Umande Trust

Mukuru Kwa Njenga is a slum in the East of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya belonging to Embakasi constituency. Under the guidance of Umande trust, the community members have come together as one to identify their problems and seek solutions to them. Attending one of the scheduled meetings, I was able to learn so much about this community. As the Kenyan flag symbolizes Unity for our country, so does the slogan “muungano!” for the community representatives from Mukuru Kwa Njenga ward.  The Slogan is a Swahili word meaning union. Their unification is demonstrated by the vehemence the members had as they stood up to introduce themselves: They began by strongly stating the slogan, then their names, where they come from and what they love and hate with regard to making Mukuru a better place. “I love peace, transparency, security and water and abhor deceit, favoritism and hate,” says one of the community members. She summarizes the major challenges they face from day to day. Based on t

Outside of the Bio-Centre Just the other day, I was watching the news and I saw so many activities happening in Kibera. Many individuals within governmental and non-governmental organizations come to Kibera     to gain professional experience and education.. I knew there was something in this place, good or bad, and I was eager to find it out. Born and bred in Nairobi, I had never been to Kibera making me feel ignorant to the area and what it entailed, a vice I abhor. I mean, Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi and the largest urban slum in Africa. Most of its residents live in extreme poverty, earning less than one dollar per day. I wanted to know how they survive, considering I spend two hundred shillings a day just on transport! People living with HIV/ AIDS are many, cases of assault and rape are common, there are few schools (and schools with affordable prices at that), clean water is scarce (hence diseases caused by poor hygiene are prevalent), and   the majority of

I don’t know about you, but I sure was happy to hear of the news. I had to go no matter what. I may never get such an opportunity again. You only live once! Umande staff  with the French Ambassador My colleagues seemed calm, so I went with the flow. We were all ready to tour Kibera. On such instances one would need to dress for the occasion. Just like an official wear for the office or gown for a wedding, a pair of pants and closed shoes would do you justice. The dusty roads and paths in Kibera were otherwise muddy especially with the short rainy season. Despite this, the tour had to take place. Muvi Bio centre         Mr Josiah Omoto with zest led the way for his flock and the visitors through each and every bio centre explaining the latest developments. We all learnt a lot from the best. Our venerated visitors were from the French embassy with a group of journalists from France. They were interested to see the projects that they funded in Kibera. Most of those pr

Kianyaga High school is a school based in Central province. They have a vision: to create a citadel of excellency.They aim to provide quality education that will produce an all-round citizen who is disciplined, creative, self-reliant and of quality service to the nation. Achievement of this would create a new breed of citizens that would drive the Kenyan Nation towards its vision 2030. The school management thought it shrewd to make the boys’ learning experience better by partnering with Umande Trust, a nascent rights-based agency which believes that modest resources, strategically invested in support of community-led initiatives, can significantly improve access to water for all. They had one goal, to improve the sanitation of the school, and what better agency to  do this other than Umande Trust, concreted by their unending  successful involvement with the community on sanitation and water. With funding from WARMA, their dreams became true. With the baton passed on to Uma

As I trekked across Kibera to the St. Christine Bio-Centre and School, I was not quite sure what to expect. I had been told St. Christine “has a lot going on” and there would be plenty of great things there, but I was still left curious. When we finally reached our destination, a compound just off the highway, we entered a small metal gate that opened up into a community filled with festive children, passionate teachers, and all kinds of in spiring projects. St. Christine Bio-Centre and School truly has it all: latrines, showers, a solar lamp community distribution project, a computer lab, and green space initiatives. Working in partnership, Umande Trust and the St. Christine School have accomplished a great many things in the past few years. Since both the Bio-Centre and School’s inception, a world of possibilities has opened up for the School and surrounding community’s growth. And by the looks of it after I finished my tour, it was clear to me that those involved in the Bio-Cen

Impact of the New Bio-Card Payment System Beginning in early 2013, a team of computer science students from Jomo Kenyatta University started developing a closed-loop cashless payment system for Umande’s bio-centres. This payment system is presently being trialed at the Tosha One bio-centre. Currently close to 1,000 people per day use the bio-centre at Tosha One, making the location ideal for testing the initial stages of this new payment system.  So how does it work? Currently there are two cashless payment platforms being used at the Tosha One bio-centre: the Kopo Kopo system and the new closed-loop bio-card process. Implemented at the Tosh One bio-centre since January 2013, the Kopo Kopo system allows customers to pay for bio-centre amenities using their bio-cards. Patrons simply use Safaricom’s M-PESA service “lipa na m-pesa” to top-up credit on their card, which can be charged for daily, weekly, or monthly services. With M-PESA, the transactions are electronically recorded

Vote for Umande's Project in the Making All Voices Count Competition by November 23rd Do you believe in providing economic opportunities for women to promote good governance and citizen participation? If so, vote for Umande’s project in the international Making All Voices Count competition.  Making All Voices Count is an international initiative that supports innovative thinking, scaling, and research that deepens both existing and new innovations that enable better citizen engagement and government responsiveness. Through focusing global attention on creative and cutting-edge solutions, including those that use mobile, web, and other technologies, MAVC strives for a substantial push towards effective democratic governance and accountability. The Global Innovation Competition aims to support projects whose objectives match those of the wider Making All Voices Count initiative. Determined by both public votes and a peer review process, finalists of the competition are invited

  We were recently lucky enough to speak with the Kibera District Administration Police Commandant Grace Mbinda about Kibera Internal Security’s partnership with Umande Trust. Upon her arrival to Kibera, Commandant Mbinda found the state of sanitation for the officers to be very poor. She began to pursue an alternative to the shallow, dirty pit latrines the officers were using, and in August of 2013 she found a solution in the form of a partnership with Umande.   TOP III biocenter, left, and cooking room, right TOP III biocenter interior The officers, whose numbers are now around 130, are able to use Umande’s TOP III biocenter free of charge. Previously, these officers had to use their own money every week to have their latrines cleaned out, which was quite costly and a burden for them. Now, says Mbinda, they don’t have to worry about spending that money on sanitation in their workplace and can instead use it in their personal lives and for their homes and families. Add