Providing employment opportunities in greens to disadvantaged communities

Environclean works with local youth & women organisations in slum communities - to help create innovative self-sustaining projects that not only provide economic empowerment for communities that live in slums but are a resource and environmental biotechnology. We hope to provide employment in greens to disadvantaged communities’ e.g.

• By establishing composting, briquetting facilities.
• Encouraging renewable energy technologies e.g. solar power, biogas plants, windpower, cogeneration
• By establishing organic gardens with scope to grow fruit and vegetables, as well as sensory, wildlife, cultural and peace gardens.
• Grow new energy crops like jatropha for manufacture of biofuels.

Construction of bio-sanitation centers in Kenya:

These are centers that utilise biogas technology and at the same time protect and preserve environment in various ways. Environclean was able to to source funding from various donors in UK in order to work with the local community and the Lunga Lunga youth group to design and build the first bio-sanitation center in Lunga Lunga slum.

Benefits of Bio-sanitation center

• Water supply outlet
• Provision of toilet and bathroom facilities
• Gas generated for lighting and cooking (cafeteria/bakery)
• Community facilities for hire: community hall, offices and restaurant space with cooking gas installed
• Fertilizer production for sale
• Members are paid dividends and income is generated to raise living standards.
• Children (5-10 years) can access the toilets free of charge
• Creation of employment opportunities
• Increased community awareness on hygiene especially regarding water collection, hand-washing and waste disposal

How do we go about it? Environclean interviews and shortlists an organised community group (CBO) within the slums who have a plan and who have sites allocated by the local authority or provincial administration. Environclean ensuresthat the CBO sets a project management and accountability team. The training at this time begins as community workshops on hygiene, zero defecation, sanitation transformation, business planning and operation maintenance. The technical team in consultation with the community prepare the architectural designs, drawings and Bills of quantities, work-plans for each of the sites. The designs are then submitted for approval to the City Council of Nairobi, Department of planning. On approval, the implementation begins which includes excavations, completion of underground/sub-structure and superstructure works.

Sustainabilty of project: Under the scheme, civic authorities provide the site for the biogas-toilets. The Sponsors, donors, partners provide at least 90% of the funds for construction. The residents contribute 10%. To establish a certain level of ownership, it’s essential for the residents to contribute to the project.

• Environclean Community Group, commits to maintain these complexes for 15 years, free of cost, and it collects revenue only from the sale of energy produced from the plants

• Post-facility management is a social process by Environclean and forms part of its community training program which adopts a modular approach for a period that may stretch up to two years after facility completion, in order to ensure sustainability.

• Environclean Community Group supports partner CBOs in these settlements to access financial resources for further investment in water and sanitation facilities. Water and sanitation funds are also set up as an integral part of promoting increased incomes and investments and skill enhancement in shareholding, financial management and market development is carried out.

• Environclean further adopts a methodology that seeks to improve the economic potential of CBOs’ by developing their managerial expertise. One key strategy is joint business planning which allows the target CBOs to assume a major role in management of sanitation facilities and promoting the program activities. Members’ empowerment in these key aspects creates an opportunity for cross-learning between Environclean and the community thereby significantly reducing operational costs.

• In recognition of the constraining poverty situation that affects peoples’ livelihoods within the low incomes settlements, Environclean allows communities to contribute in various appropriate ways to the project through providing labour, daily savings (incorporates casual labourers), ‘merry-go-rounds’/revolving funds, fundraising, individual commitment (in terms of participation), amongst others.

Biocentre projects Funded by Environclean and partners

1 in Lunga Lunga(completed in 2009)

1 in Mathare(to be started when funds are fully available)

Lunga Lunga Bio-sanitation center

Situated at Lunga Lunga slum, Eastlands, Nairobi Kenya. Residents of Lunga Lunga slum, one of the slums in eastlands, has continually lacked access to basic water and sanitation services. After carrying out consultation with members of community on waste management strategies, community members expressed the need for better sanitation. In Lunga Lunga, water provision is dominated by water vendors who incessantly vary prices from Kshs.3-10 per 20 litre jerrican depending on availability of water supply. Majority of the residents are either unemployed or earn below 1 dollar a day thus cannot afford to buy adequate water to cater for their daily activities. 

In this regard, Environclean and Lunga Lunga Youth group established a relationship for the purposes of enhancing the welfare and livelihoods of members of Lunga Lunga community through the provision of a sanitation center, improved hygiene practices and support members on management of waste. The center was planned in 2006 but actual construction started in 2007. The center consists of 4 bathrooms and 4 toilets. It can provide sanitation facilities for over 1,000 people daily. There is also a water tank installed that the group will sell at subsidised rate and use for the facility. 

With help from Environclean’s supporters, local partners in Kenya like Umande Trust, the center was completed in Jan 2009. We hope that at least 30% of the slum population will benefit daily from this facility. The group will earn revenue from provision of the services and by water sales. All the profits will be put back for community gain. The methane gas will be given a duration of 6 months to start accumulating. In the meantime, vocation training e.g. business development will be offered to prepare the Lunga Lunga community for future business prospects.

Achievements:

Income Generation: Environclean hopes from these bio-centers emerges various business opportunities. The Lunga Lunga bio-sanitation project will hold a ladies hair salon which will offer services to the the slum of nearly 250,000 million. The extra office will be rented out to other interested parties and a communal kitchen will enable creation of bakeries etc. Business development training will be provided by  local consultants. Environclean is grateful for all the support.

Training and Capacity Building: Environclean is committed to helping build slums Community-based organisation’ (CBOs) capacity so that they may become a more effective organisation. To this end Environclean has funded Lunga Lunga Volunteer training in gaining certification as bio-sanitation builders. We hope that we can offer masonry, carpentry, hair & beauty certificates from the acccreditating bodies in Kenya. We hope to provide them with other skills like computer training and others. We are seeking well-wishers to donate computers.

Vocational Skills: Many of the youth in slum need to be equipped with skills needed to enable them get motivated and fend for themselves without resulting to crime. We hope to teach traditional building skills, organic farming among waste, carpentry, soap making, sewing skills. Environclean will work together to arrange apprenticeships with local professionals for each youth.