In early March we visited Anwar Academy, a primary school situated in Kibera slum in Nairobi, and we met with headmaster Ann Wambui.

To reach Anwar Academy we walk through narrow alleys far into Kibera, Africas second largest slum. The houses all look the same; very small and made of mud or tin sheets. An average family has a one-room shack of around 12 square meters. Kibera resembles a labyrinth to an outsider, and we would never have found the way on our own.

As we walk down a small path between mud walls, a door of metal sheet suddenly swings open, and behind the high walls another world appears; A world of laughter, colour and freedom, a child’s world.

Anwar Academy’s schoolyard is small, but the creativity at this school is visual everywhere. Children’s drawings cover the walls and the colourful decorations around the yard shows that this is a space for and by children. Headmaster Ann shows the way into her little office next to one of the larger classrooms.

Ann is full of life and her joyful attitude directly wares off on all of us. With a big smile she says; “You need to be creative when you run a school in the slum. Because we have no money. The school should be a place for kids to be kids, where they can be safe and comfortable. Life is so difficult in the slum, but school – that should be their free space.”

Ann pulls out a large notebook from one of the unstable shelves behind her. She shows a long list of children’s names, only about 25% of them has an amount written next to them. Ann explains; “I have a school fee, but only about a quarter of the children pay, and not even half of the fee. But I will never throw a child out from the school, because then I will see them on the streets and they will have no where to go during the day, and they will get into trouble. All children are welcome here. We have to put the interest of the children first.”

But the lack of hygienic sanitation in Kibera previously made it hard for Ann to secure a clean and safe school environment for her pupils; “Before we had pit latrines. But they were hard to keep clean and we had bad smell and flies everywhere. And our teachers had to spend their time on cleaning the pit latrines instead of teaching.”

We walk out from the office and Ann starts talking about the Peepoo programme; “You know, since we got Peepoo, the cases of illness have disappeared. The kids used to have such bad stomach-ache, and then it is very hard for the small ones to focus in class. The school is now clean and safe, and the teachers can spend all their time in the classroom, teaching. We are so happy.”

We ask if the parents have had any concerns regarding the Peepoo programme and Ann answers with another smile; “At first the parents were opposing the Peepoo. But we invited them together with the Peepoople team and we had a meeting. We told them about our problems and how Peepoo is helping the children. And now even the school enrolment has gone up. Some parents also buy Peepoo for their home.”

We say our good byes, and our hearts are overwhelmed by all the compassion this woman has for the children of the slum. Kibera is a tough place, but it is also filled with a lot of love and gratitude.

In an article in The Standard Kenya on April 16th, several farmers that use the Peepoo fertiliser in Kirinyaga, Kenya, were interviewed. The farmers testified that they do not only have larger yields in quantity but also better quality of crops.

Further on in the article one of the farmers, Francis Njagi says that they have seen the immediate and positive impact that Peepoo fertiliser has on crops. “Before we started using the fertiliser on our coffee, we would pick between 75kg and 80kg per sack just like other farmers here. Then our yields suddenly shot up after using Peepoo. Now a sack weighs 96kg.”

The area Assistant Chief, Cyrus Kinyua also speaks to the journalist, he says; “I am a witness. I know what this fertiliser is capable of. I am convinced if we all use it, we will kick poverty out of this village and the whole country.”

The Standard Kenya also meet with others who have used the fertiliser are happy with the end results. John Njeru and his wife Caroline Ruguru applied it on their coffee bushes. Within no time, they saw a transformation; “We are sure our harvest this year will be bountiful. We are also confident in a year or two, these coffee bushes will buy us our first car,” says Njiru as Ruguru nods in agreement.

About Peepoo fertiliser

The Peepoo sanitises the faeces, and transform the human manure into an organic fertiliser rich in nitrogen that compares favourable against other fertilisers, both inorganic and organic. The high nutrient value of the Peepoo fertiliser is a positive consequence of the variety of human diet, which gives a wide range of macro- and micronutrients as well as provides organic matter.

Peepoo fertiliser have, in addition to improved crop yields, shown positive impacts on the soil’s chemical, physical as well as biological properties. Studies by a pilot project at University of Nairobi have shown increased water holding capacity, improved soil macro fauna and increase in soil nutrients.

Peepoo fertiliser can be part of the solution to the challenges with declining soil fertility and low agricultural productivity conquered by many small-scale farmers.

