Meet the Biocenters: Gatwikira Multi-vision Self-Help Group
Recently we visited the
Multi-vision Self-Help Group’s biocenter in the Gatwikira area of Kibera and
spoke with one of the community members running the biocenter. The Muvi group
partnered with Umande in 2006, and the biocenter has been fully operational
since 2008. They are able to serve 250-300 people daily, including men, women,
children, and the disabled; they offer toilets, cold showers, hot showers,
biogas for cooking, and a community center on the upper floor of the building.
Gatwikira has been able to put in place the Beba cashless payment system, which
has increased transparency and accountability for the group, and has increased
security for the caretakers and the biocenter’s users, who do not need to carry
cash in order to use the biocenter.
Gatwikira
is a heavily populated area in Kibera; it is mostly filled with homes, as well
as one school. The addition of the biocenter has increased sanitation in the
area and decreased related health issues. The affordability of the biocenter
has translated to widespread use by members of the community. Muvi has become a
place for the community to meet—the upper level of the building is used to view
football games, to hold Church services, and to hold community meetings. They
additionally provide hygiene promotion, sanitary kits for women, condom
dispensers, and educational materials on sanitation and health.
Even with
the successes the biocenter has already had, there are still improvements the
group leaders would like to implement. Muvi hopes to tile both floors of the
biocenter completely, as well as plaster the walls fully. They also hope to
expand the biogas kitchen to a separate area outside the biocenter in order to
expand its use and usefulness for the community. Finally, there is a need to
install a reedbed, which will protect the surrounding area from overflows of
sewage from the biocenter, especially during the rainy seasons. We are certainly
optimistic about Muvi’s future and the impact they will continue to have on
their community.
Written by Rachel Powers
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