The vulnerable communities of Kibera and Mathare in Nairobi have been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,leading to infection spread and an economic crisis with loss of jobs and livelihoods.
Arup and Save the Children are part of the Cities 4 Children Global Alliance. The Alliance was established to tackle the challenges and issues faced by marginalised children and the urban communities where they live.
In 2020, Save the Children collaborated with Swiss Solidarity to use innovation funding to determine Jengu’s effectiveness. The project allowed Arup’s teams in London and Nairobi and Save the Children’s teams in Kenya and Switzerland to arrange the local manufacture and deployment of 250 handwashing units in the heart of Nairobi’s Kibera and Mathare urban communities and public schools during 2021 and beyond.
Arup identified and collaborated extensively with a Nairobi based manufacturer on the local production and assembly of the Jengu open- source design. The activity supported local skills and enterprise to nurture a long-term sustainable future for the local community.
Save the Children conducted hygiene promotion activities and worked with community members to deploy and maintain Jengu’s for adults, children and people with reduced mobility.
Image: Save the Children.
Image: Save the Children.
The Busara Centre for Behavioral Economics conducted Baseline and Endline surveys, gathering independent qualitative and quantitative data on the projects effect on handwashing and what the local communities thought of the Jengu unit.
Results demonstrate over 95% of the community were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the unit and approximately 90% of the community found Jengu ‘very easy’ or ‘easy’ to use.
The deployment of Jengu combined with hygiene promotion activities increased handwashing in the two communities. People who washed their hands more than five times a day increased from 39% at baseline to 58% at endline.
Sarah Sabry, Save the Children’s Urban Global Lead reflected:
‘We greatly appreciated this collaboration with Arup. Each organisation contributed with some of its greatest strengths.
Arup brought exceptional design, engineering and research skills, and Save the Children brought its long-established experience in working with children and their families, community relations and governments’
The project received constructive feedback on Jengu from Kibera and Mathare’s community:
“The flow of the water is smooth and the foot pump makes it safe and hygienic because there is no touching taps after washing hands.”
“The unit is simple and easy to use. The unit is hygienic. It conserves water. It’s durable.”
“It has a mirror that is attractive. It has a foot pump that makes water flow well and reduces contamination after washing.”
As a result of feedback, a new medium sized unit for children was created, so a comfortable height for growing children aged between 6 and 14 years.
Image: Save the Children.
