Day 1 of Partners (EcoWB and Power Engineers) Site Visit
Cleve from EcoWB and Erik from Power Engineers were the first to touch down. By evening, the smell of chapati from roadside stalls mixed with diesel from matatus as our office team walked them through Kibera — a first look at the lanes, the roofs, and the pace of a place you cannot understand from a brochure.
We had gathered at IBIS Hotel for a welcome meeting, then stepped out into the gold-hour light. This was not a tour for tourists; it was so partners could feel the ground — where waste piles when trucks delay, where children cut shortcuts to school, where our office sits among the same noise everyone else lives with.
Along the way someone pointed out the water point where neighbours negotiate whose jerrycan is next. Someone else nodded at a church roof catching the last sun. Nothing cinematic — just the ordinary detail that turns a map into a place you cannot forget.
Gino and Don from Power Engineers were still in transit; they would arrive deep into the night. The plan held: tomorrow we would be fuller, louder, more hands on deck.
There is a particular honesty in that first walk — before spreadsheets and joint logos — when someone simply sees. We are glad EcoWB and Power Engineers came.
Trust is not signed; it is stepped on, in borrowed gumboots, beside someone else's child.
If you are reading this as a partner or a neighbour, walk with us again when we call: showing up on day one is how trust begins.
Engaging Children through Feeding Program
Thanks to Chris and Jayne, ETCO had a warm feeding program for children at our new office—bringing joy, a good meal, and community together in Kibera.
Project Site Visit by Rotary Club of IPSWICH (USA) and Kikuyu (Kenya)
It was a great and engaging day of partnership and learning as we hosted the International Rotary Club of IPSWICH team, led by Environmental Lawyer Chris and his wife, Jane, Former President of Rotary Club of Kikuyu Hon. George Ngotho and Rotarian Yumbya for a visit to our project implementation sites. The visit provided an opportunity to review the project areas on the ground, discuss implementation priorities, and strengthen our shared commitment to sustainable environmental and community development. We also had the opportunity to visit the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC), where we were hosted by Commissioner Dr. Loice Kipkorir, a member of the Ngong River Committee. We explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration and align our work with the Nairobi Rivers Commission's Restoration Framework.
Community Capacity Building Training
We are currently participating in the ongoing PROVE (Public Space Governance Research, Observation, Validation and Experimentation) Pilot Programme, a four-month initiative by Public Space Networks (PSN) bringing together 11 community groups from Kamukunji and Korogocho. The programme focuses on strengthening community organizations’ capacity to manage, protect and improve public spaces as well as restoring rivers and it's ecosystems. The ongoing capacity-building training is helping CBOs and community organizations better understand the connection between public spaces, river restoration and ecosystem conservation, while exploring practical approaches and stronger collaboration among communities, government agencies, development partners and other stakeholders.