Clean Water for the Kibera School for Girls!

With the advent of the fall season comes exciting news: SHOFCO's second water point is now fully operational!

Although the kiosk needs a fresh paint coat to reflect its newly-completed construction, we wanted to share the news as soon as possible! The potential of this new access point is not to be underestimated; with an initial reach of 178 households with an average of 4 1/2 family members, the kiosk enables us to reach 801 people in an additional locale of the Kibera community. Our deep gratitude for your support which played a huge part in the construction of this new kiosk. 

Our first water source continues to nourish thousands of Kiberans. Check out our new photos from participants of our Summer Institute, a week-long summer camp for students of the Kibera School for Girls, co-designed and run by SHOFCO youth and visiting American college students.

With additional support we can continue the trend of increasing access to a clean, cheap, consistent supply of water for the citizens of Kibera. 

We're growing!  With the help of supporters like you, our clean water and sanitation efforts are reaching more and more Kibera residents every year.

In 2009, our clean water reached 8,878 beneficiaries. This year, by April 30, we had already reached 9,265 beneficiaries!  We expect 14,000 residents to utilize our clean water services in 2013.  That progress is something to celebrate!

The key to our successful impact is a holistic approach to sanitation: we provide clean, affordable water to the community through our water tower, build public restrooms throughout Kibera, and train community health workers to perform slum-wide sanitation and hygiene education campaigns. Our community health workers also refer individuals to Shining Hope’s free clinic, where they can be treated for water-borne illnesses such as typhoid and diarrhea. This integrated approach tackles Kibera’s health and sanitation challenges comprehensively and systematically. 

Our efforts don't stop with success, however; our perennial goal is to maximize impact.  One of our hopes is to build 2 new water kiosks that would help serve over 20,000 additional residents a year.

Your continuing support keeps Shining Hope the forefront of the effort to mitigate the water crisis in Kibera.