Slum communities living in unfairly under serviced areas, often characterized by inadequate provision of basic infrastructure and public services necessary to sustain health, such as water, sanitation, and drainage. Further, since many of these settlements are illegal, slum dwellers often have no official addresses and are commonly denied basic rights and entitlements, including the right to vote, public education, and health care.
Informal settlement communities continue to grapple with prevalent challenges such as insufficient access to water and sanitation which often gravitates high risk of gender-based violence and food insecurity. However, it is most important to note that these challenges have solutions, which can be catalysed locally by the communities. This is possible through ideas that empower communities and help them break away from generational cycle of poverty.
According to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 60 percent of Nairobi’s population lives on 5 percent of the land. The city’s overcrowded slums and informal settlements, constructed from cheap materials like corrugated iron and connected to hazardous electricity lines (illegal connections), make them particularly vulnerable to fire. Access roads are few, making passage difficult for fire trucks.
Muungano wa Wanavijiji, uses a unique partnership strategy with the support of Slum Dwellers international (SDI) and Strathmore’s University Energy Research Centre to empower communities while helping to reverse the diverse effects of energy poverty.
This partnership seeks to create an innovative team of community researchers and scientists that will take forward unique solar inventions in partnership with solar providers in Kenya and globally.
Speaking in the sidelines of a two day Solar exhibition workshop, held at the federations offices on 25-26 October 2016, Sammy Njoroge a federation member from Nakuru expressed confidence that its time slum dwellers begin to critically think how best solar can reduce the cost of access to energy. “In the past two days , different solar energy providers have showcased various solar products and these kits offers us an opportunity to train communities in poverty how to help themselves and create small enterprise businesses that will enable them become self sustainable”, said Sammy.
Over the two day-long workshop, the solar experts worked with the projects teams responsible for Nairobi and Nakuru regions to examine the solar approach to electrification and to suggest options informal settlement communities.
The workshop began with presentations by the experts from different Solar Energy Providers. This was a whole new experience for many of the federation participants, and by the end of the workshop the participants had coalesced as a strong team.
The experts emphasized experiences that their companies had used to address specific challenges in slums with solutions to payment and affordability concerns for new customers attracted a lot of interest. However, the federation’s approach—improving safety and security in slums as part of its overall conversion to prepayment as a means to ensure that electricity purchases remain affordable.
Through this empowerment model, as may be determined in feasibility survey seeks to build on an outreach partnership strategy with communities, solar providers, government and other stakeholders to promote the concept of renewable energy that will enable low income access affordable sources of energy.
Jane Wairutu, the projects coordinator at SDI-Kenya believes, “In my experience with communities in general is that they tend to use something they have been part of and created with their own hands. When that young person in Kibera or Mathare learns and internalizes the basics of solar energy and how to create a solar-powered light of their very own, inspiration will take shape and hope will overcome the darkness.”
Muungano solar project seeks to build opportunities for new businesses for the youth, with the knowledge and capacities communities will be trained to diagnose and repair lights, create offshoot businesses.
In the past one year SDI’s work has been fueled by the growing inspiration and knowledge of urban poor communities with the different federation hubs, and if these capacities are tapped into, to pioneer the most excellent solar powered light sources accessible to low income communities. Communities would have an opportunity to spend less than the amount spent on kerosene with our model. This will someday become a hub activity for the youth and women to share best practices