I was in a public service management and public design course this semester and learned that you have to understand community needs as well as get people involved in service design. This information is guiding how I work on my research on access to basic services in Kibera. For the main part my research is on understanding the specific obstacles Kibera residents face access to clean water, sanitation and health services. I am doing this by talking to residents, observing what services exist currently and working with local organizations. I want to understand the community’s needs before offering any solutions.
I’ve seen too many past project’s fail because they didn’t involve local residents enough. For instance, a project to supply clean water with donor funds was aborted after six months because the project designers failed to consider the financial status of the residents who could not afford to maintain the project. In addition, toilets have been installed without adequate waste disposal systems, which has created new problems. I will be applying what I have learned by focusing on community involvement for my research. I am designing my study so that residents have a say in the solutions being proposed. I am also looking for affordable and sustainable solutions that take into consideration Kibera’s context.
At the idea level, I’m thinking about things such as solar powered streetlights and rainwater harvesting systems as potential solutions. Expensive imported models may be too expensive and not suitable for Kibera as there are cheaper and more affordable models. I would also include transparency and education into considering these recommendations. I am thinking of tools that digital could be used with for tracking budgets and reporting issues that would go towards building trust between residents and the service providers.
I aim for my research to learn from past mistakes but design sustainable, community driven solutions in order to improve public services in Kibera. I want to move away from finding quick fixes for service access issues and towards solutions that find solutions to service access issues at their root. It means committing to becoming part of the community, being sustainable, and then learning from success as much as failure. Do you think it is an option to improve services in informal settlements? Share your thoughts below.
