Women, Waste, and the Weight of Climate Collapse in East Africa

Martha Salome walks slightly ahead of her father near the banks of the Nairobi River in Dandora, Nairobi. The rubble and broken ground around them are what’s left of the place they once called home, swept away by recent floods. Her father, dressed in a blue coat, was once a street collector, earning a living by picking plastics along this very river. Now, weakened by ulcers and depression, he depends entirely on Martha, who is only 18 and raising two young children of her own.

Listen to the podcast below to find out more about their story

Martha’s father sits in what remains of their home.

Martha sits quietly inside a small makeshift room, holding her baby in her arms. Her father, partially visible in the foreground, looks on. The space is dim, the walls lined with tarpaulin and old posters. After floods wiped out their house along the Nairobi River, they ended up here. Martha, only 18, is raising two children while caring for her ailing father, who can no longer work. This scene is part of a radio story tracing how climate-driven disasters like flooding are pushing families deeper into poverty, forcing young women like Martha into impossible roles, provider, mother, nurse, all at once.