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There is also this issue of traffic jam that extends to the slum in the evenings. Vehicles using the main road divert into the shortcut of the slum in avoidance of the traffic. Some of the drivers drive very recklessly, not considering that there might be children playing along that path which they have turned into a highway. It is usually not a pleasant experience walking along the dusty path during these times of trying to distinguish your way through the dust. This poses another health hazard to the residents by causing respiratory infections for example asthma and bronchitis.
Another example is clean tap water – until August 2007, the residents were purchasing water from illegally diverted pipes which were from the neighboring Buruburu Phase one estate. This water was not even safe for drinking, because plastic pipes were being used for supply throughout the area. The problem with the plastic pipes was that they would burst and since they passed underground; the dirt would seep in, endangering the health of the consumers.
Thanks to the city council, all the illegal water supply was cut off. They then installed communal taps for the residents to access free and safe water. After two months, some of the pipes started disappearing. Simply put, these people did not own the noble gesture that was meant to relieve them from the agony of buying water from unscrupulous dealers.
WHAT DO I LONG FOR IN NAIROBI?
In September 2000, 189 nations came together under the United Nations and agreed on eight goals that must be achieved by 2015; to ensure the world is a better place for everyone. Among the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) are: goal number one- To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and goal number seven- To ensure environmental sustainability.
Many efforts have been put in place to reach these goals but in my view, we still have a very long way to go. But that does not mean that these are overly ambitious and unrealistic wishes that can never be met. I see them as a possibility especially in Nairobi.
The Nairobi I long for is one that has well organised, more hygienic slums with basic social amenities such as health centres, schools and proper housing. City Cotton is just an example of the numerous informal settlements with challenges in the city of Nairobi. There are more than two hundred similar, even more densely populated than City Cotton.
I don’t think that it is fair for human beings to live in such indecent conditions. Achieving these enviable dreams is a possibility. We may have a resort of blame game- that our leaders have let us down; overlooking the part we ought to play in making these dreams a reality.
AVENUES FOR ACTION WITH MY PEERS.
We have been trying the same tired tactics over and over again. Community based clean-ups for instance- I have nothing against them, but I’m looking at it from a realist’s perspective; it takes a lot of time, logistics and planning to arrange for a one day’s clean up and yet, the majority of the young people living in the community are left out in the planning of the whole event- this leads to apathy from the community members towards a well intended projects. I think that a community should own initiatives targeted at improving their environment.
We can start small initiatives targeted at improving the environment. An ideal starting point would be by sensitizing the communities around informal settlements on hygienic practices. We could do this by magnet theater- where you play short educative skits, in the process drawing an audience; and educating them on cleanliness. I could mobilize my peers and we start working in these communities. We could also as a result, start small income generating activities with the youth by: - garbage collection, general clean ups involving the peers who live in the informal settlements, setting up groups of young people who ensure that no one destroys the resources that have been put in place and that everyone co-operates with the efforts to make the environment a pleasant place to live in.
A pleasant place to live in starts with our houses; I think that we should develop a habit of garbage separation even in our homes, and spread the habit to our peers. People should be made to see the worth of keeping something they discard as waste; and a good way is to sell the idea of storing plastics for sale- to them. With the garbage collection, we could do garbage separation and sell different categories of the garbage to recyclers who transform the things we dismiss as useless; into beautiful things that we later buy.
Some products made out of waste plastic material are: - colourful baskets, mats and jewellery weaved from pure waste plastic bags and roofing slabs made of molten plastic. In fact, the thing we see as a nuisance could bean avenue for our success. We could actually get cheap building material from plastic. I believe where there is a will there is a way and we could organize for capacity building; from the people with the technical know how. Some of these organizations are like the city garbage recyclers.
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Writer Profile
Julie
A 25 year old lady who's a Journalism student at Daystar University. I am also a HIV/AIDS peer educator in Kenya. I am a strong believer of evidence based information to young people, in curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS. "We can not fight an enemy if we lack all the skills to win."
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