In 2002, the Pamoja Trust enabled the Ghetto community to replace one slum shack in Nairobi with a double storey single-family unit. This apparently small act of building a sample house overlay a much broader process of preparation and paved the way for far greater possibilities in future.
Having achieved a viable settlement plan they then negotiated with the City Council to designate the area as a special planning area and to allocate the land to them. The 'Special' status enabled people to negotiate and test alternative building standards that are more affordable. Some among them trained on affordable building technologies, built the single house and then elected the one among them who could most quickly pay back for the house to free the money for another house. The Pamoja Trust facilitated the entire process.
In summary, the route map to better housing became clearer to 2,309 slum families. Whether or not Pamoja, the Government or any other development agency builds more houses in that settlement, there is a likelihood that in the future there will be a planned settlement in place of the slum. Further, there is a community structure in the slum that can address all issues that affect the residents.
Far more important were the indirect gains of building the house. First, Pamoja works with over 50 slum communities and their involvement in this project makes replication across slums much easier. Secondly, there was a permanent addition to Kenya's urban low cost housing policy stemming from the collaboration of the Council in all aspects of the project. The building of the house provided an opportunity to attract private sector investment in the slums. Finally, the house served as a pilot for a sustainable way of financing the construction of low cost housing. As of 2007, the Pamoja Trust had facilitated the construction of nearly 100 houses of a similar design in the neighbouring areas of Kambi Moto and Gitathuru.
