Community Information
Kaloleni is a rural community located in the Kilifi District of Coast Province, about 52 km north-west of Mombasa. Kaloleni is comprised of 43,000 people who identify themselves as members of the Giriama tribe. Mariakani, a small town where ThinkImpact Innovation Institute Scholars stay, is 15 kilometers from Kaloleni. Mariakani is on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway and has a gas station, market, restaurants and general hospital. The 2011 Innovation Institute sent scholars into the small villages of Makomboani and Chanagande within the larger Kaloleni community. Kaloleni Town is a thriving business center housing shops, internet cafes, small restaurants, a community center and the Chief’s office. Kaloleni Yown is about a one hours walk from the villages in which ThinkImpact scholars live and work.
Coast Province
Mombasa is located in the Coast Province, one of Kenya’s seven administrative provinces outside Nairobi. It is inhabited by the Mijikenda, Swahili, and others. The province has a rural poor population of roughly 909,000 people with two-thirds of this population concentrated in the Kilifi and Kinango Districts. In the Kilifi District, three quarters of the population falls below the poverty line in 24 out of 34 villages.
Maps of Kenya: Location of Kaloleni indicated with red star. Map of Coast Province is filled in with red coloring on pink map.
Water and Sanitation in Kaloleni
The women of Kaloleni walk several hours each day to collect water from unprotected dams. The dams contain turbid water that displays high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) and e. coli bacteria. The water is consumed untreated and the people consequently suffer from diarrhea and water borne diseases that reduce individual productivity, time spent learning in school, and the overall health of the community. Children assist in the collection of water, and are particularly impacted by the severe lack of water and sanitation. Infants are most susceptible to water-borne disease, and dehydration is the leading cause of death among children. Schools are forced to close early during the dry season to allow students time to collect water.
Previous community assessments show the need for proper sanitation and hygiene for the residents of Kaloleni community. Kaloleni’s latrine coverage is 20%, well below the district average, resulting in poor hygiene and poor health. Awareness of diseases and their causes are known by some of the community members as poor sanitation while others believe it is an act of witchcraft. The community members are also aware of water treatment solutions such as boiling but some are not willing to embrace the practice because ‘the water loses taste when boiled.’ii
Mombasa
Mombasa is the capital city of the Coast Province that borders the Indian Ocean. Due to a 44% increase in population over the last decade, Mombasa is challenged to provide essential services such as water, sanitation and health care. The increase in population is mostly the result of in-country migration and natural growth, however, the increase has caused overcrowding in many areas of Mombasa. Only 31.2% of the total land area in Mombasa has been used for residential settlements according to a land use classification study. The concentration of human settlements in certain districts within the city have the poorest sanitation and facilities available and as a result have caused several environmental and health problems.iii
One major challenge for Mombasa is water supply and the impact of sewage on groundwater. Mombasa relies primarily on water sources from outside the Mombasa District as well as groundwater sources nearby. Daily water demand is nearly 200,000 cubic meters of water that is not fulfilled by the 130,000 cubic meters made available by surrounding districts. As a result 35% of households result on groundwater sources such as wells and boreholes for their potable needs. Unfortunately the centralized sewer system in Mombasa only serves a small population while the majority uses pit latrines. The quality of available ground water is greatly affected by these methods of sewage disposal and as a result directly impacts human health.iv It is proven that sewage is responsible for various water borne diseases including cholera, dysentery, typhoid, diarrhea, intestinal worms, diseases of the skin and eye infections. In February of 1999 a burst sewer line contaminated the main water supply causing an outbreak of cholera and typhoid with several reported deaths.
Want to learn more about Kenya? Visit Kenya’s human development index country page.
