 250 families who called the complex home, only 14 remain.
Tenants say the county is mishandling their relocation.

Out There: Ujima Village

35-year Ujima Village resident Charlene David, standing in the community hall’s bathroom, is overwhelmed with emotions after viewing a box full of trophies earned over the years by the residents’ drill teams and drum squads.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Out There: Ujima Village

Mailboxes are left unprotected for the few families still living in the long-troubled Ujima Village housing complex.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Out There: Ujima Village

Zion Smith reads on his bunkbed in the apartment where he lives with his mother, Navaline Smith. Zion is the only child left in Ujima Village.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Out There: Ujima Village

The Wall of Loving Memory bears the names of Ujima Village residents who have died.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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