Read the whole article at The Standard Kenya

Or download the Newspaper in pdf HERE

As of today (December 2014) we are reaching out with the Peepoo School Programme in Kibera to approximately 18 000 school children with our donors Swedish Postcode Lottery and Vi Agroforestry. Through the programme the children get access to Peepoo toilets in school, as well as water and soap to wash their hands. The teachers, children and their parents also get information and education in sanitation and hygiene.

Click here to view the interactive google map.

During December, Peepoople together with Game Changers are running a crowd funding campaign to support the school programme in Kibera. For 20€ you can support one child for one year in the Peepoo School Programme. In SROI studies by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, both teachers and parents testify that the children are less sick, can better focus on their education, and are kept safe at school during the day. Your contribution goes directly to Peepoople Kenya that implements Peepoo School Progamme in Kenya and passes no middlemen. Your involvement would have a great impact on these children’s lives, and we hope you can help.

During the fall, Caritas Goma has rolled out the Peepoo system in the Birere slum in Goma. At the inauguration event, over 500 people gathered to learn about the Peepoo solution. Present was also Goma’s major Monsieur Kubuya Ndoole, Roger Ndagije, Head of Health Caritas Goma, and Abbé Oswald, Director Caritas Goma who are both highly supportive of the initiative.

The implementation is done together with 15 of Caritas’ health care centres and hospitals and a large team are working with sensitising the area. Information and education campaigns have been running for several months in Goma, in order to build the awareness on the importance of sanitation and hygiene and the use of Peepoo. Peepoo is now sold as a consumer product to the families in Birere slum, collection is done at several drop points a long the avenues and a refund is given for each used Peepoo. Caritas has set up an agriculture project in Sake outside Goma and the used Peepoos will be re-used as organic fertiliser to grow food crops.

Hedwig Maria Dingler, International Cooperation/Head of Project Management, at Caritas Luxembourg initiated the collaboration with Peepoople in 2013 and she says:

“We believe that Peepoo is very applicable for the population in Goma. They have a vast problem with water supply and cholera outbreaks are very common. The poor people generally take their drinking water from small rivers or from the lake. It is also very difficult to dig for latrines in Goma. In the neighbourhood of Birere, where we are now launching the Peepoo sanitation system, you have lava stones in the ground, so you would need big machines to build canalisation. Since the used Peepoos will be used as fertiliser, growing food crops and fruit trees, we also believe that the project will be able to help tackle the issue of malnutrition in the area.

As we are now introducing an individual solution to one of the very basic needs, I believe we can improve the health and security of the population in Birere significantly.”

Peepoople has delivered Peepoos for 30 000 people to several aid agencies active in IDP camps in South Sudan.  Oxfam and Concern started with distributing Peepoos to women in order to increase their safety, but has now expanded the distribution to cover a larger part the Bentiu PC IDP camp in Unity Sate, covering approximately 10 000 people. Many camps are suffering from flooding and Peepoo has been an appreciated solution for the affected families. Peepoople has also been to Juba to train the implementing teams.

It has been one year since the world’s newest nation fell into crisis. Since December 2013 1,9 million people have been displaced due to the conflict in South Sudan. The needs are still enormous and the situation is still serious.

Frank Flachenberg’s is the Environmental Health Adviser with Concern Worldwide, and he wrote a column on World Toilet Day sharing his experience from South Sudan:

”In South Sudan where flooding has rendered hundreds of latrines unusable, we have successfully piloted the use of Peepoo bags. These are self-sanitising and fully biodegrable toilets designed for a single use. Given the current constraints on latrine construction caused by a lack of dry land, the Peepoo bags offer a potentially effective means of addressing the sanitation gap until more permanent measures can be put in place.”

You can read his column here:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/franck-flachenberg-world-toilet-day-is-not-a-load-of-crap-30757772.html

This holiday season, Peepoople would like to offer you a commitment to children’s rights to a good start in life through a healthy and safe schooling.

In the slums of Nairobi most schools lack toilets, and children are forced to do their needs in the open. Due to lack of hygiene and sanitation, school children in slums often suffer from diarrheal diseases and loose valuable time away from class, and both girls and boys are at constant risk of rape and harassment.

Through the Swedish innovation the Peepoo toilet, along with training in hygiene and sanitation, Peepoople is working to change this situation. Through our non-profit organisation, Peepoople Kenya, we currently reach about 18,000 children in Nairobi’s largest slum Kibera. In SROI studies by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, both teachers and parents testify that the children are less sick, can better focus on their education, and are kept safe at school during the day. The goal is that our school programme in Kenya will reach 100,000 school children in three years. Please read more in our school brochure here.

