Income poverty is not only the deprivation the urban poor face; inhabitants in informal settlements have extremely very little or absolutely no access to basic services such as health, water and sanitation- deprivations that severely erode human capital. Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO), in partnership with WaterCan Canada, has undertaken WASH initiatives in informal settlements as an entry point to rally the inhabitants to address wider community poverty issues through the use of community organization methodology to break this culture of apathy in informal settlements. Technical implementation of WASH in form of construction of water points and toilets is both a capacity transfer means and support mechanism. However, Hygiene promotion is core in the initiatives as a means of encouraging local communities to effectively use water and sanitation infrastructure developed as demonstrated by Wise ladies, a group of women in Kianda village, Kibera, whose case study is presented herein

Catherine Mwango (7220603)

English

Loughborough University Institutional Repository

MWANGO  1  36th WEDC International Conference, Nakuru, Kenya, 2013  DELIVERING WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE SERVICES  IN AN UNCERTAIN ENVIRONMENT   Enhancing hygiene promotion through access to WASH in informal settlements in Nairobi: the case of Wise Ladies  C. Mwango, Kenya  BRIEFING PAPER 1705   Income poverty is not only the deprivation the urban poor face; inhabitants in informal settlements have extremely very little or absolutely no access to basic services such as health, water and sanitation- deprivations that severely erode human capital. Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO), in partnership with WaterCan Canada, has undertaken WASH initiatives in informal settlements as an entry point to rally the inhabitants to address wider community poverty issues through the use of community organization methodology to break this culture of apathy in informal settlements. Technical implementation of WASH in form of construction of water points and toilets is both a capacity transfer means and support mechanism. However, Hygiene promotion is core in the initiatives as a means of encouraging local communities to effectively use water and sanitation infrastructure developed as demonstrated by Wise ladies, a group of women in Kianda village, Kibera, whose case study is presented herein.   Opportunities for intervention Rapid population growth (38.6million, 2009 census) and urbanization present big challenges for Kenya in meeting the MDG 7, Target 10. Currently access to safe water is estimated at only 60% in urban areas and 20% in low income settlements within urban areas while for rural areas it is estimated at 40%. Sanitation coverage (2009 population census) is estimated at 56% in rural areas and 79% in urban areas. The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MOPHS) through the Joint Monitoring Plan (2012) considers those using shared facilities as lacking access and puts the National coverage in 2010 at 32% with rural coverage at 32% and urban at 32%. As Kenya’s cities grow beyond their capacity, much of the country’s urban growth accumulates in slums. Nearly 75% of Nairobi’s population already live in slum communities that occupy just 5% of the land. Today more than half of the country’s urban population (approximately 8 million people) and nearly 60% of residents Nairobi (more than 2 million people) live in slums characterised by overcrowding, poor water and sanitation facilities and high rates of communicable disease.  Nearly 8 million people in Kenya’s slums lack access to clean and hygienic sanitation and 70% of residents do not have access to improved toilets. These numbers will increase dramatically as slum populations continue to outgrow the pace of infrastructure development. High population density combined with the lack of infrastructure makes access to sanitation an acute problem in Nairobi. The lack of hygienic facilities, together with poor hygiene practices, perpetuates the sanitation crisis and force communities to utilize open defecation, exposed sewers, and plastic bags or “flying toilets” to dispose of human waste. In order to propel Kenya into an industrializing and middle income country providing high quality of life to all its citizens by the year 2030, it’s important to address the huge demand for water and sanitation related infrastructure. Various relevant interventions by all stakeholders are necessary and this is depicted in the various interventions that have taken place such as KWAHO’s experience in implementing WASH in low cost public schools in urban areas, non-formal schools in the informal settlements, relatively poor communities located in the peri-urban and informal settlements as well as in rural Kenya.  MWANGO  2  With support from WaterCan, over the last 10 years KWAHO has made a substantial contribution towards enhancing access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) in low cost public schools, non-formal schools in the informal settlements and communities through:  Development of new water supply and sanitation (WASH) infrastructure within schools and communities  Rehabilitation of existing very dilapidated WASH facilities and/or construction of new ones.  Related Hygiene promotion and education for the groups  Capacity building of schools and communities in good governance, financial management, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation as well as operation and management of the facilities.  