In the remote village of Laborshereki in Oldonyiro Ward, Isiolo County, lies Nabore Group of 12 members, established in February 2024, under Promoting Resilience Inclusivity and Meaningful Engagement (PRIME) program being implemented by MID- P in partnership with Mercy Corps.
The group’s mission is to foster financial savings and provide a safe space for learning essential skills to improve their lives.
a 26-years-old Napanuni Lesaibile is a member of Nabore GIRL group, a mother of four (a daughter and three sons), has become a leader and an agent of change within her community. Through the support from Nabore Group, Napanuni took a KES 10,000 loan in October, 2024 to construct a toilet, which is currently a critical sanitation issue within her village. Her initiative to build a toilet came after the group was introduced to safe space sessions under the PRIME project, which includes various topics like nutrition and hygiene promotion among others. Nine groups in Oldonyiro with 135 participants are currently undergoing the safe space training sessions, which is having positive impacts, like participants learning how to handle newborn, knowing different variety of foods to consume for good nutrition and good hygiene practices like hand washing and using toilets.
Nabore group has a total savings of KES 75,000, With the loan she borrowed from the group, Napanuni built a toilet for her household using locally available materials. She built a semi-permanent toilet, a practical structure designed to improve hygiene and conserve the environment, a skill she learnt from hygiene training sessions offered during
Napanuni’s initiative marked a significant shift in her community’s approach to sanitation and environmental health. This is leadership and her efforts and dedication has inspired five other group members followed her footsteps and built similar toilet structures in their village (homesteads), helping to curb the spread of diseases linked to poor sanitation. One member even took Napanuni’s model further, constructing a permanent toilet with an iron sheet roofing for added durability and safety, a unique adaptation that reflects both cultural and practical advancements.
“For our community, having a toilet is a foreign concept, since we are pastoralists and people mostly go with their livestock, open defecation is practiced a lot. However, through the safe space sessions MID-P has provided us through the PRIME project, our
eyes have been opened and we have learnt how important it is to have toilets My target is to influence other members of group to construct own toilets. We will set a good example for our children and the community.”.” Says Napanuni with contentment.
