The lives of more than half the world’s children are constantly at risk through contact with excreta in their environment. The sanitation situation in urban slums is particularly difficult and this affects children severely. Many schools in urban slums lack toilets and where there are latrines they are usually overfull or dirty. The lack of toilets is a major contributor to diseases like diarrhoea and cholera, killing more than 2 million children every year. Each year 443 million school days are lost due to sanitation and water related illness.

Peepoople is driving change by implementing the Peepoo sanitation system in schools coupled with training in health and hygiene and handwashing fascilities. Today over 10 000 school children in more than 60 schools in Kibera, Nairobi’s biggest slum, have the Peepoo solution available through the Peepoo School Programme in Kibera. The goal is to reach 100,000 school children in urban slums in Kenya by 2015.

A couple of weeks ago Global One School in Gatwekera in Kibera was inaugurated by Dr Karioli from Ministry of Public Health who expressed their support for the Peepoo Solution. Peepoo Dubo, the mascot of the the Peepoo School Programme, was also present. On a weekly basis he is visiting the Peepoo schools training the children in hygiene and how to use the Peepoo. The educational material in schools is developed around Peepoo Dubo. Examples of Peepoo Dubo educational material can be found here.

Kibera TV was there to capture the opening; you can watch their feature here.

Kampf den “fliegenden Toiletten” or Combat “the flying toilets” is the titel of a feature about Peepoople on the German science television program Quarks & Co. The program aired on Tuesday night on the German TV-channel WDR and focused on toilets. Click here to see the feature on Peepoople.

Yesterday it was finally time for the Swedish business and technology magazines Affärsvärlden and Ny Teknik to present the 33 hottest young technology companies in Sweden this year. The magazines do this by the so-called 33-list, and Peepoople has the great pleasure to be on the list for the second year in a row.

This is the sixth consecutive year that the 33-list has taken place and was marked with the highest interest ever, with over 300 nominees. Here at Peepoople, we are pleased and proud to be on the list yet again.

Peepoople is now seeking a world-class changemaker for the exciting position as General Manager (Chief Executive) for Peepoople Kenya to be based in Nairobi. To read more about the position and how to apply, click here.

Watch a video from one of our schools in Kibera that uses Peepoos, filmed by German ZDF TV in relation to World Water Day. You can find a link to the video here.

The UN-Habitat Pakistan Peepoo intervention in the monsoon affected provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan, Pakistan was concluded this February, having successfully provided sanitation to nearly 5 000 displaced persons for 1 – 2 months. The project was a joint collaboration between UN-Habitat Pakistan and Peepoople, with funding support from the Swedish Postcode Lottery.

The project rapidly and effectively delivered hygienic in-shelter sanitation by integrating the distribution of Peepoos with already accepted and proven models for hygiene promotion. Peepoo toilets and hygiene promotion were delivered to 786 flood-affected families in 17 settlements.

The objective was to evaluate Peepoo’s viability, acceptance, effectiveness and benefits at scale as an emergency sanitation solution.

The overall conclusions from the project are very positive. Users feel that having a home toilet has saved time, improved social issues and contributed greatly to the overall cleanliness of their homes and villages. The user adoption was very high, with 91% of targeted people using Peepoo every time for defecation.

More than 95 % of users were happy with the quality of the Peepoo toilet, as well as, said that it made their every day life easier. To hear one of the users, Sahib Khatoo, tell her story, watch a short film from the project by clicking here.

Mr. Niaz Ullah Khan, an independent evaluator from Avicenna Consulting, was assigned by UN-Habitat Pakistan and Peepoople to evaluate the project and guide decisions and strategies for the scaling up of Peepoo as an emergency sanitation solution. Download the report here.

The Peepoo Supporting Products, Peepoo Kiti and Peepoo Yizi, were used for the first time in a large-scale project during the UN-Habitat Peepoo Intervention. The colourful seat, Peepoo Kiti, was used together with Peepoo for a convenient, in-shelter toilet, in all of the 786 households. The privacy tent, Peepoo Yizi, served as an excellent compliment to the Peepoo toilet and gave people the possibility to arrange their own private hygiene space near their temporary shelters. Peepoo Yizi was distributed in three of the villages and used by 111 households. We especially enjoyed seeing the many creative ways that Peepoo Yizi users hung their privacy tents.

Peepoople is celebrating World Water Day! Did you know that more than 1.7 million people die each year due to lack of sanitation and clean water? We hope to contribute to the UN’s International Year of Water Cooperation by working our hardest to provide dignified and hygienic sanitation to those without.

Check out UN Water’s website for more information about how you can get involved and continue to follow Peepoople for updates on our many upcoming projects!

It is with great sadness that Peepoople announces the death of Judith Radull, one of our newly recruited saleswomen in Kibera, and Peter, a friend and supporter of Peepoople.

Judith was an innocent bystander in a police shootout in the slum. She was 32 years old and we want to send our thoughts and prayers to her 6 children, family, friends, community, and the Peepoople team in Kibera.

Peter was also innocently shot and killed. He was a local butcher owner that cheerfully hosted the Peepoople team for meals during Amani Usalama.

This tragedy comes only weeks after Amani Usalama, Peepoople’s community event in Kibera that was meant to denounce violence. Peepoople will remember Judith and Peter fondly.

Peepoople is honoured to be participating in ‘Innovative Sweden’, an exhibition showcasing 12 of Sweden’s most innovative start-ups, organized by the Swedish Institute. ‘Innovative Sweden’ was arranged to celebrate Sweden’s role as one of the world’s most entrepreneurial and innovative countries. The touring exhibition kicked off in Berlin, Germany in early March 2013 and will travel to Seoul, South Korea and Toyko, Japan this autumn. Read more about ‘Innovative Sweden’ and Peepoo’s showcase on the Swedish Institute’s website.