Maureen Adisa, a community volunteer in Kibera’s Soweto East area, says handwashing stands she managed next to a boda boda (motorcycle taxis) parking bay was helping hundreds of people passing by on their daily routine.
“This handwashing stand has come at the right time when people really need to wash their hands and stay safe from COVID-19,” she said.
The handwashing station managed by Adisa is one of the 38 placed in various locations in the Kibera informal settlement by the WASH Alliance Kenya, with funding from UNICEF through UKAID, under a COVID-19 Emergency Response Programme. The stations serve at least 30,000 people living in one of Africa’s largest informal settlements.
Handwashing and general personal hygiene are vital in combating COVID-19 especially in informal settlements where access to water is limited and social distancing is almost impossible due to overcrowding, according to the United Nations.
Water access in Kibera, home to more than 185,000 people according to the 2019 national census, is scarce and expensive due to control by cartels that run the water connections. The cleanliness of the water is also not guaranteed as water pipes run openly next to open sewer drains and are susceptible to cuts.
The COVID-19 Emergency Response Programme aims to improve access to safe water supply in selected informal settlements through water connection and repairs, installation of handwashing stations in public spaces, and distribution of the handwashing vessels and soap to vulnerable households.
The program, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services, Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, and select local organizations, including Umande Trust and KWAHO, has installed facilities in Kibra, Mathare, Mukuru, and Githogoro slums of Nairobi.
Six water tanks were also installed at selected sites in Kibera and connected to public supply water under a COVID-19 Emergency Response Programme. They serve the most vulnerable in the community including the elderly, persons living with disability, orphaned and vulnerable children, and the chronically ill.
“The program interventions are based on the gaps identified by the COVID-19 response under the WASH cluster in Kenya,” said Tobias Omufwoko, CEO at WASH Alliance Kenya.
“The main intervention strategies target communities, schools, health care centers and other public places like markets and water points.”
“The program interventions are based on the gaps identified by the COVID-19 response under the WASH cluster in Kenya,” said Tobias Omufwoko, CEO at WASH Alliance Kenya and a member of WSSCC. “The main intervention strategies target communities, schools, health care centers and other public places like markets and water points,” he added.
Handwashing and general personal hygiene are vital in combating COVID-19 especially in informal settlements where access to water at this critical time is limited and social distancing is almost impossible due to overcrowding, according to the United Nations.
Safeguard measures put in place by the Ministry of health, including mandatory wearing of facemasks in public, handwashing, and staying and work at home, are however tricky for slum dwellers who have to choose between eking out a living and protecting themselves against the deadly viral disease to follow.
Already, over 23,000 people have been infections and 370 deaths recorded across the East African nation of 47 million people, according to official statistics.
“People want to wear facemasks and wash their hands, but their economic situation has made it difficult. They would rather use their money to buy food than buy a facemask,” said Maurice Otieno, a community volunteer working with Umande Trust to install tanks in Kibra.
Community members fetch water at a tank installed by WAK in Kibra
