At Metis Consultants, we spend our days working to help make London a safer and more resilient city through our work in flood risk management, highways asset management and public realm design.  When we heard that Engineers without Borders (EwB) and the Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) are partnering on a project with the same goals in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, we knew we had to help! 

On Sunday the 20th of May, we will be running the Hyde Park 10k to support EwB and KDI with their project in Kibera.  

Kibera is the largest urban slum in Africa and is located in the Kenyan city of Nairobi with a population estimated to be around 500,000-1,000,000.  Most of the people living in Kibera are in extreme poverty and survive on less than $1/day.  Many of the poorest live near the Ngong River, where rent is cheap but flood risk significant.  Flooding is devastating for the poor, who suffer great loss due to poorly built homes and a lack of savings to bounce back afterwards.  Engineers Without Borders UK and Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) are working with residents in Kibera to develop sustainable solutions that can reduce flood risk within the slum.  We have offered technical support and expertise to the project, should there be a need for it in the future.  For now, we have challenged ourselves to run 10k to raise money to support this fantastic initiative. 

Some of us are seasoned runners, while others will be taking their first dip into a world of chafing and black toe nails... please support us if you can!  Any contributions you can make will be greatly received and really will help to make a difference in the lives of many in one of the world’s largest and poorest urban slums.

To learn more about KDI you can watch this inspirational video they shared with us: https://vimeo.com/129021963