Lead image for From Mathare to the UN: The 25-year-old driving change from within.
The sacks are almost as tall as Hortensia Wanjiru. On a dusty morning in Nairobi’s Mathare informal settlement, she drags them through narrow footpaths, stopping to sort discarded plastic bottles, old sacks and scraps of textile. To most people, it is rubbish.
To Wanjiru, it is rent, school fees, food and, most importantly, a second chance. “Just a year ago, I didn’t do anything,” she recalls. “I would just stay idle.”
Hortensia Wanjiru at the Mathare Community Park on July 14, 2026. She earns an income from selling recyclable sacks and textile waste.
She became a mother at 19. Without an income to support her son, her mother stepped in to provide for him.
The transformation
Today, she has rented a house outside Mathare and now lives with her three‑year‑old son, a change made possible through the sale of recyclable sacks and textile waste. “I'm so happy that I can send my son to school, provide him with nutritious meals and buy him clothes. Nothing makes me happier than that,” she says.