AIHD

Working with Urban poor

AIHD is currently working with the urban poor in partnership with the Mitumba Trust Community Based organization, which it helped establish to address four key issues:

Child care
Environmental Sanitation
Access to education
Youth engagement in development.

This programme utilizes 6 key strategies: community participation and ownership; capacity building; partnership building and management; advocacy, operations, research and sustainability.

1. Mitumba Project: Mitumba slum is located near Wilson airport in Nairobi, with a population of 17,000 living on a piece o land that is approximately 7 acres.

AIHD initiated a participatory process of addressing child health in the settlement in 2006 entitled “Using evidence to create conditions that promotes healthy child development in urban informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya". This was an eight-month project aimed at piloting interventions on provision of appropriate care for children under-5 years. The programme is currently being run by mothers of children under five and trained caretakers. The main focus of the project is on the promotion of child health in informal settlements; the improvement of environmental sanitation for the improvement of quality of life; and building locally-sustainable infrastructure for health development through a community participatory process.

Home-based day-care centre has been established in the community to provide a place for the mothers to leave their children when they go out job-hunting. The day care centre is a community initiative, managed and run by mothers selected by the community. The mothers have been trained and continue to receive instructions on nutrition, child nurturing and child health.

A youth group, Tuff Gong, established in 2002 has been strengthened and is currently engaged in community cleanliness and education activities on HIV and AIDS. The Institute has facilitated the young people’s access to gumboots, wheelbarrows and spades to facilitate the sanitation activities.

Tuff Gong Youth Group

2. UN 1% for Development Fund: Reducing children’s vulnerability to hygiene and care related conditions in Mitumba informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya – URBAN POOR:
This project is also being implemented in Mitumba slums for a period of 12 months (August 2007-July 2008).The project addresses two key issues on child development: environmental sanitation; and day-care services. The project has two objectives: to improve community environmental sanitation and personal hygiene through the construction of an ablution block and drainage channels in strategic locations within the settlement and community clean up activities; and to increase access to childcare services through the establishment of two day-care centres for 100 children and capacity building for mothers of children under-five years. This project is being implemented in Mitumba informal settlement, in Nairobi West Ward Area for 12 months (2007 – 2008).