Ukomelela Nokufundisana is a six-month project led by researchers from the University of Cape Town in partnership with Eh!woza and Khayelitsha residents. Through shared learning and co-creation, the project explores how climate-related flooding, water, sanitation and hygiene shape diarrhoeal disease risks in the  peri-urban area of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa .

Ukomelela Nokufundisana “strengthening resilience by learning together”, was chosen by the people involved in the project and reflects an approach grounded in shared learning, practical experience and community knowledge.

The project builds on Responsive Dialogues for Urban Climate and Health, where residents identified diarrhoea as an important flooding-related health concern in Khayelitsha. Through Ukomelela Nokufundisana, residents, CASCADE-researchers and Eh!woza are examining existing responses and co-developing practical communication tools shaped through the process.

From Responsive Dialogues to communication tool

During the Responsive Dialogues, residents described how contaminated water, unsafe water storage, shared sanitation and floodwater entering homes can increase the risk of diarrhoeal disease, especially for children.

Ukomelela Nokufundisana continues this learning through a focused six-month process that looks more closely at diarrhoeal disease: how risk is experienced, what responses already exist, and what communication tools could support prevention, preparedness and timely care.

The research is guided by two main questions:

• How do climate hazards contribute to diarrhoeal disease risk among children under five?
• What is already being done at household, community and city levels to manage these risks in Khayelitsha?

The co-development process also considers how community knowledge, research evidence and practical experience can inform communication that supports prevention, preparedness and timely care

Mapping how conditions shape risk

Climate and health risks emerge through many interacting conditions. Flooding connects with drainage, housing, shared sanitation, water access, waste collection, electricity, food storage, caregiving and access to healthcare. Understanding these connections requires looking at research alongside public systems, local services and everyday experiences.

Participatory workshops use collaborative pathway mapping, small group discussion and reflection in isiXhosa and English. These methods create space for residents’ lived experience, community knowledge, research findings and facilitation practice to be considered together with epistemic equity at its heart. 

Residents contribute knowledge shaped by everyday experiences of flooding, caregiving, illness and local services. Researchers bring evidence from climate, water, sanitation, hygiene and health research. Eh!woza contributes facilitation, visual storytelling and long-standing relationships in Khayelitsha.

Through the mapping process, which began during the Responsive Dialogues and is being developed further through these workshops, with a closer focus on risks affecting children under five, participants are tracing how diarrhoeal disease is shaped by inter-connected environmental and social conditions. Flooding exposes people to unsafe conditions both directly and indirectly, the direct hazards are risks faced when residents battle rising water in homes and surrounding areas. The indirect exposure relates to contamination of the environment when water that mixes with sewerage and other pathogens spreads in communities with limited access to clean water and sanitation. For children under five, these conditions can increase the risk of exposure through contaminated water, food, hands or surfaces. Residents also identified heat as another factor that can create additional diarrhoeal risks particularly when power interruptions and limited refrigeration contribute to food spoiling.

These hazards interact with overcrowded shared sanitation, limited access to clean water, inadequate drainage, unreliable waste collection and pressure on health services. Household resources also shape what people can do to protect health. Preventive actions may require water, electricity, fuel, storage space, money and safe infrastructure.

This places household practices within a wider system of responsibility. Preventing illness depends on safe infrastructure, reliable public services, accessible healthcare, community-level support and practical information that reflects the conditions people are navigating.

Starting from community knowledge and practice

Residents are already responding to flooding and diarrhoeal disease in practical ways. Households boil water when electricity or fuel is available, prepare oral rehydration solutions, protect food and stored water, make changes to homes to reduce water entry and seek support through clinics, community health workers and local networks.

These responses reflect knowledge, care and resourcefulness already present in households and local networks. They also show how surrounding conditions affect what is possible. Boiling water has a cost. Safe storage requires containers and space. Flooded roads can delay access to healthcare.

Communication is most useful when it reflects these realities and connects to the resources and support people need. Recognising existing knowledge and practical constraints helps the project identify where communication can support action, and where responses from services and public authorities are also required.

Co-developing communication through the process

A central part of Ukomelela Nokufundisana is the co-development of health communication tools that are accurate, accessible and grounded in local realities.

Residents taking part in the project are helping to determine both the content and form of these tools. The process draws on residents’ knowledge of caregivers, families, neighbours and local networks, as well as the ways information already moves through households and community spaces.

Together, participants are considering which information is most useful, how it should be expressed in isiXhosa and English and which formats may be most appropriate. Possible tools include conversations in homes and community spaces, short printed resources, WhatsApp messages, voice notes and brief audio or video content. The final choices, including who the tools are for and how they should be shared, will be shaped through the co-development process.

The tools may support prevention, preparedness and timely care by helping people understand how flooding can increase diarrhoeal disease risk, how children can be supported safely at home, which warning signs require medical attention and when care should be sought.

The tools will build on what households already know and do, while offering practical guidance where useful. They will also recognise the roles of community organisations, health services and public authorities in reducing risk.

Learning through the process

The process has also highlighted some of the challenges of working collaboratively within a short project. Language required careful consideration, particularly when discussing health and climate concepts in ways that made sense in both isiXhosa and English. The pace of the project was another learning point. As the workshops progressed, it became clear that some discussions and activities needed more time than initially planned.

An important part of the process was also creating a balance between knowledge shared by researchers and knowledge coming from residents’ lived experiences. The possibility of power differences between researchers and residents was something we had to consider in how the workshops were designed and facilitated, so that research evidence did not automatically carry more weight than community knowledge and experience.

These experiences reinforced that meaningful participation takes time. Working through complex issues, sharing different forms of knowledge and developing communication collaboratively cannot always be rushed. These lessons are shaping how the project moves forward and how similar work could be approached in future.

What Ukomelela Nokufundisana aims to contribute

The value of Ukomelela Nokufundisana lies in both what is produced and how it is developed. By learning together, Khayelitsha residents, Eh!woza and researchers are building communication that reflects local knowledge, practical constraints and the everyday realities of the people who may use and share it.

The project also creates opportunities for Khayelitsha residents and early career researchers to gain practical experience in working together to produce and share knowledge.

Ukomelela Nokufundisana received funding through the CASCADE Scholars Opportunity Grants, under DELTAS Africa II, with support from the Science for Africa Foundation, Wellcome and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

This piece reflects the shared perspective of the project partners.

Author: Alacia Armstrong, Cascade Comms.
August 2026