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In the urban slum area of Kibera, Nairobi, efforts are being made to improve sanitation and health conditions for schoolchildren, where access to toilets and clean water is severely limited. The project focuses on public schools and builds on an initial feasibility study that identified needs and technical opportunities for improved wastewater management and hygiene.
During the implementation phase, a closed wastewater system will be established at the schools’ toilet facilities, preventing human waste from ending up in schoolyards and play areas. At the same time, a biogas solution will be developed to convert wastewater into renewable energy, which will be used, among other things, to support a health station where schoolgirls can boil water and maintain good menstrual hygiene.
The project integrates education and local community engagement to ensure ownership, operation, and maintenance, thereby contributing to improved health, increased dignity, and more sustainable school environments.
In recent days, Engineers Without Borders’ volunteers Reno Munksgaard and Niels Bay Jensen have been in Kenya on an important project for 100% for the Children, with support from the Rambøll Foundation.
The purpose of the trip was to support quality assurance of improved WASH infrastructure (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) for more than 1,500 children in Kibera – Africa’s largest urban slum area.
The work in Kibera has not only focused on the technical aspects of the WASH solutions. Together with local teachers, Youth WASH Champions, and other partners, there has also been a strong focus on ownership, operation, and maintenance, ensuring that the solutions function in the long term and are locally anchored.
There were therefore smiles all around when the new facilities were inaugurated, as shown in the photo here.
Something as basic as access to proper toilet facilities and clean water can make a world of difference to children’s schooling. Especially for girls, for whom menstruation too often becomes an invisible barrier to education.
Improved WASH conditions contribute to fewer illnesses, more stable school attendance – particularly for girls – and thus better conditions for learning, well-being, and dignity.
When you are physically well, you learn much better. That is why we are happy to contribute to creating better and safer conditions for children’s schooling in Kibera. 💚
