Stella Omuka, a founding member of Dhobi Women Network./Photo; courtesy
Before sunrise in Mathare, the day has already begun.
In the early morning darkness, waste pickers move through narrow pathways, collecting and sorting materials from dumping points. Hours later, domestic workers mamafua step into homes across the city, beginning long days of cleaning and caregiving that often go unseen.
On the roads, matatu drivers are already navigating traffic, pressure, and the uncertainty of daily earnings.
These workers rarely meet in the course of their day. Their workplaces are different, their routines distinct.
But in Mathare, they are part of the same system, an informal economy that sustains livelihoods while operating largely outside formal protections.
For years, this work has been fragmented. Individuals worked alone, negotiated alone, and absorbed risk alone. What is beginning to change is not the work itself, but how workers are organising and how their realities are being understood.
Organised work
The shift toward collective organisation in Mathare can be traced through waste work.
What began as small, community-led clean-up efforts to clear blocked drainage and manage waste gradually evolved into a source of livelihood.
But as more people joined, it became clear that without structure, the work remained unstable and unpredictable.
For Kevin Odhiambo, Organizing Secretary of the Mathare Waste Pickers Association Network, the turning point came when individual effort stopped translating into collective action.
He describes how the early work exposed deeper systemic gaps where labour existed, but systems to support it did not.
“We started by cleaning the environment because that is where we were living, but as more people joined, it became clear that people also needed to earn from that work. That is how we began to organise around waste collection as a livelihood. But even then, working individually was not helping much. Prices were low, risks were high, and there was no support. Coming together as waste pickers allowed us to start thinking beyond just surviving, and to look at how we could improve the work itself.”
But even as these structures took shape, it became clear that waste pickers were not alone in facing these challenges.
Domestic workers spoke of low wages, abuse, and lack of recourse inside private homes. Matatu drivers described long hours and unstable earnings under informal systems.
Across sectors, the specifics differed, but the structure remained the same: essential work without recognition or protection.
Odhiambo explains that this realisation shifted the focus beyond waste work.
“We started to see that this was not just about one group. Domestic workers are struggling, matatu workers are struggling, the work is different, but the system is the same. That is when we saw the need to connect, because solving these issues requires more than one group speaking alone.”
That shift led to the formation of the Domestic Workers and Waste Pickers Association Network, a platform that brings together the different informal workers’ organisations.
Since its formation, there has been a clear shift in how workers organise and support each other.
Groups that once worked in isolation are now more connected, sharing information on workers’ rights, building basic skills through trainings such as safety and waste handling, and slowly gaining confidence to speak in public spaces.
Domestic workers
The Dhobi Women Network is part of the groups under the network where the work is focused on building support systems from within.
For Stella Omuka, a founding member, the group emerged from direct experience with the vulnerabilities of domestic work, particularly for women working in areas like Eastleigh.
She describes how the early days were defined by constant calls for help, often involving cases of unpaid wages, abuse, or false accusations.
“Before we came together, we were facing many challenges, especially working in Eastleigh. Women were being underpaid, some were not paid at all, and many were facing abuse. Some were even sexually assaulted, and others were accused of theft without any proof. When you went to report these cases, no one would help. The police would often listen more to those with money, and that made it very difficult for women to get justice.”
What began as informal support quickly became overwhelming.
“At that time, I was the one running around trying to respond to these cases, answering calls, helping women in distress and it became too much. That is when I realised we needed to organise. I brought together five women and told them we should start small and see how far we could go.”
From that initial group of five, growth was gradual. Through table banking and consistent meetings, trust was built and more women joined.
“Bringing women together is not easy, so we introduced table banking. We started with 15 women, each contributing 100 shillings a month. It was not just about the money, it helped us build trust and stability. Over time, that is what allowed the group to grow.”
Today, the group has around 30 members, meeting regularly and managing contributions that have grown into hundreds of thousands of shillings over time.
But the transformation has not been limited to financial systems.
The group also reclaimed a once unsafe dumpsite, turning it into a shared space of memory and organising.
“This place used to be very unsafe. There were no trees, and women passing here were often attacked. We decided to change that. We began planting trees and holding meetings here, and it became a space not just for gathering, but for remembering.”
Each tree carries meaning.
“We plant shade trees for women who lost their lives while working. We plant medicinal trees for healing. We plant fruit trees for those who have gone through violence or whose lives were cut short. Each tree represents a story. Many of these cases are never reported, so this is our way of recognising them.”
Today, the space hosts more than 400 trees, alongside vegetable gardens, recreational areas, and a communal meeting space.
For Omuka, the work is ultimately about recognition.
“As domestic workers, we are rarely seen as workers. You hear about other professions being celebrated, but not us. What we want is simple we want to be recognised. Once that happens, then we can begin to fight for our rights more effectively.”
What the data confirms
While organising has created structure on the ground, research has begun to frame these experiences as part of a broader system.
In late 2025, Haki Data Lab conducted a community-led study, Margins to Metrics: Community-Led Survey of Informal Workers in Nairobi, working with about 1,000 workers across areas including Mathare, Dandora, and Eastleigh.
The study focused on domestic workers, waste pickers, and matatu workers, examining how they are paid, the conditions they work under, and the risks they face.
For Stephen Mwangi, Director and co-founder of Haki Data Lab, the starting point was simple: turning lived experience into usable information.
He explains that while workers have long described their conditions, those experiences often remain invisible without documentation.
“Data is the smallest unit of information, but when it is collected correctly, it becomes useful. It helps us understand what is really happening. Our focus was on informal workers, how they are paid, how they work, and what risks they face. When you begin to collect that information, you start to see patterns that are not always visible at the individual level.”
What begins to emerge from the research is a system defined by instability.
Most workers are not earning predictable incomes in fact, about 9 in 10 rely on task-based pay, meaning their ability to earn depends entirely on the availability of work each day.
That uncertainty shapes everything, from daily survival to long-term planning.
For waste pickers, the risks are even more immediate.
The study found that 96 percent have experienced injuries while working, with much of that danger coming from handling mixed and hazardous waste, often without adequate protection.
But beyond income and physical risk, the data also reflects something less visible: exclusion.
A majority of workers reported that they have never had a real opportunity to express their concerns or influence decisions that affect their work.
Mwangi says it is this pattern, not any single statistic, that matters most.
“When you look at the data across different groups, you begin to see that these are not isolated experiences; they are repeated patterns. That tells you that the issue is structural. It is not just about one worker or one sector. It is about how informal labour is organised, and what is missing within that system.”
A moment of visibility
It is this combination of lived experience, organising, and evidence that came together on May 1st, 2026, during Labour Day commemorations at Dhobi Women Community Park.
Workers from across the Domestic Workers and Waste Pickers Association Network gathered in one space: waste pickers, domestic workers, matatu drivers, and other informal workers.
For many, the day carried a meaning that went beyond celebration.
Odhiambo describes it as a moment of recognition.
“Labour Day is meant to celebrate workers, but for a long time, informal workers have not been part of that. For us, coming together on this day is about showing that we are also workers. We contribute to this economy every day, even if it is not always recognised. Being here is a way of making that visible.”
For domestic workers, the significance was equally clear.
Omuka reflects on the importance of visibility in a sector that often operates behind closed doors.
“Most of our work happens in private homes, so it is not seen. That is why being here matters. It is not just a celebration, it is a statement. It shows that we exist, that we are organised, and that we are ready to speak for ourselves. Last year, we were even stopped from holding this kind of event, but this time we pushed through, because we believe we deserve to be seen and heard.”
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