Molly Aluoch (right), 85, receives digital credit on her mobile account from an official after delivering a sack of plastic waste collected in her neighborhood to a HNP collection point. — Photos: TONY KARUMBA/AFP
Using a crutch to bear her weight, 85-year-old Molly Aluoch trudges from her mud-walled room on the outskirts of a sprawling Nairobi slum, shouldering a sack of used plastic to exchange for a shower or a safe toilet.
For the 31 years she has lived in Kibera, Kenya's largest informal settlement, water and sanitation have remained scarce and costly – often controlled by cartels who charge residents prices beyond their means.
The Human Needs Project (HNP) seeks to mitigate that. Residents can trade discarded plastic for "green points", or credits, they can redeem for services such as drinking water, toilets, showers, laundry and even meals.
"With my green points, I can now access a comfortable and clean toilet and bathroom any time of the day," Aluoch said.
Before, she would spend 10 shillings (RM0.34)) to use a toilet and another 10 for a bathroom, a significant chunk from the residents' average daily income, 200 to 400 shillings (RM6.80 to RM13.60), before food and housing costs.
"It meant that without money, I would not use a toilet," she said.
Now, that money goes towards food for her three grandchildren.
John collects discarded plastic waste along a street in her neighborhood.
Aluoch, a traditional birth attendant, is among some 100 women who collect plastics for green points, helping them access water, sanitation and hygiene services.
She takes her plastic to a centre 200m from her home, where 1kg of recyclable plastics earns 15 green points, equivalent to 15 shillings (RM0.51).
The project serves some 800 residents daily, allowing them access to modern bathrooms, clean water and menstrual hygiene facilities – services that are out of reach for many Kibera households.
Since 2015, the project has distributed more than 50 million litres of water and more than one million toilet and shower uses.
In 2024 alone, it distributed 11 million litres of water and enabled 124,000 bathroom and toilet uses.
'Days without water'
With water a scarce commodity in Kibera, it is common for vendors to create artificial shortages to inflate prices, forcing residents to pay more than 10 times the normal price.
The city's water service charges between US$0.60 and US$0.70 (RM2.54 toRM2.96) per cubic metre for connected households, but by comparison, Kibera residents have to stump up as much as US$8 to US$19 (RM33 to RM80) for the same amount.
"Getting water was hard. We could go several days without water," said Margaret John, 50, a mother of three.
John says the project has been a game changer, especially for women and girls.
Today, her reality is different.
"The water point is at my doorstep. The supply is steady and the water is clean. All I need is to collect plastics, get points, redeem and get water," she said.
John, who has lived in Kibera for nine years, says the project has been a game changer, especially for women and girls.
"Access to proper sanitation services guarantees women and girls their dignity during menstruation."
Now, with 10 water points spread across Kibera – pulled from a borehole with a daily capacity of half a million litres – NHP shields some residents from informal vendors' exploitative pricing.
The project's dual mission is to meet basic human needs while tackling Kibera's mounting waste problem.
HNP's director of strategic partnerships Peter Muthaura said it helps to improve health and the daily living conditions in Kibera.
"When people cannot access dignified toilets and bathrooms, the environment bears the impact," he said.
It also fosters development, he said.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Kibera residents delivered two tonnes of recyclable plastic, with around 250 women directly engaged in daily collection and delivery.
For Aluoch, every sack of plastics and every green point earned goes beyond clean water and sanitation: it restores a sense of dignity.
"My prayer is that this project spreads to every corner of Kibera, and reaches thousands of women whose dignity has been robbed by a lack of sanitation services," she said. – AFP
