GEORGE OPONDO - URBAN CLTS IN MATHARE

George Opondo is a vegetable vendor who has lived in Mathare 10 for almost 20 years now. He is married with four children. He is a very active member of the community of Mathare 10, involves himself in community health work in terms of creating awareness on sanitation and hygiene. He is the assistant chairman of the village as well as a facilitator of Urban CLTS.

George says that he got involved with Urban CLTS in June 2010, when it was first introduced to Mathare 10 area by Plan International and Community Cleaning Services (CCS). He says they facilitated a process that empowered people of Mathare 10 on sanitation issues that almost all the residents of his area dealt with every day. The entry point for Urban CLTS was open defecation.

The people of George’s community usually complained of several cases of diarrhea, vomiting and even cholera; the food they would buy from the roadside would be infested with diseases spread by vectors such as flies. George graciously admits that thanks to the good will of Urban CLTS, these diseases are soon to be a thing of the past. He claims that he hasn’t heard of a cholera related death case since the toilets were built.

George says that although things have improved drastically, he believes that more people should be enlightened on the benefits of good sanitation and hygiene. George now realizes how dangerous open defecation and unsanitary habits are, not only to himself, but to people around him. He’s also convinced that CCS through Urban CLTS has already reached and empowered around 30,000 residents of Mathare 10.

One of the challenges that George mentioned was that new tenants to the Mathare 10 area are completely unaware of the importance of living in a clean environment and therefore there are still a few cases of open defecation in Mathare 10.

George recommends that the landlords of the informal settlements and those putting up new buildings need to be informed of the importance of toilets. He also believes that there is need for regular triggering.

George is very grateful to Community Cleaning Service and is very appreciative of the kind and wonderful work that they have done in partnership with the community.