Water is a basic resource for all life on earth, yet a lack of water is causing suffering for millions of households across Kenya with significant inequality in access.
A video project, funded by our GO Fund initiative, is looking to raise awareness about water scarcity and management in Nairobi’s informal settlements, such as Mathare.
The project was designed to empower local voices and highlight their innovative water practices, as well as document the complex realities of water access and governance in Nairobi, a city that received a big influx of migration in recent years and only gets half its demand of water per day.
The project was a collaboration between community leaders, Martin Mureithi and Felix Omondi, with additional support from our Grantham Centre Scholar, Monica Martin Grau. Martin and Felix’s local knowledge and technical skills were vital to make the video project a success. They also organised a series of film screenings within the communities in the hope that it will foster stronger relationships and advocate for change in water management.
Martin, who has led on multiple research projects around health, water and sanitation, said, “Water is a basic need for humans and animals to survive. Its scarcity and unavailability not only harms and jeopardises lives but sometimes leads to a loss of life. This project brought a realisation that most of the hospitals were treating diseases that were related with either water being contaminated or untreated water. The research was not only inspirational but a reminder that more needs to be done to improve livelihoods in regards to water.”
As well as getting the community to understand the purpose of the film, the project encountered other unique challenges that the team needed to overcome. “We had some issues with the cartel network,” explained Martin. “whereby they thought we were interfering with their business only to understand we were just documenting for the purpose of enabling the community to have water and reduce instances of water rationing especially when the community is in need like over the weekends.”
One of the positive outcomes from the project was the local film showings. Felix, a community journalist and videographer, reflected on the events, saying, “I was truly inspired by the screening sessions after the video was done. Playing the video to the members of the community who were featured in the video and having them give feedback on their representation really inspired me a lot and challenged me to always endeavour to make sure my work perfectly represents my subjects and that they play a role in the creation process.”
He believes that, “Documenting our communities and their water practices gives them a chance to speak up not only on the challenges they face but also the different interesting ways they are navigating these challenges. It gives my community urgency where they can speak up for themselves.”
Monica, whose research focuses on the everyday experiences of people seeking access to water, said, “for me, the idea was that the community felt listened to and felt better; that the community leaders who helped me also felt supported by me; and that we could all start establishing a long-lasting relationship.”
She added, “what was important to me was to bond together and to use the video to raise awareness about the water situation of the research areas, a topic of importance for Nairobi’s inhabitants that has been widely overlooked by local politicians – which I think we have done now.”
You can view the full video here. The team are looking at possibilities to spread the word further with additional community engagement activities planned as well as a blog post about the conversations held during the community film screenings. Monica is in the process of publishing her research paper and writing the thesis that she hopes will have a positive impact on policy in the future.