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Are You Upset About the Underserved?

SDGSUPPORTERS,

If you’re as upset as I am about the ‘underserved’ — I want to tell you about a game-changing solution: SDGSUPPORTERS.

Here’s how it works: SDGSUPPORTERS is a supplement in leading daily newspapers. It invites readers to nominate communities or schools for water, sanitations and hygiene services. You enable publishing of the supplement by placing your ads in it –– while nominating, readers must mention the ads, without which they (readers) would not see the invite.

This simple idea makes advertising less expensive. It also makes the services more accessible by the underserved. It’s a much-needed improvement over our cumbersome, outdated processes of availing the services. Plus, it’d significantly decrease the number of the underserved — the nominees get the services at a rate of one nominee per week.

Now, I need your help to keep this momentum going. Make advertising in SDGSUPPORTERS a top priority in the coming months.

With this critical support, you will make sure every underserved person gets water, sanitation and hygiene services. Please step up to fuel this fight today.

Thank you for your immediate response,

Sara-Jane Brownlie, the team at RaHaSolutions

KURA RESPONDS POSITIVELY, PUBLIC TOILETS ON KERICHO ROADS

We are happy to inform you that Kenya Urban Roads Authority responded positively, regarding building toilets on roads in Kericho County (see self explanatory twitter conversation above).

TOILETS ON HIGHWAYS MUST BE ON ROAD RESERVES

Public toilets that are poorly located generate a sense of neglect, attracting vandalism, anti-social behaviour and social disorder. And lack of available and appropriate facilities at the right time encourages fouling, and treating diseases associated with open defecation such as typhoid, dysentery or cholera is a significant and costly task.

These issues, if not tackled effectively, can generate a cycle of decline, leading to more entrenched social problems, and seriously impairing quality of place and quality of life for local people.

Others have seen this reality before. HIGHWAY ACT 1980 Part VII Provision of Special Facilities for Highways states that “…112 Provision of picnic sites and public conveniences for users of trunk roads (1) The Minister may provide on land adjoining, or in the vicinity of, a trunk road that is not a special road a picnic site for motorists and others likely to use the road with space for parking vehicles and a means of access to and from a highway. An area of any such land as aforesaid in which there are, or are to be, provided such a picnic site, parking space and means of access as aforesaid is in this Act referred to as a “trunk road picnic area “.

“(2) The Minister may erect buildings and execute works on a trunk road picnic area for the purpose of providing all or any of the following:— (a) parking places for vehicles, (b) a means of access to or from the area from or to a highway, (c) public sanitary conveniences (including lavatories), and…”

“…(5) The Minister may provide public sanitary conveniences (including lavatories) in proper and convenient situations on or under land forming part of a trunk road that is not a special road, or adjoining, or in the vicinity of, such a road and may manage such conveniences…”

BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS ALLIANCE

We are thrilled to announce that we have today submitted to Billion Dollar Business Alliance (BDBA) our offer to build filters next to water ponds that BDBA are currently building in Kenya.

Our offer is based on fact that cleaning of water is not part of activities BDBA is doing. They are harvesting rainwater for agriculture and, apparently, they assumed that farmers would not use the water for domestic purposes. Our contribution to the BDBA project will enable beneficiaries of the ponds to use the water for drinking as well – for a large number of the beneficiaries, this will be their only water source.

We have also offered to build toilets in toilet-less homes and along roads that are within areas that drain water to the ponds. This will reduce pollution of water that will end up in the ponds. The SANI SOLAR toilets sun dry faeces and urine to form fertiliser that the farmers will need.

We sent our offer through BDBA’s Maimbo M. Malesu of World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). ICRAF, WFP and Government of Kenya are members of the BDBA.