Every human being has a right to a better housing condition. This is not the case for many informal dwellers and families living in the rural areas surrounded by poverty. As LEC, we partner with communities to improve their shelter by partnering with families and communities in coming up with better housing designs that are adaptable to the harsh climatic conditions and friendly to the environment.
The housing deficit in Kenya stood at 2 million in 2012 and continues to grow at the rate of over 200,000 units a year. There is a proliferation of informal settlements in urban areas with 60% of the population living in informal settlements. Families live in overcrowded homes typically with one room and no adequate ventilation.
The main cause of housing deficit in Kenya is the high rate of rural-urban migration and population growth versus few housing units that are built annually. The 50,000 housing units built in Kenya annually are far below the required amount of 250,000 units annually to cope with the high population growth in urban centres.
The families living in poor housing are at high risk of diseases such as malaria, respiratory infections or jigger (worm) infestation and by improving their housing standards, the risk of hospitalization is significantly lowered.
Antipoverty efforts are persistently subverted by broad societal contempt for poor people. The belief that poor people are morally and behaviorally inferior, and that their personal failings are the cause of their own poverty robs them of human dignity. Efforts to provide better housing conditions go along way in giving the poor their right to human dignity just like everybody else deserves.