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Provide Protective Gear for 500 Kenyan Waste Workers
0% complete
$11,090 raised of $10K
151 donations
Hello! My name is Ryan Caplin, a waste management consultant and entrepreneur based in Nairobi, Kenya. I've been passionate about the human and environmental aspects of waste for more than a decade, but last week, I made an eye-opening trip to the Dandora dumpsite. Dandora is East Africa’s largest dumpsite as well as home to thousands of waste pickers who make their living sorting materials from the trash to sell to recycling centers. I was there to visit Solomon Njoroge, chairman of the Nairobi Waste Pickers Welfare Association, to have a look around and learn about his work.
Solomon showed me around the dumpsite. We walked through ankle-deep muck, past the temporary homes erected by workers, up the side of the trash mountain, and past a makeshift church structure built on top of the dump site. We then watched trucks unload their massive loads. Waste pickers sorted through the new loads, climbing over old trash to get to the new, sorting through the sharp and hazardous materials with their bare hands.
Solomon and his colleagues Winfred and Joyce told me more: Nearly all workers pick through the waste without boots, gloves, or protective clothing. 90% of the members of the Waste Pickers Association are women, but they don't have regular access to menstrual supplies. We started crunching numbers, and realized that with $10,000, we could provide every single member of the Waste Pickers Association with the protective and sanitary supplies they need – and the team invited me to work with them as a way to raise funds and awareness.
So here we are. Beginning Monday, June 17th, I will work alongside Solomon, Winfred, Joyce, and the many other waste workers at Dandora for one week as a “waste picker.” We hope to raise enough money to provide basic protective gear for the 500 waste workers comprising the Waste Pickers Association. I will share live updates daily throughout the week, so stay tuned.
Please donate if you are able, and share if you feel so inclined. As a waste expert, even I didn't fully realize the ecosystem that had sprung up around dump sites. By sharing, you bring recognition and respect to these waste workers and ensure we can make the situation safer for all.
With thanks,
Ryan, Solomon, Winfred, Joyce, and the waste workers whom we are supporting.
Note: I’ve done my absolute best to ensure everything about this fundraiser is respectful, fair, and beneficial in every way possible for Dandora’s waste workers, while avoiding any potential negative impacts. To that end, I'm working closely with the team at the Waste Pickers Association, but if you have suggestions or feedback, please let me know. I want this to be the best it can be.
How will the funds be used?
- Funds will be used to buy protective gear and other essentials for 500 waste workers at Dandora dumpsite. Women will be prioritized. All donations will go directly toward supporting the waste pickers. If we raise extra money, we can provide gear to more waste workers and do so much more around women’s health, childcare, retraining and upskilling, sanitation, and more.
- Ryan will personally oversee purchases and work directly with Solomon, Joyce, and Winfred of the Waste Pickers Association to distribute the gear. They know their people and will ensure those who need the most support receive it first. Gear is targeted to be purchased and distributed by the end of June.
What does my donation provide?
- $5: Sanitary pads for 5 women for a month (or add $5 to any donation to earmark it for this)
- $20: Full protective gear for 1 waste worker (durable boots, coveralls or dust coat, and gloves)
- $30: One month of food for 1 of the 15 specific women aged 60+ working on the dumpsite but whose health renders them physically incapable of continuing the work.
- $40: Full protective gear for 2 waste workers
- $100: Full protective gear for 5 waste workers
- $1,000: Full protective gear for 50 waste workers
- $2,000: One full year’s rent for Ndoto Zenu (”Our Dreams”), a Dandora-based youth center run by Solomon and others that gives children of waste pickers a safe place to come when not in school so they don’t have to be on the dumpsite. Teaches art, music, and other skills. Ndoto Zenu’s current funding only covers rent through December of this year.
Do people actually want protective gear? Will they use it?
- Yes, yes, and yes. This is what has been asked for. It’s essential. Workers need it, want it, and will use it. A few people have it and they use it. Most don’t have. We are getting durable gear as requested by workers.
- Protective gear helps workers earn their livelihood without sickness or injury so they can provide for themselves and their children. It also creates a heightened sense of dignity and respect as workers don’t have to come in direct contact with waste. As one worker told me, “My first time in PPE (protective gear) was also my last time to be donated. I began buying it for myself. I felt different, I felt inspired. I could comfortably walk in swamps. It brought self-respect.”
Where will supplies be purchased?
- Gear and supplies will be purchased from shops within the Dandora community where possible; where not possible, they’ll be purchased in bulk directly from suppliers to get lower costs.
Who is Ryan and why does he care?
- I am a father and husband, a believer in God, and I am passionate about garbage and eliminating pollution. Waste is as much a human topic as an environmental topic — all of us have experience with waste every single day. My passion for waste began when I lived in Jamaica as a volunteer missionary and experienced the impacts of waste burning and open dumping. Since then I’ve co-founded a recycling company in the US, piloted new waste collection systems in Ghana, studied waste as a master’s student in the UK and Kenya, and worked with several companies and partners in Kenya to start waste businesses. I see the valuable environmental and economic contributions waste pickers make yet they are ignored.
Why is Ryan going to work as a waste picker for a week? Can’t he fundraise without working there?
I could have raised money without working there but chose to do it for many reasons:
- To show I’m serious about this.
- To show my respect and honor to the waste workers, and help them feel known and recognized.
- To more effectively tell the story.
- To help the message and fundraiser spread more (hopefully), which helps the waste workers more.
- I am willing and able to be there. So I’ll be there.
Will Ryan be earning an income from the work or the fundraiser?
- No. Everything we collect will go toward waste workers’ needs and I won't be taking pay for the work.
Organizer
