John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series AFRICAN HABITATS : FOREST, GRASSLAND AND SLUM Studies of the Maasai, the Luhya, and Nairobi's Urban Fringe |
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John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series AFRICAN HABITATS : FOREST, GRASSLAND AND SLUM Studies of the Maasai, the Luhya, and Nairobi's Urban Fringe |
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| 647. The initial link between Australia and the people of Kibera began with a chance meeting, at the 2003 World Water Forum in Japan, of the Chief Engineer of the Tweed Shire Council (in northern New South Wales) and two men employed by a Kenyan NGO. The engineer in question thought it would be a good idea if these gentlemen were shown how things were done in Australia. (Litter trap and educational sign in Tweed shire.) |
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| 648. To do this a Mentoring Program was established using money provided by both the Shire and local businesses, churches and residents. Personnel now move in both directions each year, sharing with self-help groups in these informal settlements the expertise developed overseas. The agreement was signed in Nairobi in 2004. |
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| 649. The strategy adopted by Olita Ogonjo (the project coordinator) to clean up the river on his return from Australia, was to entrust local youth groups with responsibility for a section of river bank and its associated catchment. The young people in this picture are the convenors of some of the catchment management groups. The woman on the left is an environmental scientist from Kenyatta University, who was interested in the project. (Office of the Mentoring Program, in Kibera.) |
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| 650. The Kenyan Desk provides both information and training, and co-ordinates the work of 100 different groups. The bulk of the mentoring here is provided by peers, that is youth to youth sharing, but when outside help is required this is organized by the Kenyan Desk. |
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| 651. Groups that accepted the task assigned to them would be supplied with football gear and invited to participate in an annual tournament. The gear was donated by soccer clubs in Australia’s Tweed Shire and either shipped out in bulk or included in the baggage of Australian tourists visiting Nairobi. “Sunshine Batteries” are based in Murwillumbah, in the middle of the Shire. |
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| 652. Under the Mentoring Program Olita (in the middle of the picture) arranged for club members to clean up their own neighbourhood and, in the process, demonstrate pride in their shared environment. |
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| 653. Here sports club members clean up a back lane on World Environment Day. Teams that complete the tasks assigned them are not only assured of a place in a soccer tournament, but also awarded points for work done. And at the end of the year those with the most points are awarded a cash prize which they can spend on a community project of their choosing. First prize is 10,000 shillings; 2nd gets 7,000; 3rd 5,000; and 4th 3,000. |
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| 654. The first Great Nairobi River Soccer Tournament was a great success, and the Australian High Commissioner to Kenya attended to award the prizes. There are now four tournaments each year, but the big one is the "Ecoshield", for which medals have, again, been provided by clubs in the Tweed Shire. |
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| 655. Since the City Council does not collect garbage from informal settlements people simply dump it in the nearest open space. Lanes are often choked with refuse. The youth groups sort out useable items for recycling and the rest is raked into piles and burnt. |
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| 656. There was a road here once but it was first buried under garbage and later eroded by storm waters. |
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| 657. Burning waste, especially plastics, generates atmospheric pollution but it does at least reduce the volume of pollutants washed (or dumped) into the river. |
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| 658.The removal of trash from streets and river banks was complemented in time by the planting of trees to reduce run-of and stabilize the soil. Initially appropriate seedlings were purchased and nurtured in a nursery established within the program compound. |
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| 659. The idea was to provide a study centre at which young people could learn about tree species, where to plant them and how to care for them. |
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| 660. These were then transplanted by similar teams of young people to sites that had previously seemed almost devoid of life ... brown and dirty and beyond repair. |
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| 661. Local schools were also involved, establishing their own tree gardens. The idea was actually taken up in other parts of the city and Olita's team produced brochures for others interested in forest regeneration and weed control. |
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| 662. And as the number of participants increased they were encouraged to collect tree seeds from local forest areas. The idea was to encourage the use of indigenous species, rather than eucalypts and such like ill-suited to the area. Participants were shown how to identify the seeds of 20 different types of trees! |
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