A case of innovation and success: Wise Ladies Water and Sanitation project Wise Ladies is a registered local CBO founded in 2004 by the members of the Kianda community in the informal settlement of Kibera, Nairobi County. The 20 member group is largely composed of the female gender albeit with inclusion of male members. The group initially started off as a merry-go round with members contributing USD 1.2 for savings; the money was then loaned back to the members for small scale business improvement, repayable with interest. Prior to the WASH intervention in the year 2010, the community depended on water vendors for access to water at a cost of USD 0.1 for a 20 lt jerrycan when water is available. Sanitation situation on the other hand was characterised by open defecation on access roads and drainage challenges due to lack of sanitation facilities. In 2009, KWAHO Nairobi field team organised a hygiene education forum with Wise ladies, to raise awareness on the link between health and access to appropriate sanitation facilities and safe water. The members of the group showed interest in providing water and sanitation services to improve the environmental sanitation within the community. Ordinarily, due to high cases of insecurity and poverty levels in the informal settlements, development initiatives particularly related to infrastructure investments fail due to vandalism and apathy in paying for use respectively. To counteract this trend, KWAHO trained some members of the Wise Ladies group as hygiene promoters to support hygiene promotion in the community. The awareness creation which was undertaken through door to door campaigns and outreaches in social gatherings was aimed at changing the local community members’ attitude on WASH especially the economic and social value. The hygiene promotion initiative undertaken persuaded the community members to pay for use of the WASH facilities, look after them and make effective use of them. This has significantly contributed to consistent use of and adherence to good hygiene practices subsequently increasing the sustainability and impact of the WASH investments as demonstrated in table 1 and the measures undertaken by Wise Ladies groups as outlined below. The group charges community members USD 0.03 per 20lt jerry can and USD 0.06 every toilet use; albeit the group makes exemptions on payments for toilet use for children and sick community members. The WASH facilities constructed have tremendously reduced open defecation and the nuisance of ‘flying toilets’ thus improving environmental sanitation and general hygiene in the area. Reduction in open defecation and the nuisance of ‘flying toilets’ that was the order of the day in facility vicinity before our project intervention  Table 1. Access of water at household level in project catchment area (pre and post project intervention)   Total Population served in project catchment Water used per day in 20Lts jerricans/ Household i.e. unit of 5 members Price per 20Lts jerrican in USD Total amount used for water in USD Remarks Total HH M F C     Before intervention 98 175 235 80 40Lts 0.1 0.2 Economical use of water due to high cost After intervention 98 175 235 80 80 0.03 0.12 Increase in water usage because of affordable cost  Key: HH- Households M- Male  F-female  C-children MWANGO  3  Measures undertaken by Wise Ladies groups for Sustainability of the WASH intervention:   Excellent waste management that the group ensures around their facility through conducting clean ups and hygiene promotion on a bi monthly basis  Putting in place a committed WASH management committee that has promoted group cohesion and enhanced the profile of WASH. Their commitment is demonstrated by their members’ contribution of KES 20,000 per member that facilitated purchase of the land for expansion of WASH infrastructure to serve more members of the community subsequently enhancing hygiene in the community.  Gender and Governance: The group was initially comprised of women but from the onset was open to change and accommodated men based on interest and demand. This has enhanced the group dynamism that incorporates strengths of both genders in the management of the facility. The group leadership is democratic and hold weekly meetings to share on progress/challenges as well as plan for the coming week and mitigation measures to be instituted where challenges were met.  Maintenance of facilities: Proper maintenance of the WASH facilities has ensured their sustainability The group has employed a well-trained caretaker who oversees the facilities and ensures that they are well maintained in terms of cleanliness and therefore attractive to potential users. The caretaker receives money from the user fees (charges for use of bathroom, latrines and water sales) that are recorded and banked daily by a group member on duty. Records of daily sales are properly recorded and are accessible to all the members. In addition, the committee members meet and budget together. They agree on expenditure items and withdraw money for the specified purpose. This promotes transparency and accountability in the management of the WASH facility. Monitoring - Monitoring on the use and performance of the WASH facility by the group members helps them to plan for maintenance (including repairs) timely.  Savings: The group have been committed to making savings in their bank account. This is ensured through the fortnightly meetings they hold and share reports. Thus, the management committee is able to meet any operation and maintenance costs for their WASH facility.  Table 2. Typical monthly income and expenditure for Wise Ladies  (January 2013 time period/year?) Income analysis Expenditure analysis Savings (USD) Description Amount (USD) Description Cost(USD)   Water Sales 140 Soap, tissues and detergents 44 96 Latrine Use 120 Water and Electricity Bills 16 56 Pit Exhaustion (using exhauster truck) in dry period after every quarter but in wet season its done fortnightly 80 Bath room 80 Caretaker 30 50 TOTAL 340   170 202  Other initiative and accrued benefits  Gender parity: The group has achieved gender parity as a result of gender mainstreaming in the project. This was initially a women only group. Men have now been included in the membership as it has been realised that successful WASH projects require inclusion of all gender.  