Youth seeks dignified toilets for PWDs
SYLVIA NYAGA saw a gap in provision of hygienic and accessible lavatories for people with mobility problems, and she wants to change that
Toilets are a human right, not just for the abled, but equally so for the disabled among us. However, going to the toilet is not as easy for everyone as you might think. Reason: most available toilets are designed and constructed with only abled people in mind.
Sylvia Nyaga, a water and sanitation enthusiast with a background in Water and Environmental Engineering and Social Innovation Management, faced a fair share of sanitation challenges such as small unhygienic facilities, which are not accessible for Persons With Disability (PWDs), the elderly, among others though she is not disabled.
Such challenges made her wonder what people with mobility challenges go through when using facilities. Who catered for their needs?
It is for this reason she dicided to change the narrative by coming up with Syna Consultancy, a social enterprise dedicated to providing the marginalised groups with dignified and safe sanitation.
The enterprise builds Utulav toilet, a portable commode-like toilet that equips persons with disabilities as well as senior citizens with an accessible, dignified and hygienic toilet as well as help elevate their social status and boost their self-esteem.
First prototype
“I realised that we can’t achieve inclusive and safe Sanitation by 2030 if there are no players working to solve this challenge. I also saw it as a way of contributing to the achievement of SDG 6,” she says.Sustainable Development Goal 6 calls for clean water and sanitation for all people.
The business idea was born in 2017, but because of her busy schedule, she was unable to fully pursue it.
However, in August 2018, she and her team attended their first incubation training and mentorship at CoElib incubation centre.
The following year, they received Sh65,000 from the incubator and they created their first prototype. From then, they have spent about Sh250,000 to create a second prototype, carry out market research, conduct sanitation training and facilitate capacity building for team members.
They have also showcased their innovation at various shows and expos and participated in a design sprint by Alx and Swiss Re and a social enterprise startup training by Young Water Solutions and Cewas.
Training and mentorship
Late last year, they presented their innovation during the Innovate Now, part of the UK aid-funded AT2030 Programme and Africa’s First Assistive Technology Innovation Ecosystem and Start-up Accelerator and emerged as finalists. The accelerator will support them through expert mentorship, user-centred design, user-testing through a network of Live Labs, as well as access to seed funding.
She, however, admits the journey has been challenging but great. The next step is to pilot Utulav toilet in the market since they have received both local and international organisations as partners to provide them with technical, business and financial support.
“Our expectation is at the end of the six months’ programme, we will be ready to go to the market and commercialise. Through the support we receive from the accelerator programme we are also looking to get partnerships to scale as a company and be sustainable.”
The toilet, locally fabricated, comes with a waste holding tank, water tank connection, and supporting frame. It can be collapsed and its parts are detachable. To ensure they serve different categories of people with disability, Syna also offers consultancy and tailor-made sanitation design services. This way, they can create different sanitation designs depending on an individual’s needs and accessibility.
“We decided to come up with different toilet designs to make it easier for such people to go for nature calls. They are easy to use and have an infusion of specificities to ensure hygiene and comfort,” Sylvia says
However, the biggest challenge they face is affordability of products and services. Many PWDs are not economically empowered and, therefore, do not have purchasing power, which makes it a difficult to access dignified sanitation.
“It’s therefore important to have players who can come in between us as the providers and the end-users to enable them access dignified sanitation.”
Also, Syna Consultancy offers sanitation training to special needs students and their caregivers to promote lifelong health in children. So far, they have held trainings in Nakuru and at Korogocho slum, Nairobi.
In future, they plan to serve the needs of every individual currently not served with available sanitation facilities through technology. They want to see a world where there is inclusivity in sanitation, improved health and no one feels like they are less human because of a special need.
