Umande Trust

Students from the University of Tokyo and the University of Nairobi collaborated these past 10 days to understand life in Kibera. The students were broken into three groups, livelihoods, energy, and solid waste management.   These groups have spent their time in various villages in Kibera discussing their projects with residents and local officials, taking surveys, and observing the area in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of Kibera and the aspect they are studying. Today, all of the groups came together with community members, Umande Trust staff, and local officials to share their initial findings.  After a series of introductions, and noting the importance of partnerships between universities and organizations, the groups began to share the work that they have done. The first group that went was livelihoods and they found that there is an importance between social ties and success in entrepreneurship.  For many people to be able to move to Kibera and find...

As I begin my internship with Umande Trust I am currently going through Kibera and visiting the different projects that Umande has done.     I have visited the Katwekera Tosha Bio-Centre and saw not only how the bio-centre works, but also how the upper floors are utilized.    Here there is a school that combines education and sports, and on the very top floor meeting space for the community.   At this particular location, watching football games is the main use.   We moved on to a school where Umande has created a urine diversion toilet, a WIMMA project, which will allow waste to be processed and turned into fertilizer.    The fertilizer collected here will be marketed, in part, outside of Kibera.   This is a new project, which differs from their bio-centres, which create biogas.   Another project that I visited was the Jasho Letu Bio-Center.   When we arrived here the community was conduc...

An overview of the school compound Located in the interior of Kibera, lies Ushirika primary school, in the Laini Saba ward. A location only accessed by walking, even when privileged with a car, you can only drive so far. “As a person dealing with community members, you have to walk   to reach all areas,’’ says my supervisor as we venture into Kibera with the January’s scorching sun right ahead of us. Computer lab and library under construction Finally, after about one hour of walking we reach our destination, welcomed by the happy screams and laughter of children. The Kibera environment is packed with small crowds headed in different directions,the chocking stench of numerous heaps of garbage on the road side, drainage filled with sewerage, houses made from mud and iron sheets and tractors that were busy with the road construction. We were welcomed by three gentlemen who were members of the school’s board. They gave us a tour around the school explaining what the i...

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 ...

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   t...

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 ...

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 ...