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Showing posts from November, 2018

Sex for Water Project

Friday morning, Umande trust in partnership with WASH interviewed ten women on the struggle and harassment they face trying to fetch water for their families. Most of these women were in their early twenties and all of them were mothers. All of these women told stories about how they had been harassed either by men on their way to fetch water or the water cartels themselves. The water cartels, the people who run the centers where water is fetched from, often take these women’s money without giving them water and beat and harass the women who complain about there being not enough water or the water being dirty. Every women who had been interviewed seemed to have had money stolen from them from the water cartels forcing them to return home without money or water. These stories were more of the tame ones when it comes to the struggle these women face. A lot of them told stories of harassment and rape by men on the street as they were heading to get water. In Kibera, there is a high rate

Voices of the Caretakers: Joseph

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Upon entering the Starra Bio Centre, one would assume that this centre is just the same as all of the others neighboring it in Kibera. But once you walk past the circular centre itself, you are greeted by a large tent filled with plants, a greenhouse. This is where Joseph has worked for the past two years, and like his coworkers at other centres, Joseph spends most of his day cleaning and collecting pay. But he also has an extra job, tending to the greenhouse, planting, sowing, and harvesting the tomatoes and green peppers they sell there. Joseph enjoys earnings  living this way and says that it is a much fairer job than his previous one as a servant. He also says there are many challenges to his job. He often has to deal with abusive customers who refuse to pay after using the bio centre. Joseph says that he does not want to fight these thugs and often has to let them go without paying. Another challenge Joseph faces is the water scarcity in the area, and finds it frustrating that wat

Voices of the Caretakers: Kennedy

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On an average day Kennedy spends his days taking care of the kidiot bio center in Kibera. His job description includes but is not limited to front desk work, cleaning, and making sure everything runs smoothly. One of the reasons Kennedy likes this particular Bio center is because it is so environmentally friendly. Kennedy also mentioned that this particular Bio center brought the first toilets to this area of Kibera! Kennedy enjoys being part of this effort of providing sanitary and cheap toilets to this area. For Kennedy, this Bio center has made  tremendous effect in his life because it's something he is passionate about as he has learned so much about the environment and has also helped him to earn a living wage. Kennedy feels like working at the bio centre has made him more environmentally aware and he is proud to be helping an organization that promotes action against climate change and environmental sustainability.