City wide clean up campaign held in mathare huruma

Tandale-Finally Mapped

The mapping process which started in June 2011 from a blank spot to now a mapped has finally ended. The final map is a product of close collaboration between the community in Tandale and Ardhi University students. The community leaders mostly sub chairmen from the six wards of Tandale through the stewardship Executive Ward Officer have been very supportive of the whole process. In the last two months a few important lessons for community mapping emerged that I feel is important for community development workers and mobilizers. The most important less was that government structures at the community level is critical when introducing community mapping. The blessing of officer at the ground makes it easier for the map to be distributed to relevant departments in engaged in developing a community. A place which is marginalized like Tandale needs the support of all stakeholder be it government, NGOs, CBOs or religious institution.

Women / young girls engaged in the project exhibited more willingness and interest with the technology used, camer/video and GPS. At the end of the training, the best essay was about the project was from lady university student. She enumerated how we could use the training and equipment to address garbage problem in Tandale.

Simon

Right to Sanitation-Mathare

Mathare area DO joins in celebrating sanitation with residents

On 28 July 2010 United Nations General Assembly declared, “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” Kenya being a member of UN I believe Mathare people are too.
Looking at the situation in Mathare, it is sometimes too much to bear for the residents. The government officials are overburden with situation due to lack of equipment and little investment by the local authorities. This has forced youth groups to organize themselves to bridge lack of resources by the government to address water, environment and sanitation challenges in the slum.

Today (11/5/2011), I was part of a team that saw the launching of new type of toilets by Plan Kenya through partnership with local groups such as Community Cleaning Services, Tunaweza Youth Group and MANYGRO from Mathare.
The event was attend by Plan representatives from Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Plan Australia and Kenya office among other countries.

It is now apparent to the resident that the right to clean water and adequate sanitation has to be led by the people and not by government officials. The joy exhibited by the residents during the launch was a demonstration of their determination to make it a reality and an enjoyable right.

Having access to clean water and sanitation is no-longer a matter of health but people appreciating their environment and respecting their surrounding.

The water, environment and sanitation is the next biggest employer in the slums. Nearly all toilets employ more than ten people per toilet. All water points are managed by people who ran them on daily basis. Tunaweza Youth Group in Mashimoni has been able to construct a bio toilet. Through this venture, they have a meeting hall and are in the process of harnessing gas to generate electricity and sell to the community.

The Map Mathare group has been mapping water and sanitation points to establish the real situation. It is through generating information that the community can engage either development partners and government top facilitate more development projects. Mathare team has managed to map nearly all the open drainage in small section. This will help identify points where there broken sewer and water pipes.

Plan Kenya and Plan Australia have managed to help the community achieve their potential to enjoy their to water and sanitation. – Simon

Water and Poor Drainage

Broken water pipe running across open drainage

Strolling in small paths between houses in Mathare Valley, one will notice exposed water pipes and most are always leaking. If you following the water pipes, you will again note that the pipe either runs over or below an open drainage with dirty water mixed with raw sewer! One does not need to be a scientist to know what would happen in case of disease outbreak. The improvement of proper water distribution and repairing the broken water pipes coupled with constructing good drainage system, is the key to fighting common illness in the slums. All NGOs working in the water sector are in a hurry to facilitate access to water in the slums forgetting about the safety and costs which might result because of not putting proper safety measures and structures. Access to clean water and proper sanitation is a right and it is only achieved when the targeted user access it safely.  – Simon

Waste Management

Waste field in Mathare North

Waste management has a become major problem in Mathare north and its environs. In the past Nairobi city council had the capacity and machinery to handle waste but due to curruption, proper waste management policies and proper resource management things are falling apart because waste is being dumped every were.

Ateku, project manager for a progressive development organization (CBO), says that in the year 1996 up to the 1999 they were handling a capacity of two to four tonnes of solid waste per day, but due to rapid population growth in the urban areas they are now handling a capacity 10 to 15 tonnes of waste per day. But due to ignorance from Nairobi city council and the Government who failed to assist them to secure funds and suitable places to dump, nowadays waste is being littered every where which in return has made mathare and its environ untidy and filthy both for children and grown ups living around.

George Wambua, children rights activist, says that most CBO’s working within mathare lack machinery in terms of tools, man power, vehicles which will help them transport waste to the government designated area which is about 40 kilometer from mathare north. In return it has led to a wider spread of waste being dumped everywhere and the talk of the day is that there is wider spread of cholera and asthma being transmitted to young children who have got no proper playing grounds, hence they end up playing with garbage leading to early death cases.

Our request to the Goverment, National and International NGO’S is that” waste is money ”if managed well. Most of the youths living within mathare north are idle and jobless, which in return has wider spread of crime and death of young people between the age of 12 to 18 years. Please help equip the local CBO’S around mathare north with machines so that they can improve their working standard and the environment.

- Javin