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Category: Visit

Category: Visit

Visit

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

During this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR 2025) in Busia County, leaders and partners came together to reflect on the urgent need to invest in community resilience rather than disaster response.   Discussions focused on how proactive planning, collaboration, and innovation can reduce the impact of disasters and strengthen local capacities to adapt and thrive.   In line with this year’s theme, IOMe254 showcased creative and sustainable innovations that demonstrated how youth-led ideas can turn challenges into opportunities for disaster risk reduction. By nurturing innovation, and community-driven solutions, we move closer to a future where resilience is funded, disasters are prevented, and every community is empowered to build back stronger.

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Events

Plastic Odyssey Visit

The MV Plastic Odyssey is a ship that left Marseille on October 1st 2022 for a world-wide voyage to places most affected by plastic pollution. We hosted them at I.O.Me254’s Mombasa Branch (I.O.Me001 Social Innovation Center) for a period of 2 weeks, whereby we had an exhibition depicting their travels in the co-working space. We had children steaming in from Mbaraki Girls School as well as the Aga Khan Primary School, brimming with curiosity and creativity. For the children, it was a meaningful learning experience where they saw more practical approaches of environment preservation by recycling and repurposing the materials that we would otherwise have disposed of. We had the opportunity to have our staff, together with 10 waste management companies, attend an onboard incubation training on plastic recycling onboard the Plastic Odyssey. They then ended their stay in Mombasa with I.O.Me254’s partnership launch event that was held at the I.O.Me001 Social Innovation Center. This event was crucial as it market the day that Plastic Odyssey signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Red Cross Society.

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Development

Innovation Visit – Kakuma Refugee Camp

Earlier this May 2025, I.O.Me254 organized a needs assessment tour joined by students from Kenya and the University of Texas – Austin, on a meaningful 5-day visit to Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei settlement in Turkana County.  Together with humanitarian workers, youth, and local entrepreneurs, they interacted with community members within the camp, listening and learning. From damaged water infrastructure to salty boreholes and rising wastewater, it became clear just how much residents are working with limited resources.  But even in the middle of these challenges, there was a great sense of resilience, determination, creativity and hope. Now, those conversations and insights are helping shape new ideas back at our hubs in Mombasa (I.O.Me001) and Lamu (I.O.Me005) and the University of Texas in Austin.  Teams are exploring simple, community-led solutions for clean water and sanitation, better ways to manage waste, and tech skills programs that include youth and women in displaced settings. Innovation doesn’t have to be big or complicated – it just has to be thoughtful, useful, accessible and built together with the people it’s meant for. 

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Digital Literacy

Community Field Visit: I.O.Me005 x KRCS Lamu Branch – HCD Workshop

The Innovation Unit under the International Center for Humanitarian Affairs (ICHA) supported by I.O.Me005 conducted a field immersion and interview session with diverse community members in Lamu, as part of an ongoing Human-Centered Design (HCD) workshop. The aim was to listen directly to the voices that matter most and gain firsthand insights into their lived experiences and pressing challenges.   Through in-depth interviews, immersive field observations, and open dialogue, the team gathered valuable insights to inform the Nature-Based-Solutions (NBS) project. These findings will help shape innovative and sustainable interventions, tailored to the unique needs of the Lamu community. This HCD workshop plays a pivotal role in supporting the NBS project by identifying local challenges and working collaboratively with community members and stakeholders to co-create impactful solutions. At the hear of our approach is a simple but powerful principle: engage, listen, and learn. Together we’re co-creating lasting change.  

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Visit

Collaborations at County 042: Visit to Kisumu Region

A team from the International Center for Humanitarian Affairs (ICHA) paid a visit to the Kenya Red Cross Society – Kisumu Regional Office, as well as to FabLab Winam. Heads up, you may. find one of our I.O.Me254 labs in Kisumu City in the near future!   The team was able to meet with the brilliant minds behind FabLab Winam, where they discussed how to increase the reach and impact of the work that we all do towards the society. Our team went on a deep-dive into Zipline’s drone ops, blood logistics, as well as tech challenges, where they had a live-action drone show that left mouths agape.

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