During December, Peepoople are together with Game Changers running a crowd funding campaign to support the school programme in Kibera. For 20€ you can support one child for one year in the Peepoo School Programme. Your contribution goes directly to Peepoople Kenya that implements progamme in Kibera and passes no middlemen. Your involvement would have a great impact on these children’s lives, and we hope you can help.

To read more visit our crowd funding site Gamechangers

Grand Challenges Canada, which is funded by the Canadian Government, has selected the Peepoo project in Kenya as a part of their programme of “Bold Ideas with Big Impact in Global Health”. The focus of the programme is ”Saving Every Woman, Every Child”. Peepoople Kenya has received funds to conduct a health impact study over 18 months with the aim to analyse the health impact of Peepoo when introduced in slum schools in Kibera, Nairobi. 3000 children in schools around Kibera slum will participate in the study and the health response will be monitored through questionnaires and stool samples.

Through the “Muskoka Initiative” agreed at the G8 meeting in 2010, Canada assumed a leading role in promoting the health of women and children in developing countries. In May of this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper convened ‘Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach’, a high-level summit on maternal, newborn and child health.

Dr. Peter A. Singer, Chief Executive Officer at Grand Challenges Canada, noted: “More and more children can celebrate their fifth birthday as a result of Canada’s commitment and leadership. Through supporting these innovative projects, we are further strengthening the global pipeline of maternal, newborn and child health innovations.”

The implementation of the Peepoo School Programme in Kisumu has been successful and 2000 children now have the Peepoo solution available at school in the slums of Nyalenda and Obunga.

”In Kisumu, the Peepoo project works really good. Parents, the community and teachers come asking for it. And for me the Peepoo School Programme should be expanded to other schools. They really love it” says Mary Celestine, Programme coordinator at Vi Agroforestry.

The headmasters at the two schools confirm that both teachers and children are very positive to Peepoo, especially the girls. The teachers’ testimonies clearly state a decrease in diarrheal disease among the children and they appreciate how the programme helps them to keep the school environment healthy.

Kisumu is Kenya’s third largest city, and one of the fastest growing. About 60% of the city’s population live in slum areas in and around the city, and a majority of the slum dwellers get their water from unsafe sources. According to the MCI Working Paper “A Water and Sanitation Needs Assessment for Kisumu City, Kenya” (Maoulidi 2010), many low-income residents living in informal settlements and peri-urban areas lack access both to clean water and to safe and environmentally sound sanitation facilities. The city desperately needs an efficient water supply system and improved sanitation services. Hygiene education also needs to be accorded priority, mainly because water-borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid contribute to numerous deaths every year.

With funds from Swedish Sida, ACT! is now supporting Peepoople Kenya’s work to improve the health and safety of the inhabitants in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. The aim is to support awareness creation around hygiene and sanitation in the community at large through promotion campaigns and market initiatives. With ACT!’s support the Peepoo project will be able to reach another 18 000 community members with information and education on the importance of practising good hygiene including hand-washing.

As part of the sales strategy in Kibera, Peepoople Kenya together with the Peepoo micro entrepreneurs, hold community engagement sessions every day to promote hygiene and sanitation to create long-term behavioural change in the community. This also creates demand in the market for Peepoo, which enables Peepoople Kenya to continue the scale up the project towards reaching a financially sustainable value chain in Kibera.

Peepoople is proud to be presented in ”Mapping Sanitation Solutions”, a report in collaboration with LSHTM and Domestos. The report is written by Dr. Elisa Roma and Dr. Val Curtis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. ”This document attempts to survey emerging solutions which have the potential to teach us something about sanitation solutions, especially from the perspective of sanitation as a business.” the authors say in the introduction, and ends by saying: “It is our hope that this document will be widely used by the ‘sanitation world’”.

Read the full report here: http://ehg.lshtm.ac.uk/files/2014/07/Mapping-Sanitation-Solutions.pdf

The Peepoo Solution is also included in SuSanA’s new publication ”Making Sanitation in Schools more Sustainable”, which was launched at the SuSanA meeting in Stockholm on 6 September, in connection to World Water Week. It is available here: http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/3-2077-19-1409658060.pdf

For more information contact Martina Nee: martina.nee@peepoople.com