Extended days for Community Environmental Clean Up
Day four was meant to be straightforward: load waste from temporary piles and let the lorries take Kibera's rubbish to Dandora. Nairobi had other plans. Trucks slipped on timing; phones buzzed with apologies; sites waited in the heat.
When the first lorry reached Nairobi West around 2 p.m., crews moved fast — roughly ninety minutes to load and send wet, heavy bags on their way. Relief, but not rest.
Frustration and logistics are part of the story too. Communities watch waste sit longer than it should; tempers shorten when the smell climbs into kitchens. We name that because pretending otherwise would insult everyone who waited in the heat.
By ten at night in Mashimoni, Laini Saba Ward, headlamps bobbed along narrow paths. Our volunteers, with PAKPRO and KEPRO, worked the kind of shift that does not make Instagram: five hours, two trucks, backs bent, eyes stinging from smoke and dust. Morning came too soon — Mbagathi, Highrise, Seafar were waiting.
What five days moved
Across three areas, 68 community members earned wages for five days of hard labour. We cleared roughly 700 metres of river channel. The scales read seven tonnes of wet waste and two tonnes of dry — small numbers on paper, enormous when you are the one lifting.
Planned for three days, the exercise stretched to five days and one long night. We thank PAKPRO and KEPRO for staying when it would have been easier to reschedule. Rivers do not unclog on polite timelines — #LetTheRiversFlow.
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.