Volunteers on a mission to keep Homa Bay slum clean

Every Monday morning, Anne Kabaraka and her team of 12 Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) knock on doors at Shauri Yako, an informal settlement in Homa Bay town.

Dressed in blue short-sleeved coats branded ‘Afya Yetu Jukumu Letu’ (our health our responsibility), the group visits up to 22 residential plots, hosting an average of 300 people.

Their role in the community is to reduce chances of people contracting communicable diseases by ensuring the environment is clean and free from contamination. Their mission is to make families healthier.

According to Homa Bay County Department of Health, there are at least 2,500 CHVs who help the devolved unit reduce disease burden in the county by conducting door to door campaigns as they sensitize the community about healthy living.

Some of them also patients to hospitals, especially those who have defaulted from taking drugs for diseases like TB and HIV.

Ms Kabaraka and her team also help residents dispose of garbage in a proper way, as recommended by environmentalists. They also talk to residents about proper waste management.

Informal settlement

The team uses wheelbarrows to collect garbage from the rental houses and takes them to a collection point within the informal settlement, where county government trucks collect them for safe dumping.

It is an activity the CHVs have done in the slum area for the last three months after waste disposal became a menace and a threat to the lives of many.

Shauri Yako is home to thousands of people who work in the jua kali sector and other informal employment. Most houses are made of iron sheets and very close to each other, making it difficult to create space for waste disposal.

Solid waste management is one of the challenges the county government faces, especially in informal settlements like Makongeni and Sophia. There are still no proper mechanisms on how residents can dispose of waste from their houses. 

Waste collection points

“Waste should be collected at least every day from the collection point. In Homa Bay, I see waste taking up to one week before it is taken to the dumpsite,” says Josiah Nyandoro the county National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) director.

He notes that the county should have more waste collection points.

"The county government has one vehicle that collects waste, which has to move all round Homa Bay town. People contracted to collect waste are also not protected and can easily get injured while working," Mr Nyandoro says.

When renting a house within the slum areas, most landlords tell their tenants to sort themselves out on waste disposal.

Most people dump plastic, leftover food, clothes, diapers and human waste on roads and within the small compounds where they live. Children play in these spaces and some end up eating what they pick from the ground, predisposing them to risks of contracting diarrheal disease like cholera and typhoid.

These are some of the challenges that prompted the group of 12  to come up with a rescue plan for Shauri Yako residents.

Waste collection points

Ms Millicent Boyi and Ms Venah Atieno are among the CHVs involved in the exercise.

"We started by talking to the community about the benefits of leaving in a clean environment. We asked them to burn waste as a way of reducing its volume and get rid of dangerous substances that may harm them," Ms Boyi says.

Most people did not embrace the idea, thinking the fires could lead to disasters.

Ms Boyi says they had to rethink ways of minimising the health hazards Shauri Yako residents were exposed to by collecting the waste on a regular basis. Their intervention is slowly paying off.

Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church around Bonde area, for example, was infested with flies.

After winning the hearts of most landlords, the CHVs bought plastic carrier bags, which tenants use to collect garbage. Each family receives a garbage bag at Sh20 per week.

Low income

Ms Boyi and her team collect the garbage bags every Monday and Friday morning. Money generated by the group helps the women take care of their families.

"We face a lot of stigma but we will not give up because our goal is to make our environment clean," says Ms Atieno, a mother of three. 

Some people have also discouraged the CHVs from helping the community because of the low income.

"At times I fail to fulfil promises I make to my children when I don’t get money from the field. It is discouraging but I have to endure," Ms Atieno adds.

The voluntary work has other risks. Some of the women, who are mostly elderly, do not have gloves to protect their hands as they pick the garbage.

Ms Kabaraka appeals to well-wishers and the county government to provide her team with Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).

"Using wheelbarrows to collect garbage is so tiresome. We kindly appeal to well-wishers to help us purchase a tuk tuk that can directly take waste to the dump site," she says.

Other challenges are lack of pay. The county health department has a special budget to support CHVs, with each volunteer meant to earn Sh2,000 a month. The money has, however, not been forthcoming.

“CHVs have helped us a lot, especially during the Covid-19 campaigns. We are working on mechanisms to ensure their monthly stipend does not delay," says County Health Executive Prof Richard Muga.

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