The SafiChoo Story
This is a visual story about the evolution of an inexpensive mobile sanitation solution intended to reduce the spread of water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases in the developing world from a product made by my senior design team in 2013 (under the auspices of Sanivation) to a social startup that I founded in 2014 called Wish for WASH. 2.5 billion people in the world today don't have access to a hygienic toilet so this work is important because #everybodypoops.
(Initial design by Jasmine Burton, Erin Cobb, Brandie Banner, and Becky Byler in 2013 at the Georgia Institute of Technology under the auspices of Sanivation. Further design and organizational developments beginning in 2014 have been created by the Wish for WASH team.)
Toilet Ideation
After interviewing 50+ global water, sanitation and hygiene experts from various organizations, we began ideating on the form and function of a low cost aspirational toilet product that could be used in resource constrained communities. Specifically, our senior design team was tasked with designing within the constraints of a refugee camp with both Muslim and Christian users (who have different types of hygiene and sanitation behaviors).
The Georgia Tech InVenture Prize Competition
We were the first all female team to win the Georgia Tech InVenture Prize Competition, which is the largest undergraduate invention competition in the United States. We won $25,000 and a patent which enabled us to embark on our first project pilot.
Implementation: Kenya Pilot
4 weeks after winning the InVenture Prize Competition, our first project team member was on the ground in Naivasha, Kenya preparing with our Senior Design project advisors, Sanivation.
Iterations Based on User Feedback
Following our Kenyan pilot, we iterated the toilet design based on user feedback to improve intuitiveness and its aspirational value offering.
Implementation: Zambia Pilot
I led our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that was over 100% funded to support our 2016 Zambian beta pilot. After securing funding, we manufactured, shipped, installed and monitored the newest version of the 2.0 SafiChoo toilet in tandem with Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor Zambia (WSUP) and the Lusaka Water and Sewage Company (LWSC). This 10-week beta pilot that was conducted in a peri-urban compound in Lusaka, Zambia received positive feedback from the project stakeholders and the community which has led to an interest in scaling the SafiChoo toilet in the city.
Implementation: United States Resettled Refugee Pilot
The Wish for WASH Team piloted a dry (waterless) version of the SafiChoo 2.0 toilet in a resettled refugee community garden in Decatur, Georgia from 2016-2017.
