While farmers across Kenya welcomed this year’s rainy season which began in late March, Christian Aid partner Maji na Ufanisi had to wait patiently for the weather to become drier before beginning construction work in Matopeni settlement, Nairobi.
Building began in July, which is historically one of Nairobi’s driest months of the year.
But while we waited for this work to begin, we asked community members Veronica Milla and Catherine Kithuku to take photographs showing how the rains were affecting people living in this small slum.
Their photograph shows one of the two existing taps in Matopeni which is connected to a series of pipes that run under the flooded drains. 'The stools, urine and food which remain in the drains flow into houses’
People using the taps fill containers just metres from latrines which remain blocked and unusable. The stench is overpowering.
‘When it rains the water pours down the roads and the stools, urine and food which remain in the drains flow into houses,’ explains Veronica.
‘The homes get flooded. People have to sleep on chairs. When it’s raining, if you don’t support the roof, the water pours in.’
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