Earth Views

Kibera slum in Nairobi occupies perhaps a square mile and is home to 700,000 people - a quarter of the population of Nairobi. This is Kiandi, one of the nine 'villages' that make up the slum, and has a population of 70,000. In the slums, you can rent a room 3m square for 300s (GBP2.50) a month, and ten people can live in it.

Sanitation is a huge problem. Unicef provided help to dig 11 pit latrines, but they have now become unusable and are closed. Most of the people used to 'go' on a piece of paper and then in the night throw it on the roof of another house; this was called 'flying toilets'. With help from Practical Action and from the UN Environmental Programme the Kiandi Co-operative arranged workshops to train in working of flushing toilets, and have now built three toilet blocks with septic tanks. They charge every user (visitor) 3 s, (2.5p); members pay 300s (GBP2.50) per month. Each block makes 25,000s (GBP200) per month; so after emptying and paying for water the Co-op makes 5000s (GBP40) per month, which is used for maintenance.

These prototype toilet blocks were designed for 200 people each, but they are the best facilities for miles, and so are being used by 1000 people every day, which is why their septic tanks need emptying every week, which costs 16,000s (GBP130). The only main sewer is uphill and across the road; so pumping the sewage up there would be prohibitively expensive - they would have to pay 300,000s (GBP2500) to cut the road.

There is a tap outside the toilet block. Water is charged at 2s (2p, GBP0.02) per 20 litres, and there is a flat space for washing clothes; so many women come here. Private companies charge more for water.

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