ewalin » Kenya

KENYA: “Merry-go-round” micro-finance keeps slum residents fed

ewalin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:14:25 +0000

IRIN – Josephine Awuor, 34, always looks forward to her turn to receive “merry-go-round” contributions from fellow members of Msingi Bora (Good Foundation), a micro-finance group she belongs to in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum.

Meeting weekly, the 23 Msingi Bora members each contribute 50 shillings (60 US cents), which is pooled for members to take loans from. At each meeting, the members also contribute 20 shillings (26 US cents) each – to be given to one member in what they term their “merry-go-round” as they draw lots to determine the order of receiving the money.

“Numbers are written on small pieces of paper and folded and each member picks one; the number you get determines your position in the order of receiving the merry-go-round money,” Awuor said. “Previously, supporting myself and my four children was really difficult; things like school fees, food and rent were hard to get but since I joined Msingi Bora, things are looking up,” Josephine said.

Without a steady income – she mostly survives by doing casual labour in more affluent residential areas neighbouring Kibera – Awuor uses the merry-go-round money to buy food and other

Micro-finance keeps slum residents fed in Kenya

ewalin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:33:47 +0000

IRIN – Josephine Awuor, 34, always looks forward to her turn to receive “merry-go-round” contributions from fellow members of Msingi Bora (Good Foundation), a micro-finance group she belongs to in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum.

Meeting weekly, the 23 Msingi Bora members each contribute 50 shillings (60 US cents), which is pooled for members to take loans from. At each meeting, the members also contribute 20 shillings (26 US cents) each – to be given to one member in what they term their “merry-go-round” as they draw lots to determine the order of receiving the money.

“Numbers are written on small pieces of paper and folded and each member picks one; the number you get determines your position in the order of receiving the merry-go-round money,” Awuor said. “Previously, supporting myself and my four children was really difficult; things like school fees, food and rent were hard to get but since I joined Msingi Bora, things are looking up,” Josephine said.

Read more – http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88795

KENYA-SOMALIA: When a low profile is key to survival

ewalin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:48:36 +0000

IRIN – Asha Abdul*, a single mother of five, can put up with the rubbish and appalling roads connecting the modern shopping malls in Eastleigh, a suburb east of Nairobi’s central business district, as long as she is not questioned about her status in Kenya.

“Sisi ni Waria [Swahili for 'we are Somalis']; we don’t like attracting attention to ourselves by complaining about poor services,” Abdul said on 7 April as she fried samosas for sale outside her house in Eastleigh.

She had just paid Ksh1,500 (US$20), required of every tenant on her street, to pay some young men to deliver two lorry loads of stones to cover the dilapidated road outside their homes.

“If we don’t pay these young men to bring the stones, then the muddy water flows into our homes, especially when there is heavy rain,” Abdul said. “With the stones in place, then we can cross the road and go about our business while the children can get to school.”

Abdul fled the Somali capital, Mogadishu, two years ago to escape fighting between government troops and Islamist insurgents who are opposed to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.

Since her arrival in Eastleigh, she has not registered with either the Kenyan government or the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. Her husband abandoned her and the children and she started making samosas and bhajias to survive.

KENYA: Plan to halve infant diarrhoea prevalence

ewalin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:36:26 +0000

IRIN - Kenya has set its sights on halving the prevalence of infant diarrhoeal disease – which kills dozens of children daily – within five years, using new treatments and by boosting preventive measures.

Every Kenyan child under five has an average of three episodes of diarrhoea annually, according to the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey.

“With 86 children dying every day, diarrhoea is the third leading cause of death among under-fives in Kenya. It is unacceptable, but we can stop this!” said Beth Mugo, Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, at the 31 March launch in Nairobi of national policy guidelines.

The new guidelines, she said, complemented the government’s Child Survival and Development Strategy with a package of interventions based on using a new type of oral rehydration salts (ORS) containing lower concentrations of glucose and salt; zinc supplements to reduce the frequency of episodes; selective use of antibiotics; and encouraging prevention through breastfeeding.

“With exclusive breast feeding, vitamin A supplementation, strengthened routine childhood immunization, proper hygiene and access to improved water supplies, we can curb the number of deaths,”said David Okello, country representative of the World Health Organization (WHO).

KENYA: Urban refugees need legal clarity, says report

ewalin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:55:23 +0000

IRIN – Tens of thousands of refugees living in Kenyan cities will continue to suffer police harassment, lack of protection, violation of their human rights and discrimination, as long as the government fails to properly implement recent legislation, says a report by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK).

