Siaya student designs portable house to address floods, urban-rural migration

Siaya Institute of Technology (SIT) student Vincentia Ouko Otieno has developed a portable and expandable prototype house to address the effects of floods and urban-rural migration in the country. 

Vincentia told Citizen Digital that the inspiration behind the project stems from conflicts that displace families and the recurring floods in the Nyanza region, which often leave families without proper shelter, relying on makeshift tents in rescue centres.

“There are internal conflicts, there are so many calamities, so I sat down and thought that what happened to us should not happen to somebody else,” she narrated.

She says the portable and expandable housing model offers a potential solution to address some of these challenges.

By constructing a house that can easily be dismantled and relocated, it provides families with a means to adapt and move when necessary, without sacrificing their shelter. 

“The main reason why I came to build a portable house, I looked at it in terms of IDPs, during floods they migrate and the only thing government can do is to provide tents and by providing tents unapata kuna rape cases na kuna insecurity...but tunaeza tumia hizi portable houses badala ya tents so unapata kuna enough security,” she noted.

SIT principal Daniel Randa expressed confidence in the student's project, recognizing its potential to address the pressing issues of shifting families from urban to rural areas.

He noted that when the land has become scarce, the portable and expandable housing model offers a practical and innovative solution to alleviate the strain displaced families face.

"So she has designed that house in such a way that the joining is made to be foldable and so depending on the family capacity if you want to move from Siaya to maybe Homa Bay or Kericho, then you just take your household and your house, you vacate so it will solve the problem of urban-rural migration,” Mr. Randa said.

The project's ultimate goal is to inspire the government to adopt similar affordable housing units, thereby mitigating the need for families to relocate from urban to rural areas.