Kakuma May 2013 trip summary

1. Kakuma Overview
Trip Sumary May 2013

2. Kakuma
• Began in early 90s, originally designed for 20,000
refugees, mainly South Sudanese
• End of 2012 data places population at 107,200, almost
36,000 families, and over 16 nationalities represented.
• Kakuma is divided into 3 camps, separated by rivers.
Kakuma 1 is the closest to Kakuma town and the oldest
and most densely populated
• Each camp is divided into zones, each zone is divided
into blocks, each block holds about 100 families.
• UN staff compound is located on the only tarmac road
in the area, south of Camp 1, near Kakuma Town
• Air strip is located on the other side of Kakuma Town

4. Process of refugees living in kakuma
• First a refugee must check in with Kenyan Government
officials for refugees, this in Kakuma town.
• Then they go to UNHCR registration in the UN compound
• Then they are transferred to the reception center. Where
they live in communal dorms until a plot is prepared for
them
• Then about 50 families at a time move into new arrivals
area. Water lines with taps are laid, and communal latrines
are built. They are given tarp houses and instructed on how
to build mud brick houses. When the mud brick houses are
finished, NCCK provides iron sheets for roofing
• During the first year NRC teaches about making their own
HH latrine

5. Sanitation in Kakuma
Two main implementing partners
• IRC: been the only implementer of sanitation
since 1990’s, now only runs camp 1 &2, soon
will pass off all to NRC
• NRC: Been in Kakuma for less than a year.
Runs Kakuma 3 sanitation, soon will run all

6. Latrines
• New arrivals are given communal latrines to
share about 4-10 HH per toilet
• Households are encouraged to dig their own
5m deep pit, and then will be provided with a
slab and usually a super structure, families are
to build their own latrine
• Health promoters will teach and asses the
construction of the pit and the superstructure

7. Slabs
• Slabs cost about 2,000ksh to make, about 24
days ready for installation
• 3 types
– Dome ferrowcement, weighs 250kg
– Square reinforced cement, weighs 100kg
– Domed square reinforced, weighs 10kg

8. Super Structure
• Cost about 10,000ksh
• Made from poles,
nails, iron sheets,
hinges and possible
some timber for door
• Biggest problems:
– wind blowing door off
– Drainage from shower
– Rainy season

9. New Arrival Areas
• NRC builds communal latrines in sanitation corridor
between plots
• These fill up and super structure breaks very easily

10. Households
• Often can not afford to have pit dug, or to pay
to have materials for latrine delivered
• Often there is no space for consecutive
latrines as old ones fill up

11. Schools
• Sanitation blocks, as latrines fill up, continue
to build new ones
• Very difficult to maintain

12. Reception Center
• Currently almost 2,000 refugees living in an
area designed for 500
• Have sanitation blocks in public area. Filling up
very quickly

13. Protected Area
• Where people who might be in danger live
• Very crowded area, plots are too small to have
any HH latrine. So there is a latrine corridor near
fence. But have been so many latrines here, that
there are few places left to dig where there is not
an already full pit just below the surface.

14. Hand washing
• Promote washing hands with
soap before eating, and after
visiting the latrine
• Most families do not have
soap, some replace with ash
• Implementing partners try to
give out soap, but do not have
funding
• Just started giving leaky teen /
tippy taps with latrines
– But often times container is
removed and used for other
purposes

15. Re-use possibilities
• Cooking Fuel
– NRC provided each HH with about
20% of its fuel needs through
firewood
– Refugees tend to trade food ratios
for more fire wood
– NRC manufactures and gives away
efficient stoves that make cooking
30% more efficient
– NRC spends a lot of money on
firewood, and becoming more and
more of a problem
– Deforestation problem
– Solar cookers were tired in the past
without much success
– ALWAYS looking for new ideas for
cooking fuels

16. Re-use possibilities
• Soil amendment
– NRC has tree nurseries that
grow local seedlings and give
to refuges
– NRC also builds and maintains
greenbelts to help grow trees
again in the area
– Currently buys manure (maid
mainly from goat and cow
dung) from local communities
– Would be very interested in a
human waste based manure
for tree nursery

17. Biggest Problems dealing with
Sanitation
• Lack of space for new latrines
– As more refugees come, lacking space for communal latrines
– On older plots, running out of space to dig new pits
• Funding for everyone to get materials they need
– Funding only allows top need people to get entire latrine structures
• Drainage of water from bathroom use
• People claim they can not dig pit and do not have funds to pay
someone else to dig pit
• People claim they can not pick up slab, and do not have funds
to have it delivered
• Rainy Season: muddy, flooding, smells
• Lack of latrines for disabled
• New arrival areas where as many as 10 HH share 1 latrine, no
maintenance, arguments over cleaning

18. Biggest Problem for Hygiene
• Lack of sap/lime for cleaning or washing hands
• New jerry-cans used for Tippy-taps are taken
• Stagnate water in rainy season
• Toilets are also bathrooms
• Solid waste
– Lack of tools for cleaning and transport
– Lack of space for trash dump sites
• Too many residents per Health Promoter

19. Locations of toughest Sanitation
• Protected area
• Reception area
• Old, small plots where there is no more space
for latrines
• Schools
• New arrival areas

20. Goals for this Project
Had a meeting with leaders in sanitation from NRC, IRC
and UNHCR, asked questions about what they want in
a new sanitation system, the responses had a large
variety.
Reminder of Focus:
• #1 priority of Sanitation in Camp is disease prevention:
lets make sure as many people as possible get access
to a clean, safe toilet and that waste is contained
safely
• Focus of implementing partners is to provide toilets
that are acceptable and assessable to all beneficiaries

21. Possible Goals / Aims for this Project
• Increase lifespan of current latrines
– Funding comes and goes, long lasting is vital
– Current pits are working, are already installed how can we just
continue those
– No space to keep adding, make the most of what we have
• Biggest expenses come from materials being broken or stolen, we
need durability
• Pit latrines are not the way to go, not safe, take up lots of space,
not sustainable
• Need a practical technology that can convince donors to invest in
this longer sustainable option
• Need new technology that minimizes the need for digging new pits,
less latrine digging is the biggest priority
• Need to focus on recycling/ reuse
• Need to focus on each beneficiary having their own toilet that they
can maintain, they have the ownership
• Need to focus on more employment creation

22. Focus ideas
– Something to help sanitation coverage
– Something to help refugees do more themselves
– Something to save space
– Something to empty current latrines
– Something that will work 10 years from now
– Something that can deal with high inflows of new
arrivals