Entrepreneurship: The KWAHO WASH project capacity built the group into a cohesive and viable organization with a solid base that prompted selection the Equity Bank under their community programme for entrepreneurship to select the group for assistance. The Bank would only assist community groups with on-going successful projects (In this case, they had the WaterCan funded WASH project) which had an operational bank account with savings. The bank capacity built the group on entrepreneurship and business management skills. Members were then given individual loans for setting  MWANGO  4    Figure 1. Chart showing income received by Wise Ladies from WASH sales in USD  Source: Wise ladies’ financial record book-January 2013    Figure 2. Breakdown of Wise Ladies Finances apportioned from the income  Source: Wise ladies’ financial record book-January 2013  up their businesses or expanding them. The group members have achieved raising money through their contributions and bought houses or dwelling units for members.  Improved Sewerage and Waste Disposal Management: The group was financially supported to build Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines, nonetheless, the group members have since appreciated the need to have a septic tank as a means of enhancing environmental sanitation due to the environmental conditions (water logging) that cause faecal seepage to the neighbourhood. s Wise Ladies through advocacy role played by KWAHO have since prevailed on the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) to change their mind set on waste disposal in the informal settlements by allowing construction of a septic tank- this is great progress towards change of policy and mind sets where septic tanks are not a norm in the informal settlements. The group are now in the process of acquiring adjacent land for the septic tank as they marshal the requisite resources to construct it. Innovative aspects of the project implemented by KWAHO  Enhanced sustainability capacity through promotion of community participation i.e. through material contribution, decision making and management of facilities  Enhanced access to WASH facilities by and community members through maximization of a small space in view of the land availability challenge in informal settlements  Re-investment of savings realized by the group members into initiatives that can enhance their socio-economic status e.g the current septic construction project that the group has embarked on through their savings with a view to better positioning in the sanitation ladder.  Enhanced social-cohesion amongst group members drawn from a common goal and purpose attributed to the ablution. MWANGO  5  Lessons learnt Stakeholder involvement and partnerships (including governments, schools, communities, NGOs and donor agencies) play a key role in development of activities in line with their mandates if adequately involved. This is in recognition that there are many stakeholders involved in WASH activities. However without proper planning and co-ordination, it leads to duplication of development initiatives in the same areas of intervention. For an all-inclusive development, partnership with organizations involved in other development activities other than WASH also enhances service delivery and sustainability. From this experience, it is also important to ensure involvement of both males and females in the project cycle, when the men joined the Wise Ladies group the project was further enhanced. In addition, the consideration for separate facilities for men and women were discussed by both genders and designed accordingly. Also, capacity building is essential in promoting community project ownership and stewardship thus enhancing sustainability. A unique component of this project was the local entrepreneurship. Hygiene promotion by the project team and Wise Ladies created demand by the community members for appropriate and clean facilities. This has resulted in increased willingness to pay for use of the facilities, thus boosting the income of the group. Lastly, working with the group to enhance skills in monitoring and evaluation was a critical factor in gauging progress and identifying gaps in the group’s system which the project team and Wise Ladies worked to mitigate.  Conclusion Despite the numerous successes met in WASH programming, Kenya is far from meeting the MDG target 7. Thus, concerted efforts by all stakeholders are required in order to achieve the stated results. Moreover, we are persuaded that no WASH model or plan, by the fact of its existence in one informal settlement, will change the urban landscape. For there to be change, there must be an intervention that appreciates each informal settlement’s unique set of circumstances and therefore negotiates and crafts a suit that fits.  Acknowledgements We would like to extend appreciation to Wise Ladies group members, especially their leaders for taking their time to share their experiences with the team as well as validating the information shared herein. Special thanks to the KWAHO WaterCan funded projects team in Nairobi for their inputs and review of this document.  Additionally, our appreciation goes to WaterCan for supporting water and sanitation projects implemented by KWAHO, their staff for the guidance and support and inputs to the working paper document.  References Government of the Republic of Kenya 2010 Kenya Population and Housing census 2009: population and household distribution by socio-economic characteristics. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics volume II Government of the Republic of Kenya 2007 Kenya Vision 2030: Popular version United Nations General Assembly Resolution 52/2 of 8th September 2000 www.un.org.millienum/declaration/ARES552e.pdf Water Services Regulatory Board (2011): A performance review of Kenya’s water services sector. Issue no.4  Contact details Catherine Mwango (Mrs.) P.0 Box 61470-00200 Tel: 0722-212073 Fax:+254-20 558760 Email: c.mwango@kwaho.org www.kwaho.org     

Enhancing hygiene promotion through access to WASH in informal settlements in Nairobi: the case of wise ladies

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Enhancing hygiene promotion through access to WASH in informal settlements in Nairobi: the case of wise ladies

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