Dr Pamela Olet addresses participants during the Worlds Wetlands Day Celebrations in Korogocho attended by Nairobi Rivers Commissioners. Dr Olet who is the Commission’s Chairperson led the team to mark the day along side other sector agencies and partners. The NRC was created by the state to spearhead restoration efforts

Kutajengwa na nani kama si sisi?

Korogocho means crowded together shoulder to shoulder. We are over 250,000 people living in 1.5 square kilometers. Here, the tyranny of numbers is the default setting.

But our numbers and our space come with challenges like crime, unemployment, poverty and water & sanitation. These challenges are evident in the environment around us. Our closest neighbor, Nairobi River is the most affected.

Duff mpararo became extinct in the 80s – if you tell children born in the last three generations that people once swam in Nairobi River, watakwambia hizo ni story za jaba. 

I admit we are partly responsible for the state of the Nairobi River today. So we as Kochlanders decided that blame games and scapegoating won’t solve anything – the solution starts with us.

In 2017, a bridge connecting Korogocho and neighboring Dandora was built under the slum upgrading program creating employment for youth in the neighborhood and partly eliminating the crime-infested dumpsite that once dominated the area.

The Korogocho community came together, put out proposals for assistance and received various contributions from partners. It took the community one year to clear the solid and human waste that had accumulated in the River, and build the first “People’s Park”, a green zone with grass, paved pathways, gabions and bamboo trees opened to the public in November 2018. It is the only resident-initiated green zone along the Nairobi River.

World Wetlands Day 2023 is a global initiative to reclaim and restore degraded wetlands around the world. Wetlands are crucial for our survival, our food systems and our environment. They control flooding and regulate and purify water while supporting at least an eighth of the world’s population. 

So on this World Wetlands Day, Korogocho adds its effort to the global initiative to reclaim and restore the world’s wetlands. The People’s Park is a living example of the capability of residents (especially youth) of informal settlements along the Nairobi River to transform it from a polluted wasteland to a river of life.

Kutajengwa na nani kama si sisi?

Thank you.