background research

Never having dealt with issues of urban infrastructure and sanitation before, let alone in India, I began this task with the critical step of familiarizing myself with Nagorivad and Shankarbhuvan. Working with data that my fellowship host organization had previously collected through household surveys, I carried out an analysis that cross-checked the different infrastructures that were needed for a toilet, including  an existing sewage system, water, electricity, and light fixtures. Through this analysis, I was able to determine which households in Nagorivad and Shankarbhuvan had the preexisting infrastructure necessary for toilet installation. I simultaneously quickly ramped on sanitation best practices through qualitative research from industry leading organizations such as UNICEF (WASH).

community needs assessment

In order to design better toilet blocks that would meet the needs of the community, as well as develop an effective behavior change model, I needed to first understand the interests, attributes, and needs of the various communities. I then created a mobile survey that could be used as a tool in conducting this formative research.

The community is very unique in that it has a drastically diverse culture. There are Muslims, Hindus, and different varieties of castes within the Hindus, each with diverse economic backgrounds. This socioeconomic diversity presented a wide variety of community needs that I hadn’t foreseen, but I needed to consider when designing the final product.
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I contracted surveyors, who downloaded the mobile survey on their smartphones. After training the surveyors, I took them to the field.

A few of the notable key findings from the community needs assessment that all ultimately drove my final design:

• Women and children would often use the nearby busy street as the restroom at night because of safety concerns at the community toilet due to lack of adequate lighting.
• Women would often use a single stall to dispose of sanitary napkins, thus rendering that stall useless.
• Children had no formal latrines in the community toilet and were often found playing in open defecation areas.
• Community members lacked a sense of ownership over the community toilets and were dissuaded from using the facilities because of the price, further disincentivizing the cleaning of the facility.

infrastructure survey

Through this data collection and analysis, I concluded that there are currently a combined total of twenty community toilet blocks in Nagorivad and Shankarbhuvan. Each having their own defects and community uses. Some were gathering spots for men to drink, while others were close indefinitely for repair. With the toilet blocks that remain open 24-hours, there is long list of issues that render many of them unusable.

From my research, I was able to  identify:

architectural plans

With this new information at hand, I began to collaborate with local architects Mrinal Bhatt and Ashish Solanki. Together we devised a plan to rehabilitate the existing community toilet blocks in Nagorivad and Shankarbhuvan. The proposed structural changes would ensure ease of use, proper functioning of drainage systems, and increased aesthetic appeal for both a large community toilet and individual family home toilet blocks.

inclusive design

We drew up plans to create a playground, a community clothes washing station next to toilet block, which is currently used as a site for open defection, and a children's latrine area. At the time, the children did not have a place to play or the facilities to use the restroom. They resorted to dangerous structures and unsanitary areas for playing and using the restroom that can lead to the spread of disease and poor sanitation habits. From research, I learned children will be more reluctant to openly defecate in a space that they value and will feel a sense of collective ownership and responsibility that will compel them to keep it clean.
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This sense of collective responsibility and pride is something that we engendered through the creation of a community clothes washing station. The women in the community washed clothes in the streets. The proposed plan incorporates a clothes washing station that will provide a communal area where all the women of the urban slum community can wash clothes together. From our research, we found that women also did not have a proper place to dispose of their sanitary napkins, causing plumbing issues with the latrines and embarrassment when using the latrines. As a result, we built a latrine incinerator.

infrastructure proposal

After completing the design of the community and individual toilets, I built a proposal that I presented to the local Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). This was the first of many meetings with AMC officials—a procession of conversations and presentations over the next few months. However, this first meeting was simple enough; the response was overwhelmingly positive, and the AMC quickly acted on my suggestions. Less than a few months later, construction of individual family toilets had begun, with a community toilet construction scheduled for later that year.

community lobbying

I spent many hours waiting in AMC lobbies, rehearsing for a presentation that ultimately would be rescheduled due to a lack of priority. I found myself navigating cultural, language and political barriers to initially have the proposal reviewed.

Gaining the trust of the AMC officials proved to be one of the most difficult aspects of the project. Being perceived as a privileged white man, I was given little time or validation. I was ultimately able to gain approval and close relationships with the city officials by presenting data driven opportunities in the communities and how they tie back to the AMC and national sanitation goals. The city officials often came to the slums with me to view the potential sites for toilets, and they were able to see my empathy and connection with the community and we were able to break down the cultural disconnect that existed.

Almost 150 people turned out for the education workshop and the street skit. There was immense energy from the community and the feedback received revealed a bright future for the sanitation campaign. The educational workshop was also a success; although a bit restless at times, community members actively participated in a call and response-style performance. Residents quickly exhibited the disgust that the workshop aimed to elicit through demonstration of ways that open defecation leads to the contamination of food and water, and the spread of disease.

A few activities designed for the workshop to show the tangible effects of poor sanitation, evoking one of the strongest emotions that drive behavior change, disgust, included:

• Passing an egg between dirty hands to show the transfer of germs from one person to another via food
• Using a hair strand to touch a piece to dirt to show how easy germs can land
• Rubbing children's hands and having them was their hands with and without water to emphasize the effectiveness

feedback forum

In spite of my extensive surveying, after the first street skit and sanitation workshop I was confronted with a plethora of new feedback. As such, I ensured to include a more structured forum for discussion at the end of each educational workshop for future workshops.

scalability

Upon successful completion of my fellowship project, I knew that this model would help other slum communities achieve the same goal of enhanced sanitation. From my initial infrastructure surveys, I found many communities are facing the same problems and would benefit from a similar approach to what I designed. Before leaving India, I packaged my work for future use by the local government in other communities.