Why Biocentres?

• Provide affordable water and sanitation facilities communities in informal settlements
• Foster good hygiene practices among residents using interactive hygiene learning methods and trained hygiene promoters
• To build capacities of community-based resource persons to plan and sustain improved services.
• To stimulate effective partnerships among communities, NGOs, public and private sectors to support improved water and sanitation services.

Biocentre products, services and other community benefits

• Water supply outlet
• Provision of toilet and bathroom facilities
• Gas generated for lighting and cooking (cafeteria/bakery)
• Community facilities for hire: community hall, offices and restaurant space with cooking gas installed
• Fertilizer production for sale
• Members are paid dividends and income is generated to raise living standards.

• Children (5-10 years) can access the toilets free of charge
• Creation of employment opportunities
• increased community awareness on hygiene especially regarding water collection, hand-washing and waste disposal

Steps to Construction

• Interviews and shortlisting of organised community groups within informal settlements.
• Ensure sites acquired by groups have site allocation letters from the local authority/provincial administration
• Setting community-based project management and accountability teams.
• Community training on PHAST (Participatory Hygiene Access and Sanitation Transformation), Business planning and Operation and Maintenance.
• Preparation of architectural designs, drawings and Bills of quantities, work-plans for each of the sites.
• Submission of designs for approval to the City Council of Nairobi, Department of planning.
• Implementation construction works which included excavations, completion of underground/sub-structure and superstructure works.

Post-facility management strategies
Post-facility management is a social process by Umande Trust and forms part of its community training program which adopts a modular approach for a period that may stretch up to two years after facility completion, in order to ensure sustainability.

Umande Trust supports partner community-based groups in these settlements to access financial resources for further investment in water and sanitation facilities. Water and sanitation funds are also set up as an integral part of promoting increased incomes and investments and skill enhancement in shareholding, financial management and market development is carried out.

Umande Trust further adopts a methodology that seeks to improve the economic potential of CBOs’ by developing their managerial expertise. One key strategy is joint business planning which allows the target CBOs to assume a major role in management of sanitation facilities and promoting the program activities. Members’ empowerment in these key aspects creates an opportunity for cross-learning between Umande and the community thereby significantly reducing operational costs.

In recognition of the constraining poverty situation that affects peoples’ livelihoods within the  low incomes settlements, Umande Trust allows communities to contribute in various appropriate ways to the project through providing labour, daily savings (incorporates casual labourers), ‘merry-go-rounds’/revolving funds, fundraising, individual commitment (in terms of participation), amongst others.

Ongoing Biocentre projects

• Athi Water Service Board
  (20 Emergency Ablution blocks)

• GOAL Kenya Environmental Health Improvement project
  (3 in Mukuru and 2 in Korogocho)

• UNEP Mji wa Huruma project
• Per Jossefsson and Torbjorn Gunnarsson funded
  (1 in Kibera, 1 in Mukuru, 1 in Kibagare,1 in Mathare)

• SIDA funded project
  (1 in Kisumu,1 in Mathare,1 in Kibera)

• WSUP funded projects
  (3 in Kibera)

• Halcrow funded
  (1 in Kibera)