Mercy Njeri is employed as an attendant at the two Fresh Life Toilets run by St. Jude Reuben Youth Group in Mukuru
English
Stanley Kamau, chairman of St. Jude Reuben Youth Group in Mukuru, is proud that the group provides clean and accessible toilets for the local community
A Sanergy worker removes waste from a Fresh Life Toilet in the informal settlement of Mukuru in Nairobi
Youth groups play an important role in Nairobi’s informal settlements, providing services to residents and keeping young people gainfully employed. Through the SWIFT programme, Sanergy is working with several youth groups to provide hygienic sanitation to community members, including the St. Jude Reuben Youth Group in Mukuru Kwa Reuben.
Set up five years ago to encourage and support members’ entrepreneurial endeavours, the St. Jude Reuben Youth Group is made up of young people who attend the local church. The group has 60 registered members, and implements projects that benefit the church and generate income for the group, including church clean-ups, flower gardening, and its latest project: two Fresh Life Toilets.
These pre-fabricated toilets produced by SWIFT partner Sanergy are made of high-quality materials that are easy to keep clean and maintain; have a small footprint; and include hand-washing facilities. Local residents purchase the toilets and are trained as Fresh Life Operators, keeping the facilities clean, generating local demand and collecting a small fee from users.
‘Flying toilets’ and used diapers
St. Jude Reuben Youth Group members cleaning up the church compound were faced with the challenge of ‘flying toilets’ (defecation into plastic bags, which are then tossed onto the street) and used diapers, which littered the ground around the church fence. While the church provides toilets for its congregation, the neighbouring community did not have facilities close by; most residents had to access a makeshift toilet down a narrow path that was unsafe at night.
With Fresh Life Toilets, the youth group saw a great opportunity to provide the community with a hygienic, safe, and accessible sanitation option, while cleaning up the church environment and generating some income for future projects. Two Fresh Life Toilets were installed outside St. Jude Church for the greater community to use, and over the past year, business has been lucrative for the group.
‘On a good day, we earn up to three hundred shillings in profit per toilet per day,’ says chairman of the youth group Stanley Kamau.
Sanergy collects the waste from the toilets on a regular basis, replacing the filled cartridges with clean, empty ones, conducting check-ups on the functionality of the toilets and offering direct feedback to operators.
Much to smile about
Through the Fresh Life Toilets, the group has a lot to smile about; its church clean-up project has become easier to manage with fewer flying toilets around the church compound, and the area’s residents have access to clean, hygienic toilets throughout the day. In addition, one of the church members, Mercy Njeri, now earns an income as the toilets’ attendant and caretaker.
With the funds collected from the toilets, the group has been saving up to publish a magazine. Its goal is to use the magazine as an information platform for youths in Mukuru Kwa Reuben, with content including job opportunities advertised nationally and inspirational stories of community members excelling through their talents or skills.
Stanley is proud of St. Jude Reuben Youth Group’s achievements so far. “Restoring cleanliness in our area and providing a clean and easily accessible toilet space to the community members has made our community happy and supportive of our projects,” he beams.
