- Habitat for Humanity launches housing campaign for Maasai women.
- Initiative promotes climate resilient manyattas and healthier homes.
- Project also targets 10,000 jigger affected households in Kenya.
Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFH Kenya) has launched a new housing campaign in Kajiado and Machakos counties aimed at helping vulnerable households, particularly Maasai women, build safer and more climate resilient homes.
The campaign, dubbed “Let’s Open the Door,” is part of a global initiative rolled out in more than 60 countries as Habitat for Humanity marks 50 years of providing affordable housing worldwide.
In Kenya, it brings together housing and public health stakeholders, including county leaders and community members, to address housing challenges that expose families to serious health risks.
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Two specific programmes sit under the campaign. The first, Opening the Door to Women Building Resilient Manyattas, seeks to empower Maasai women to strengthen traditional manyattas using climate resilient building techniques, while preserving cultural heritage and creating new economic opportunities.
The second, Opening the Door to Jigger Free Homes, is a five year project targeting the replacement of unsafe mud floors in 10,000 households across jigger endemic communities, a move expected to directly benefit about 50,000 people.
Officials at the launch said better housing conditions also reduce households’ exposure to disease. Poor housing, including mud floors and poorly ventilated structures, has long been linked in affected communities to jigger infestations, respiratory illness from smoke inhalation, and other preventable health conditions.
Kajiado First Lady Edna Lenku, speaking at the event, said Maasai women continue to face significant challenges accessing the traditional materials needed to build manyattas. She said she experienced the difficulty firsthand while building her own four room manyatta, an experience that pushed her to look for alternative solutions.
She said the community has since begun embracing interlocking blocks, which are easier to transport and can be moved when pastoralist families migrate with their livestock.
Habitat for Humanity Africa Vice President Abi Riak said the organisation is also partnering with researchers to develop housing technologies that reduce indoor temperatures and limit disease transmission. She said pilot studies have shown that some of these housing innovations can reduce malaria carrying mosquitoes inside homes by up to 70 per cent.
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Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti, also present at the launch, called for stronger collaboration between national and county governments, saying such partnerships would be critical to delivering affordable housing to more Kenyans.
Dr Eileen Mokaya, National Director for HFH Kenya, said the campaign reflects the organisation’s commitment to scaling community driven housing solutions as it marks more than four decades of work in the country.
By Benedict Aoya
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