By eryon180
During my classes, we were introduced to an on-going development project in the informal settlement of Obunga in Kisumu. The slum is located on the outskirts of the city near the fish factories. My class, along with a group of Kenyan university students from Maseno University went through the site to see the differences between the Nairobi and Kisumu settlements.
Since Obunga is in a swamp, the houses have begun to sink into the ground and many of them flood during the rain. At the end of the walk-through, we went to one of the largest informal enterprises in the settlement—fish remains processing. Since the slum is located next to the fish (samaki) filet factories, the people pay the factories for the remains to be resold.
As we walked through, we saw that the fins and scales were dried on the ground to be resold to make glue. The fish bones are cleaned and dried, then they are fried in hot intestines and oil. There is no ventilation in these buildings and they are made of wood. Then they are resold for chicken feed and human consumption. Although the production is effective and employs a large amount of people, the land that the workers are on is untenured and they are at risk for eviction.
Therefore, a development project was introduced to try to relocate the workers to a nearby site and build structures that both encourage production and safety. As students, we were asked to talk to the workers and determine what the “ideal” site would look like and make a resource mobilization plan. This also included a financial and grant plan, such as how to apply for a grant and which organizations are inclined towards aquaculture. At the end of the week, we presented our resource mobilization plan to the community.
Since I am studying development as GWU, it was interesting to see what is involved to make projects come to life, how much coordination it involves and definitely how much the community needs to be involved. I hope to learn more about how organizations like the World Bank and USAID implement projects and all the components involved. Its opportunities like this that have made my abroad experience even more applicable and I hope to take the experience with me in my future classes and work.