How a Lagos community built on a garbage dump learned to keep safe from disease
Local nurses say Dustbin Estate residents are healthier since charity workers spread the word about disease control measures, stepping up hygiene and boosting demand for vaccination.
- 11 July 2023
- 8 min read
- by Eric Dumo
Eight-year-old Adebiyi Orekoya ran like a trained athlete as he chased a small plastic ball with two other boys one sunny afternoon in June. It had been a few days since it last rained at Dustbin Estate, and the ground was dry, which meant Orekoya was allowed to play outside. Wet conditions, the boy and his friends have learned, mean a higher chance of getting ill.
Dustbin Estate is a sprawling slum in the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos, so called because its shack houses are built on a foundation of garbage.
"Two of my children who had not been immunised when I gave birth to them here have since been administered vaccines by the nurses who visit this place every Wednesday."
– Esther Bujuwaye of Dustbin Estate
Decades ago, the land was a swamp, crisscrossed with open sewers. But as the city expanded, desperate accommodation-seekers filled the land with refuse to make the ground solid enough hold houses built of planks and rusting corrugated roofing sheets. Today more than 6,000 poor families, forced out by the high cost of rent in most parts of the city, make the informal settlement their home.
As the settlement has expanded into a mini city of its own, the mosquitoes and germs that had formed thriving colonies among the piles of rubbish and in the sewage canal that runs through the settlement have been provided a growing human population to feed on.
The threat of mosquito-borne malaria and other illnesses that spread through the contamination of food and water – like typhoid fever and cholera – is high. But boys like Orekoya have managed to learn how to keep themselves safe with the help of a group called the Love on the Streets (LOTS) Charity Foundation.
Credit: LOTS foundation
Apart from helping provide free and quality education for Dustbin Estate's growing cohort of kids, the charity has collaborated closely with health workers from nearby government hospitals and volunteer medical groups to spread the word on disease prevention. Health workers visit to conduct outreach programmes, and to sensitise children and adults on the importance of immunisation, disease prevention and good hygiene practices.
To show its commitment to the health and wellbeing of residents of the community, LOTS Charity built a modern toilet and bathroom facility in 2014 to discourage open defecation and promote improved sanitary practice in the area. This move, among others, has helped many children in this Lagos slum to a new understanding of disease control.
"I and my siblings used to fall ill often in the past as a result of mosquito bites because the dirty water carrying all manner of wastes used to pass behind our house," Orekoya told VaccinesWork.
Credit: LOTS foundation
"But when I became five years old and started attending sessions at LOTS Charity Foundation where we are taught about various diseases and how to prevent them, I gained more knowledge about immunisation, malaria and other illnesses that are common in our environment.
"With that knowledge, I advised my mother to channel the sewage water through another point and ensure that it was not close to our house. Since that period, there has been less mosquito presence inside our room.
"Also, we have been taught a lot about hygiene by the people at LOTS. I learnt to wash my hands, take my bath regularly and also avoid playing outside whenever it rained.
"There was a time some people came and they gave us free mosquito-treated nets, which we use in our house. Today, we all fall ill less often than in the past because we sleep under the net at night," the eight-year-old explained.
Bola, a senior nurse at the nearest government hospital, Layeni Health Center, said that four years ago they recorded an average of 200 severe malaria and typhoid cases from residents of Dustbin Estate on a monthly basis. That figure has dropped to around 50 each month, Bola said.
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"Dustbin Estate is a fertile ground for malaria, typhoid and other deadly diseases to spread and harm people because of the dirty environment.
"Most people in the area engage in open defecation, urinate in the open, pour dirty water around their houses and when this combines with water from the sewage canal in the area especially during the rainy season, one can only imagine how all kinds of diseases will spread from one part of the community to the other.
"But after we increased surveillance of the area, improved immunisation of children and vaccinated old people around the place, the number of sick people we received at our facility reduced," she said.
Aminat Olasunkanmi, a young mother in the community, said she brought her four-month-old daughter to the clinic for vaccination after receiving information from LOTS Charity outreach workers. She added that her knowledge of hygiene and prevention of diseases like malaria and typhoid fever has also increased through the work of the non-profit organisation.
"Even though we live in a dirty and disease-infested environment, I am happy that my daughter and I are protected.
Credit: LOTS foundation
"I got to know of the days health workers visit for immunisation for kids through some of the advocates at LOTS. They are the ones who also ensured that we get tested and administered medications whenever a medical group comes around for outreach.
"We have at least two mosquito-treated nets at home that were given to us free of charge and which I and my daughter sleep under at night to prevent malaria," Olasunkanmi said.
Another young mother in the community, Esther Bujuwaye, revealed that she has learnt to build a wall of protection around her children through information shared by the people at LOTS and health workers who visit the area for routine immunisation of children.
"I do not allow my children to play or move around the community barefoot. Also, I have trained them to avoid anywhere there is a pool of dirty water to avoid coming in contact with mosquitoes and germs.
"Whenever we have extra money, we ensure to buy insecticide to spray our room to further eliminate mosquitoes and others that may be harmful to us. Also, we make sure to use antiseptic soap to bath twice daily. This is in addition to the mosquito nets we use to sleep at night.
"Two of my children who had not been immunised when I gave birth to them here have since been administered vaccines by the nurses who visit this place every Wednesday," she said.
Established in 2008 by Tolu Sangosanya, LOTS Charity Foundation has moved from merely improving literacy among children of Dustbin Estate to becoming a symbol of hope for dozens of the community's residents. Today, most households are armed with information they need to prevent and confront the illnesses prevalent in the area, all thanks to Sangosanya and her team of young advocates.
Samuel Oparaeke, Head of Administration at LOTS Charity, told Vaccineswork that their greatest success is seeing more children have access to quality education and healthcare at Dustbin Estate.
Credit: LOTS foundation
"LOTS Charity Foundation has played a significant role at Dustbin Estate by re-orientating both the young and old on literacy, disease prevention and hygiene.
"Apart from regularly distributing free food items to the underprivileged within the community, we have also built a toilet and borehole well to improve health and living conditions.
"Some mothers gave trivial excuses in the past when we visited the community for immunisation of children, but all of that has changed and the people are more cooperative now."
– Mureen Amaefula, Layeni Health Center nurse
"In addition, we organise seminars for our students and residents of the community at large for them to have a better understanding of hygiene issues. In turn, they spread this life-saving message to others in the area."
Leveraging its established relationships with Dustbin Estate resident, LOTS has been able to act as a link for other organisations hoping to provide services to the community. "Through LOTS Charity Foundation, various medical groups conducting outreach programmes including 'Dreams from the Slum', Dozy Mmobuosi Foundation, Harvesters Medicare and even health workers from government hospitals around have been able to reach members of the community and offer free medical services, mosquito nets and others to those who need such. For us, these have been great achievements," Oparaeke said.
Mureen Amaefula, another nurse at Layeni Health Center, hailed the work of the team at LOTS Charity helping to spread information about diseases, prevention and good hygiene at Dustbin Estate.
Credit: Eric Dumo
"We usually carry out community service every Wednesday but before now we had challenges getting the people to understand the importance of routine immunisation for children.
"Some mothers gave trivial excuses in the past when we visited the community for immunisation of children, but all of that has changed and the people are more cooperative now.
"In fact, those who are not in the community when we visit do come to the health centre for vaccination of their children. There is no week that we don't get at least 150 children to immunise in the area since the new level of awareness created by the young people at LOTS Charity. In the past, we struggled to get 30 kids to immunise during our visit to the area," she said.
