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TOILETS ARE FOR SOCIAL EQUITY & INCLUSION

The extent to which people have easy access to good quality toilets affects their general health and well being – and that of the whole community. Enabling different people, with different needs, to make use of public toilets at different times can have a significant impact on issues like public health and exercise, public behaviour, use of public transport.

A lack of clean, accessible and safe toilets impacts on some people more than others. Some people may feel unable or reluctant to leave their homes and visit areas where they fear they will not be able to find a public toilet. Older people, mothers, fathers, and carers with young children, disabled people and people with chronic health problems – all need easy access to suitably equipped public toilet facilities.

FOR BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS ALLIANCE PONDS TO BE USED EFFECTIVELY, TOILETS MUST BE PART OF THE PROJECT

Lack of toilet facilities at the right time in the right place contributes to dirty water and farms that are unsanitary, unpleasant and can spread infection. Farmers will fall sick and they will not be able to work and meet their obligations.

BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS ALLIANCE (BDBA) PROJECT CANNOT LOOK LIKE CBOs’ PROJECTS

Dear BDBA,

Understandably, BDBA was designed not only to be open but also to be attractive to businesses.

Family businesses have connections with their local area going back generations – BDBA project is an opportunity for them to increase their level of the connection.

National and International chains, on the other hand, often have a strong social or community support ethos as part of their corporate policy, providing free or subsidised goods and services – and sometimes funding too – for local initiatives. They operate as part of communities and hold as much of a stake in supporting local projects and promoting civic pride as the locals themselves.

If BDBA project is not the kind that can lift our dignity, it cannot attract businesses.

The foregoing aside, why should BDBA project be similar to CBO projects?

 

HOW FILTERS WILL WORK, BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS ALLIANCE

The filters will be cased in either concrete or plastic shafts.

Rainwater from the drained area is fed into the inlet (marker 1), which is at the lower end of the shaft. A deflector plate sets up a radial flow.

At place marked 2, sedimentation of particles, especially the sand faction and above, takes place in the hydrodynamic separator. This is due to turbulent secondary flows within a radial laminar flow regime.

The settlable solids are collected at point marked 3 via an opening in the silt trap chamber. This chamber is evacuated periodically, via the by-pass central tube at intervals.

Four filter elements are located within the filter shaft (part marked 4). As waters flow upwards the finer particles are filtered out, whilst the dissolved pollutants are precipitated and absorbed. The filter is easily backwashed, and if completely clogged or exhausted, is easily replaced (often once per year).

At point marked 5, is clean water above the filter elements passing to discharge via an oil trap assembly. In the event of major spill, free floating oils etc are retained here. Normal concentrations of dissolved oils are retained within the filter elements.

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.

KENYA ROADS BOARD – THE TASK IS NOBLE & IMPORTANT

“Kenya Roads Board acknowledges that the task (RaHa has) been assigned is a nobble one and important”

KBR EXECUTIVE DIRECOR

Eng. Jacob Z. Ruwa, OGW

The assignment referred to is installing SANI SOLAR toilets on roads, to be used free of charge, in line with recent directive by the Kenya Ministry of Health aiming to improve public access to better quality toilets.

TOILET IS INVESTMENT

Businesses respond to motivations. Businesses operate as part of communities and hold as much of a stake in supporting local community amenities and promoting civic pride as the locals themselves.

Family businesses and independents, for instance, may have connections with their local area going back generations. SANI SOLAR public toilets will make such businesses to remain connected with their local area.

Transport operators – like any commercial business – will only make the most of their commercial opportunities if there are public toilets that their passengers demand, many times quietly. 

International and national chains, on the other hand, often have a strong social or community support ethos as part of their corporate policy. Opportunities to provide free services and, sometimes, funding for local community initiatives motivates them – and public toilets provide the opportunity. 

KENYA ROADS BOARD, SANI SOLAR TOILETS ON KERICHO’S ROADS NOBLE AND IMPORTANT

Today, we received letter above from Kenya Roads Board (KRB). KRB’s executive director, Eng. Jacob Z. Ruwa, on behalf of the board, acknowledges that the building of solar toilets on the roads in Kericho County is noble and important.

Main reason for building the toilets on road reserves is safety of the public and maintenance staff. This mitigates against a range of actual and perceived safety risks to person and property that may be encountered at public toilets. These include anti-social behaviours such as vandalism, graffitiing, loitering, and drug abuse.

Building the toilets on road reserves is the only means of ensuring that entrances of the toilets face onto the most active space. This alone will reduce the likelihood of crime in set locations. While it is impossible to ‘design out’ crime, careful planning and detailing with crime in mind have been shown to reduce actual crime and unintended behaviours, and to improve public perception of personal safety.

 

BUILDING TOMORROW SUPPORTS RAHA

USA based, Building Tomorrow, Inc., joins with RaHa in bringing toilets in Kyassonko Primary School and water in St. Timothy Bunyere Primary school.

Olivia Schneider, Program Associate of Building Tomorrow has just written to RaHa confirming there support.

As of May 2018, Building Tomorrow has opened 62 fully operational schools in Uganda, providing enough learning space for over 20,000 students and counting. Through their Thriving Schools Program, they have enrolled over 24,000 formerly out-of-school children back in school.

Altogether, through both their Building Tomorrow Primary Schools and Thriving Schools Program, Building Tomorrow serves over 101,000 students each and every day.

They continue to push towards completing their Educate51k plan as part of the Clinton Global Initiative, a five year, $12 million plan to provide a safe, local, permanent, quality and supportive learning environment for an additional 50,980 children across Uganda. And everyday they work to achieve their vision of a world where every child has access to an inclusive, quality education.

PUBLIC TOILETS IS TOURISM

Places – where we live, school, travel, shop, work, take recreation – are more accessible and attractive when public toilets are well planned, designed, maintained, clearly signposted, and available when people need to use them. They are one of a range of amenities that help to attract a more diverse range of visitors, encouraging them to spend longer in the country, and to visit again. 

Being able to access a toilet is a fundamental need for any visitor therefore, a lot of clean toilets should be built so that information about the toilets can be distributed wildly, signposts regarding clean toilets should be on all roads – tourists choose their destinations carefully, drawing on their previous impressions, talking to friends and family, looking up feedback on the internet. 

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