Our Work: Water and Sanitation for Kenya's Largest Slum

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Amina Abdi is 13 years old and a student at Ushirikia Childrens’ Centre in Kibera, a large informal settlement of over a million people on the outskirts of Nairobi. Her school is one of 30 where AMREF and GSK have launched PHASE, a personal hygiene and sanitation education programme targeted at students, teachers, and their friends and families. Here she describes her life in Kibera and how the programme has benefited her neighbourhood.

Life in Kibera is of hope and despair, happiness and sadness. Last week, a train derailed and some people died. I was very sad. Sometimes houses catch fire because people’s houses are crowded and people lose property. There is also shortage of water and we do not have toilets.

I am a class 5 pupil at Ushirika children centre in Laini Saba neighbourhood of Kibera. I love to study and I love my teachers. I have been in this school ever since nursery school. The only problem was that before PHASE we had just one latrine that we shared with boys.

When we are in our periods it was very difficult. We had no sanitary towels and when we go to the toilet to change the cloth material that we use, there is always a line. So people make noise: “You. . . young girl, what are doing in the toilet for all that time? Come out. This is not a hotel!” For boys, it’s easy because when pressed, they can help themselves anywhere in the slum. They don’t care. For short calls, they just stand against a wall and it’s done. These are some of the things that make life in Kibera challenging.

Ever since AMREF introduced the PHASE programme, I have seen admirable changes in our school. AMREF built for us a four-door latrine and now we have more privacy especially during our menstruation cycle. We also have a water tank and water supply. We use the water to drink, cook and wash our hands after visiting the toilet.

I am a member of the PHASE school health club. There are 28 of us, and we meet every Tuesday and Thursday after school. Club activities include cleaning the school compound, washing school latrines and ensuring that they are properly used. Club members also supervise filling water into our leaky tins [handwashing stations] and advising other pupils to ensure their personal cleanliness is improved. We also share health messages to the entire school, our siblings and our parents.

PHASE project is very important because through it, we can prevent the spread of diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and intestinal worms. We always was our hands and we also get drugs for de-worming and vitamin A which have greatly improved our health. Through PHASE project, we have come to know the importance of personal cleanliness, and of eating clean, properly cooked and balanced foods.

Now we have more time in class without being sick and we are slowly improving our academic performance. We really thank the GSK and AMREF for bringing PHASE to our school.

AMREF’s work in Kibera is supported by GSK.