“The rights of such refugees to move freely within Kenya and reside in urban areas are currently unclear,” Sara Pavanello, a researcher with HPG at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), said during the launch of Hidden and Exposed: Urban Refugees in Nairobi.

“Urban refugees are often very mobile and are reluctant to come forward, making them a largely hidden population,” she said in Nairobi. “As the world urbanizes, refugees are increasingly moving to cities in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. Yet what many actually find are precarious living conditions and harassment, discrimination and poverty.”

KENYA-SOMALIA: Thousands flee Mogadishu “death trap”

ewalin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:56:33 +0000

(IRIN) – Clashes between government troops and Islamist insurgents have displaced more than 55,000 people from Mogadishu since the beginning of February, with many of them heading out of Somalia to neighbouring Kenya, according to the UN Refugee Agency. In the border town of Liboi, people told IRIN by phone that 300 to 400 Somali families were waiting there to be registered as refugees. In all, almost 570,000 Somalis are refugees and most of them live in camps in Kenya. “Staying in Mogadishu now is like a death sentence: you are not safe; your neighbour is not safe,” Hawo Sheiikh Ali, one of the refugees, told IRIN on 22 March.

KENYA: Draft policy offers new hope for IDPs

ewalin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:17:15 +0000

(IRIN) – Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kenya are set to enjoy greater protection under a national policy that also aims to prevent future displacement and to fulfil the country’s obligations under international IDP law, say analysts.

The draft policy, unveiled in Nairobi on 17 March, broadens the definition to cover displacement due to political and resource-based conflict and natural disasters, as well as development projects that force people from their homes without proper relocation.

The draft policy is a departure from the current approach where “IDP issues are dealt with [on an ad hoc basis], like disasters, without addressing the root causes”, Simon Konzolo, a programme officer with Refugee Consortium of Kenya, told IRIN.

“If there is displacement, people should be protected, not have a situation where people are being pushed back to places they feel are still not safe. They will stay there for a short time, and run away again. They should be consulted,” said Konzolo.

History and hate

The policy, which emphasizes the criminality of arbitrary displacement, also calls for laws to address historical injustices, such as the national land policy 2009. Land is often at the root of conflict and subsequent displacement.

According to experts, the IDP policy will allow for the review of existing laws to deal with impunity.

“This is by making sure [displacement] perpetrators are made to…

Hungry and HIV positive in Nairobi’s slums

ewalin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:23:25 +0000

PlusNews – Violet Tinah, 40, a resident of Korogocho slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is living with HIV and was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis, but her biggest problem today is not disease – but hunger.

“When I went for the results that informed me that I had TB, I was very hungry; I’d had no breakfast and lunch and could barely walk,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “I had to be supported and put in a wheelchair to collect the drugs.

Read more – http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88373

KENYA: “A dream come true” for many slum residents

ewalin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:46:33 +0000

IRIN – Four years after an innovative slum-upgrading project was launched in Huruma, to the northeast of the Kenyan capital, at least 200 households are now living in improved homes, complete with infrastructure such as running water, sewage connection, electricity, drainage, paving and renovated toilet blocks.

“We have at least 50 houses still under construction. We hope to complete these in the near future as the project comes to an end,” said Chiara Camozzi, project manager for the Italian NGO, COOPI, which spearheaded the project.

Initially planned to take three years (2005-2007), the 1.5 million euro (US$2.1 million) project has stretched into 2010 due to complications, such as the post-election violence of early 2008, which affected parts of Huruma. COOPI is the project’s implementing agency, with the Italian ministry of foreign affairs one of the main donors.

To begin with, the beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the cost of the house through local saving schemes, Camozzi said.

KENYA: Bag a farm

ewalin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:21:50 +0000

(IRIN) – Faced with high food prices, low income and barely a patch of arable land, hundreds of residents of Nairobi’s densely populated slums have adopted a novel form of intensive agriculture: a farm in a sack. Ex-convict John King’ori is hoping the project, run by Italian NGO COOPI, will help him go straight after eight years behind bars for a violent robbery. King’ori chairs the Juja Road Self-Help Group, whose 76 members, also mostly former prisoners, are among the 1,000 households in Mathare and Huruma hoping their sacks will provide a sustainable source of vegetables such as kale, spinach, capsicum and onions. “We can plant over 40 seedlings in each sack; each household is responsible for watering and maintaining their sack. We hope the vegetables will be ready for consumption in a few weeks’ time,” said King’ori at a demonstration plot. COOPI fenced the plot, improved water storage and provided the top soil, sand, manure and seedlings. “The aim of the urban farming project is to empower the people to have better food purchasing power,” its manager, Claudio Torres, told IRIN.