Dismantling the Dumpster Economy: Youth Agency Dignity

I wanted to heal the causes, not just the symptoms.

When I worked in healthcare, I saw it up close – kids rushed in with waterborne diseases, elders gasping for air after a night of heavy rains and blocked drains.

Personally one night, I woke up to my kitchen utensils paddling into my bedroom as I was asleep. Flooding and pollution in Mombasa weren’t just seasonal inconveniences. They were emergency room stories.

Not everyone could even leave their homes when it hit. And it hit hard.

That’s when the dots started connecting. Poor waste management doesn’t just make a place look bad – it makes people sick. It’s the reason mothers sleep worried, and hospital beds fill up overnight.

And I looked around and thought – we’re out here mopping the floor, but the tap’s still running.

Now, through Mila, I work with youth and local communities to fix it at the source – tackling waste, driving climate education, and building circular solutions that make sense on the ground.

Because this isn’t just about trash. It’s about health, dignity, and a future we actually want to live in.

The Broken Loop: Waste, Health, and Survival in Mombasa

*Waste collection by local government from different illegal points.*

Growing up here, I saw the same cycles repeat:

Floods→ contaminated water → disease outbreaks→ hospital overload.
Waste dumping→ clogged drains→ more floods.
Youth unemployment → empowerment → environmental protectors.

Communities paid the same people dumping trash to later clean it up. The system wasn’t broken, it was designed to fail.

At Mila, we asked: What if we could break this cycle?

Rewriting the script

*Founder Nusra Juriah and Mila team during a capacity building session.*

1) Behavioral Change > Bins

We didn’t start with fancy tech. We started with conversations – at home, social spots, local fast food joints, in schools, at church, mosque courtyards.

We knew:

If people don’t believe they’re part of the solution, no innovation will work.
So, we focused on community-led change one frass-fertilized plant, one clean street, one educated household at a time.

We learned:

Youth wanted income and purpose.
Mothers worried about kids playing near trash.
Elders remembered cleaner streets but felt powerless.

We didn’t choose the name “Mila” (meaning “tradition” or “value”) by accident.

We’re trying to rebuild a tradition of respecting nature while showing our community that waste has value.

So we built Mila’s model: educate, train, and empower locals to own the solution.

2) By the Numbers: Mid 2025 Impact

15+ youth earned income in Kadzandani (60% women, including young mothers) while learning new skills and developing their current.
3,000+ kg organic waste processed via our Black Soldier Fly farm – turning trash into fertilizer.
300+ seedlings planted with youth, communities and kids.
5 pilot educational initiatives teaching climate action through Swahili storytelling (meet Mila the Fly and Farida the Bee).

*Volunteers and mila members during community outreach programs.*

3) Waste = Jobs + Healthier Communities

Our partnerships bridge gaps:

Health: Joint health camps for 480+ residents, proving cleaner streets = fewer chronic cases.
Local MSMEs: Traders now separate organic waste for our BSF farm.
County Government: Piloting towards supporting decentralized initiatives to cut dump-site overload.

We built partnerships with Tedavi Health Center, Al Ubeidy Medical Clinic, local county government representatives, and traders like Loise, Fatma, Mutuku, closing loops in waste reuse.

Got community support from youth, mothers, students, engineers, nurses, carpenters, and farmers each showing that climate action is everyone’s job.

*Side-by-side photos of a flooded dump point vs. community working towards* a greened-up space.

Why This Matters for Kenya and the World

Globally, waste generation will rise 70% by 2050 (World Bank). In Mombasa:

1,000+ tonnes of daily waste overwhelm landfills.
Plastic floods into the ocean, killing marine life.
Climate-linked diseases drain healthcare budgets.

Our model shows the alternative:

Youth earn income as innovators and educators.
Kids integrate climate literacy early at home and school.
Communities see waste as a resource, not rubbish.

Different by Design

*Aquatic Scientist Sheilla Wanjiru engaging local resident.*

At Mila, inclusion isn’t a checkbox. It’s our engine. Female members lead science, enterprise, and community health roles.

Male members drive ops, technical builds, and engineering.

Skills-based not background-based. We train everyone on the job. From university interns to dropouts, everyone finds value in service.

We kneel when planting, because we’re humbled by what grows.

And we still kneel, often.

Why the Shift Matters

*Engagement Associate David Mwangi with Mshomoroni residents during a health and environmental awareness camp*

Healthcare taught me that most chronic conditions in our communities link back to our environment: contaminated water, poor air, food insecurity, stress from floods, heatwaves.

If we clean up our neighborhoods, green our blocks, teach our kids better – we reduce those admissions before they reach clinics.

Looking Ahead

We’re not stopping.

*Youth, community and mila during a recent clean up and awareness drive.*

With Mombasa producing over 1,000 tonnes of waste daily, and urban growth rising fast, we need partnerships not just policies. We dream of a system where:

County officials gain efficient, structured waste management support.
Local youth find income in circular economies.
The ocean stops choking on city garbage.
Every child learns they can be a steward of change.

To my peers, I get it. Jobs are scarce. But if you can dream of making it abroad, why not also dream of making home better?

Even if I do go abroad to study, I want to come back to a Mombasa more beautiful than the one I grew up in. And that’s worth building today.