Kenya – Kibera

Kibera in Nairobi (Kenya) is the biggest slum in Africa. About 700 000 people live there and approximately 300 000 of them are kids. There is no access to running water and inadequate access to sanitation, especially the lack of handwashing facilities.

In urban slums, lack of running water causes widespread transmittance of diseases. Children often have to bring their own water to school for sanitary purposes, otherwise, they will likely get sick, which in turn would force them to skip valuable class time. Similarly, lack of hygiene devices disables many girls from attending school during menstruation, and as a consequence, they are forced to stay at home. The pursuit of clean water, often lead by women, takes the precious time from engaging in business and education, leaving them at a disadvantage compared to men. Moreover, without personal handwashing and sanitation facilities they are forced to opt for ill-equipped, public facilities. This limits women from using them at night, during which they are likely to be sexually assaulted.

WaSHInnovation is committed to empowering communities by making personal hygiene maintenance available to everyone and everywhere. We tackle the problem of lack of water not only as a resource but also as a force which impedes the advancement of particularly, marginalized groups in economic and social domains.

To familiarize yourself with individual narratives of people living in urban slums, and how WaSHInnovation changes the quality of their lives, we encourage you to watch our short documentary  “HandyShower – innovation to end hygiene poverty“