Fact
Over 75% of residents in some settlements lack sanitation facilities within their structures. In Kiambiu for example in a study undertaken by Maji na Ufanisi in 2002, the latrine coverage per capita was 1:82 contrasted to 1:25 requirement by UN standards.
Maji na Ufanisi’s ultimate goal is to restore dignity to disadvantaged communities. Everybody has the right to live in a clean and safe environment; to drink clean water; to go to the toilet in private; to wash. Access to these basic necessities restores confidence and dignity and opens doors to a more positive future. After all, it is often said that ‘Water is Life’ and ‘Sanitation is Dignity’.
Water is life and sanitation is dignity. MnU, from Participatory Urban Appraisals realized that the highest priority for most slum dwellers is toilet facilities.
The pit latrines, albeit scarce, constitute the popular mode of excreta disposal given the fact that there are hardly any conventional sewerage systems. Most of these toilet facilities are commercialized and the poor people generally pay a high premium to access them (about Kshs 5 per visit), yet they are poorly built and poorly maintained. Besides eroding the dignity and self-respect of residents, the sharing of one toilet by so many people heavily contributes to the numerous health, environmental and economic problems in the slum. Moreover, a number of the latrines are located close to the neighbouring Nairobi River, and once full, the excreta is let to overflow into the river causing heavy pollution downstream. And like in many other slum habitats, the rest of the population wraps their body solid waste in flimsy polythene and secretly discards it in the night .
According to a participatory urban appraisal conducted by Maji na Ufanisi (an NGO working on water and sanitation in the slums), inadequate or total lack of sanitation facilities is considered a top development priority by the informal settlement dwellers.
MnU strives to improve the situation through construction of community managed sanitation facilities.
School health and sanitation is also key to promoting dignity especially amongst young girls who suffer most when sanitation facilities are lacking or in deplorable conditions. MnU is reaching out to slum children, through initiatives in public schools around the slum areas.