"Building Resilience: A Community's Journey Toward Climate Adaptation and Stability"

My name is Geraldine Joseph, and I live in Ekunde 3 with my family. Our household consists of 13 members—3 adults and 10 children. As a senior citizen, I do my best to support my grandchildren and daughters with my pension grant.

As part of the settlement upgrading process, we participated in site analysis and planning sessions with students from NUST. During these sessions, we had valuable discussions about climate change and its effects on our community, such as the increasing frequency of heatwaves and the growing risk of floods.

These conversations made us realize how important it is to be aware of climate change for the sake of our health and safety. We learned practical ways to adapt, like planting trees to help absorb water and reduce flooding or taking steps to protect ourselves from the sun to prevent heat-related issues. We also explored ideas about what our neighborhood could look like and how we can make our settlement more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Collaborating with other community members who are also upgrading and living in informal settlements has been incredibly helpful. It has made the process easier to understand and provided us with practical ideas for adjustments we can make.

Owning our own plot would mean everything to us. It would provide stability and give us the confidence to invest in our homes—making them safer, healthier, and more secure for the future.