Clean Energy for Children's Paradise

The #YouthBaton team set out for mapping on clean energy usage in Kibera Nairobi Kenya on the 20^th November, 2014. From Umande offices, the team randomly went from house to house. Among the places visited included Cripps Base at the Toi open air Market, Little Prince Academy at Fort Jesus, Safi International Offices at Olympic, and even some small scale business premises found within Kibera. In the process, the team engaged the community into clean energy conversations, taking photos and notes on their findings.

In the course of the transect walk we met Pamela Owino, the mother of Paradise Community Centre in Kianda; a Children’s home hosting about one hundred unfortunate children. She willingly received the #YouthBaton team. What was clearly observable was the smoke in her house that could be seen when preparing a meal for the children. She allowed the Baton team to walk into her kitchen, and like many households and places randomly mapped the evidence of layers of soot, firewood scattered all over, old and outdated charcoal jikos, broken paraffin lamps and empty gas cylinders were very visible.

Beside other major focus questions, Jill Apiyo, one of the #YouthBaton team member asked Pamela if she had in the past tried partnerships with any organization working around Clean Energy to support on this fuel issues within the children’s home. Pamela while answering the clean energy mapping questions, said “I spend too much on fuel, for cooking and warming water for the children especially during cold weather conditions. I worry too, about their health with all the smoke around which by the way is the reason as to why this roof looks black. We have tried to get firewood help from the Kenya Scouts Associations camp which is just up here; they allow these children to fetch firewood once a week to help us with the cooking. But we hope sooner that we will be able to contact other helpers like Umande Trust Safi International-Kenya to donate for us solar panels or Safi Cookers or Maybe other Organizations or Companies”

The other homesteads visited posed almost the same results. At the end of it all, the findings from the mapping showed that most of the community members use candles, few use electricity, others use paraffin tin lamps and others rechargeable lights for lighting. The results also showed that for cooking the community use charcoal, gas, and paraffin stoves and for hot water electricity, firewood, charcoal and solar were cutting across the households, institutions and the small scale business premises.  However, the families believe that pollution in their houses can be reduced, livelihood can improve, and health can be taken care of when the campaign on clean energy finally starts.