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Effective Utilization of Water Hyacinth in City Slums -Kenya-
Save the Children Centre Representative, Teruko Kikumoto
The Roots of Street
Children
The abnormal proliferation of water hyacinth in Lake Victoria has become a serious environmental issue in Kenya. However, the fact that Nairobi Dam, situated within Nairobi City, has been wholly covered by water hyacinth is hardly known. Kibera, a slum (with a population of approximately 450,000 people) stretching adjacent to the dam, has a high incidence of crime, including prostitution, illegal brewing, drug smuggling, murder etc., and is home to many street children. In 1996, our center launched a project for the reform of street children, which is a movement to trace the children's roots in order to influence not only the children themselves but also their families and the community. Under the Japan Fund for Global Environment grants program, we have been engaged in projects to effectively utilize the water hyacinth for the improvement of the income of the street children and their mothers, who live near the dam, and environmental conservation.  However, in an absolutely poor country where 52 percent of the population
live on less than one dollar per day, projects that address poverty-stricken
people tend to lose sight of their ultimate objective - "environment".
A mother's sole interest is in a handful of corn, a cup of water and a
few pieces of firewood to burn in the stove. "The future," "the
Earth" and "the environment" are words that do not have
a place in a slum. Activities Spreading "Polepole" For example, although the idea of making paper from water hyacinth attracted much attention on television, the activity, in the end, did not connect with the daily lives of the poor people. Paper, "inedible," was a distant concept for illiterate people. Meanwhile, water hyacinth fuel was a great success.
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| Contact: Save the Children Centre <Kenya Headquarters> Address: P.O.Box 67395 Nairobi, Kenya TEL/FAX: +254-2-721170/727907 E-mail: scc@africaonline.co.ke <Japan Secretariat> Address: 1-26-1 Tenman, Asahi Plaza Higashi Tenman 402, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Pref. 530-0043 TEL/FAX: +81-6-6354-3638 |
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