Umande Trust

     In an earlier post, we discussed the realities of personal prevention measures against COVID-19 in developing countries. We determined that it has socio-economic implications in terms of the inaccessibility of water, sanitation, and health resources. However, the pandemic also threatens social human rights, which has been deeply felt by these communities. The restrictions and enforcement of various orders can put vulnerable individuals in unsafe conditions that range from toxic living situations to police brutality. Many of these issues are gender-related. Today, we will investigate how COVID-19 has impacted human rights and heightened violence in Kenya, and especially in informal settlements.      For context, Kenya has made significant changes in its system in the past few months to limit the spread of the virus. So far, there have been 29 thousand confirmed cases of coronavirus and 45 deaths, according to Kenya’s Ministry of Health daily reports. In response, on March 27th, o

     Last week, we discussed the basics of climate change from science to misconceptions to its impacts. We ended on the note that developing countries will carry most of the burden of climate change, despite contributing the least amount of greenhouse gases that fuel it. In today’s post, we will cover the impact of climate change specifically in Kenya.      That’s all that we have for you today, please tune in next time for part three of our climate change crash course. We look forward to your company! All the best      Kenya is vulnerable to climate change, as it threatens the country’s economic growth, sustainable development, and well-being as a population. In some areas, there will be an increase in rainfall intensity and unpredictability. The Rift Valley province will experience an ongoing cycle of droughts, floods, and landslides, creating an unstable environment for populations living there. Freshwater resources will also reduce with an increased glacier melt. Communities in K

     Hello, and welcome Voices 4 Change’s second blog. This blog is a companion piece to the podcast, as it goes more in-depth into each discussion and provides further resources for those who are interested. For today’s topic, we will cover: What is climate change, and why should I care?      Climate change has become a popular conversation globally; however, the concept is still continuously misunderstood. The first mistake is the interchanging use of climate and weather. Weather is the atmospheric condition at a specific location and time. It occurs over a short period ranging from hours to days. Climate is the average state of the atmosphere, regionally or globally, across an extended period, typically thirty years. Fluctuations of the Earth’s atmosphere are normal year to year, so scientists analyze climate through averages to smooth out these fluctuations and extreme outliers to project a general trend. Using weather to describe the climate, and vice versa can confuse, misinform,

As the pandemic rages on around the world, many countries have had to deal with doing daily tasks under a “new normal”, including safety precautions such as wearing face coverings, social distancing and frequent hand washing. However, in many areas of Kenya, where access to water is not as easy as turning on a faucet, some of these safety precautions are not possible. In April, Nairobi experienced a landslide in Aberdare Forest that broke essential water pipes. This lead to the shutting down of water production at Sasumwa Dam Treatment in early May. This dam supplies 11.6 percent of water to the Nairobi City County Population, according to Acting Manager Director Nahashon Muguna of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company. When asked about repairs, he cited heavy rains making access and repair difficult, promising “the government is doing everything possible to restore the supply to residents of Nairobi.” Kenyans in affected areas were asked to use available water sparingly and wat