Leading the Charge. Mathare youth's extraordinary initiative to improve the environment.
The trash-lined spaces between crowded shacks do not make for the best playgrounds for children, but they are what is available for the residents of Mathare, on of Kenya’s largest urban informal community in Nairobi, after Kibera.
According to the United Nations, uncollected garbage is a growing problem in cities around the globe, especially in areas with fast-rising populations. But there are solutions, as a youth group in Kenya’s capital is demonstrating.
On any given day, a group of youngsters can be seen chasing after a homemade soccer ball in a clearing surrounded by garbage. When one of them lobs the ball too hard and sends it flying into a trash mound, another will fish the ball out barefoot, reaching for it with bare hands, oblivious to environmental contaminants and diseases.
Some 250,000 people are believed to live in Mathare, in an area of just 2 square kilometers. The slum is not only congested with people, but also with their garbage.
According to the United Nations, one city dweller produces 1 kilogram of garbage per day. For Mathare, it means that every day 200,000 kilograms of trash finds its way into a public space.
This is one of many images in Mathare that haunts 35 years old Issac Mutisya, a native of the slum, and his friend. Like many of his neighbors, he persistently grapples with the risks of cholera, typhoid and, illnesses that arise from poor sanitation or contaminated water sources.
Mutisya is the co-founder of the Mathare Environmental Conservation Youth Group.
Uncollected solid waste is one of city’s most visible environmental problems. Many parts of Nairobi, especially the low and middle-income areas, do not even have waste collection systems in place.
In high income areas, private waste collection companies are booming. Residents pay handsomely without really knowing where the waste will end up.
The Nairobi county government has acknowledged that with 2,745 tons of waste being produced each day, it cannot manage. Addis Ababa Ethiopia has a similar size population but only generates 1,680 tons per day.
Mutisia now has over 100 youths collecting waste in the area, making money from households that pay to have their trash hauled away. Once collected, the waste is brought to a legal dumping site.
According to environmental enthusiast, “Growing up in Mathare has not been easy, especially if you’re a boy. I have passed through many challenges to survive in this slum.”
Waste management is a social, economic, and environmental problem facing all African countries.
Despite the lack of steady funding, the organization has made a difference. Mathare Environmental Conservation Youth Group ongoing efforts spotlight an extraordinary initiative of youths to improve the environment in their community despite steep socioeconomic barriers.
It is evident that if the continent’s 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is to be achieved, sustainable waste management approaches must be an environmental and public health imperative deserving political priority.
Current reasons for the poor management of waste in Africa, include, amongst others, weak organizational structures; lack of appropriate skills; inadequate budgets; weak legislation; lack of enforcement; low public awareness; corruption, conflict; political instability; and lack of political will.
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