Community Engagement & Walk along Ngong River
The Canaan Estate Community Hall filled with the low murmur of people finding seats — boots scraping, someone testing a mic, rain still drying on the windows from the night before.
ETCO joined UN‑Habitat, the German Embassy, and the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC) to talk plainly about Nairobi’s rivers: what they are now, what they could be, and why the Nairobi Dam and its tributaries cannot be an afterthought.
263 voices, 400 metres of truth
Voices carried weight — from Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dr Martin Röw, UN‑Habitat’s Oumar Sylla, and NRC Chairperson Dr Pamela Olet, among others. The conversation was not charity theatre; it was agencies, community, and blunt reality in one room.
Then we walked. Four hundred metres along a stretch of the Ngong River system — enough to see plastic snagged in roots, enough to feel why partnership cannot be optional. By the end, the list of next steps sounded like work: coordinate, fund, enforce, return, repeat.
A river walk is not a nature stroll here. It is evidence. You smell it. You see how settlements and infrastructure meet water in ways that need patience, money, and political will — not blame aimed only at the poorest.
Two hundred and sixty-three community members participated and were sensitised — people who will go home and explain what they saw in their own words. That is how change survives a conference.
No single organisation can carry a river alone. If you care about clean water and honest cities, amplify this work, connect us with allies, and keep saying it — #LetTheRiversFlow — until budgets follow the talk.
From Participation to Agency: ETCO at the SAIIA Youth Programming Innovation Lab
Last week, ETCO represented Kibra at the SAIIA Youth Programming Innovation Lab in Nairobi — where the real question wasn't youth participation, but youth agency. Here's what that means for our nine programmes, and an honest look at what it takes to build sustainably as a volunteer-run organisation.
Creating Impact, Building a Better Tomorrow
At ETCO, we're committed to creating lasting positive impact by keeping our environment safe and clean while creating meaningful employment opportunities for our communities. Through innovation and strategic partnerships with like-minded stakeholders, we're working together to achieve shared goals that drive sustainable development. We're also conducting a comprehensive economic survey to better understand the project's returns, impact, and scalability—ensuring every step we take is informed, effective, and built for long-term success.
Planning Meeting with PSN - Waste Management Project
Today's ETCO had logistical planning meeting at PSN Office to discuss the upcoming waste management project... Good things take time.