Published on: 08/03/2011
Like any other Kenyan slum, Waruku settlement, part of Nairobi's sprawling Kangemi slums is bursting under population pressure. The mud and corrugated iron walled shanties are packed together - neighbours can literally talk to each other from the comfort of their beds. Plots are separated by footpaths that are often just centimetres wide, some of which double as drainage channels.
Drinking water has to be bought from vendors, sometimes without knowing where it comes from. There is hardly any space for sinking pit latrines. Waruku residents often drop their faecal matter into plastic bags, and then fling them above the slum canopy, Nairobi slums' infamous 'flying toilets.'
Teresia Wasuka, mother of five, has lived as a squatter in Waruku settlement, for several years. In 2007, she joined a collective savings group. She contributed towards building toilets for her community, in return Teresia Wasuka is getting a home to call her own.
Source: Isaiah Esipisu, Inter Press Service /allAfrica.com, 6 March 2011
