Kenya Red Cross x UT Austin Trip Spring 2025 Kenya Trip Attendees The Kakuma Camp Needs Assessment trip, conducted by a joint team from the University of Texas at Austin’s Humanitarian Engineering Program and the Kenya Red Cross, aimed to assess community needs in the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Settlement, Turkana County, Kenya. The mission focused on understanding pressing challenges in water, sanitation, waste management, and community infrastructure while identifying opportunities for sustainable, community-driven solutions. The team had the opportunity to prototype solutions that had noticeable impacts on the community. Brainstorming session: Feasibility vs Impact Prototyped Solutions Toilet paper from waste paper: Reuses waste paper and greywater to create affordable, sustainable toilet paper. Eco bricks: Densely packed plastic bottles used as structural reinforcements for latrines. Plastic lining for pit latrines: Repurposed plastic strips to stabilize pit walls and prevent collapse. Impact and Future Work The trip strengthened collaboration between UT Austin and the Kenya Red Cross, combining engineering design thinking with local knowledge. The project produced actionable prototypes to address sanitation and infrastructure challenges, emphasizing sustainability, affordability, and community empowerment. Future work includes refining prototypes, developing statements of work for continued projects, follow-up trips for iteration, and scaling solutions across refugee camps. The mission instilled empathy-centered engineering practices and a commitment to co-creating solutions that serve both refugee and host communities sustainably. Spring 2025 Trip Overview Day 1Sites Visited: - DRS Meeting - UNHCR Meeting- FRADI- Latrine @Kakuma 2- Horticulture Farm- Maternity Ward Day 2Sites Visited: - Peace Winds Japan- Borehole 11- Reception Center- Casting/Slab Facility- Household Latrine @ Kalobeyei- Lifeworks Girls Boarding School Day 3Sites Visited:- KDII Pad Factory- Maternity Ward (revisit) Day 4 - 9Brainstorming and ideation process at the Innovation Lab in Mombasa Day 10Presentation of solutions and innovations.
