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5 Reflections after 5 Years of Leading the Social Impact Organization Wish for WASH

ODecember 12, 2019 by Jasmine Burton

Still reeling in the surreal. I was on stage with two other Georgia Tech women in STEM, wearing colorful dresses and talking about toilets. It was 2014, and we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed undergraduates from one of the best colleges in the world. And we were driven by a mission — to bring innovation to sanitation with a gender equity and design thinking lens.

Then following the pitch, which I had overhauled a few hours before based on some last minute, deeply critical feedback, Emmy Award Winning CBS Contributor Faith Salie shouted our names on stage and on live TV that was being streamed across the state of the Georgia. We had won both the People’s Choice Award and the First-Place Award at the Georgia Tech Inventure Prize Competition, making us the first all-female team to win the largest undergraduate invention competition in the United States.

And from that moment on, I have continued speeding ahead full throttle across 10 countries, in the public, private and social enterprise sectors, and all in the name of inclusion and innovation in the sanitation sector. Still reeling in the surreal.

Six weeks after our astounding win, our team experienced our first “glow up” where we progressed from the on-stage foam prototype to nearly a dozen manufactured toilets which were shipped to a refugee camp in northern Kenya. Here, under the auspices of the sanitation enterprise Sanivation, we participated in our first usability pilot.

Our journey was launched in a beautiful display of love and community when our Georgia Tech peers, professors and individual families (Shout-out to the best parents and sister in the whole world!) hustled to help us. They helped us manually pull plastic toilet molds at strange hours in the Georgia Tech design shop, shipped the parts and construction materials to the refugee camp, and provided an enabling environment in which we could grow and thrive.

We concluded the summer with a series of learnings about how to improve our toilet based on user feedback, and we sought to iterate it in the name of design thinking, which has been integral to our work from the start. In the fall of 2014, I founded Wish for WASH, and I have grown by its side over the past 5 years.

While in this season of thanks, as I marinate and meditate on musings that are the Wish for WASH story, I want to share 5 notable reflections that are top of mind.

1. Defining What It Means To Be an Expert

I have frequently asked the people in my immediate spheres of influence about ‘what it means to be an expert’. Do you just wake up one day and feel that you have now absorbed enough knowledge in your interest area to claim the status of ‘expert’? Or do you immediately become an expert the day that you complete a degree or certificate program? Or if enough people call you an expert, is that when you become one?

I began grappling with this issue over the course of the past 5 years as I have increasingly been labeled as an expert when I myself had not yet claimed that professional status. Beyond talking and processing with my communities of support about this, I have also begun defining what ‘being an expert’ means to me and what things I will align with as well as what I will not align with.

For instance, my 5+ years of work in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector in primarily the innovator, researcher, and communicator functions does make me a relative expert in a host of roles within the WASH space. However, while my extensive work in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past 5 years gives me a more realistic and nuanced picture of the realities of WASH-related work within the region compared to others who have not worked in the region as long, it does not, by any means, make me an ‘African expert’, which is a label that has been given to me quite a few times over the past few years.

I have come to align with, and increasingly claim, my growing expertise in my technical area of interest (WASH); however, I do not subscribe to the notion that non-African nationals can be ‘African experts’ as I believe that reinforces a pervasive neocolonial narrative and silences the voices of the brilliant minds that are actually from the region. These definitions that I have outlined for myself have helped me in both my personal and professional development, as I strongly believe that words matter.

2. The Importance of Claiming Your Space

Similar to my personal journey with the term ‘expert’ as described previously, Wish for WASH as an organization has experienced a bit of mission drift as we sought to find our niche within the WASH sector. We started as solely a product company and then pivoted to include research and education, which has been an incredible adventure in finding a way to have sustainable impact through a mission-oriented organization.

Due to high manufacturing costs and the complexity of overall logistics, with the support of our organizational advisors and my individual mentors, we have needed to redefine ourselves several times over the past few years. But while that process was often ambiguous, for me as the lead, it is really amazing to reflect back and see where we are today: a network of 100+ young and diverse professionals, all under the age of 30, who have been a part of the Wish for WASH journey since 2014.

And we now can claim our space as our growing mission is to bring more diverse minds, talent, and innovation to the problems of global health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) through the lens of research, design and education because #everybodypoops. With this change of our mission statement, it is clear that our organizational impact is no longer tied to the impact of a single toilet design, but it is captured by the youth-led and women-led movement that we have created to help the world reach the 6th Sustainable Development Goal. Claiming this space has enabled us to be more clear internally as we seek to grow in the future. I am incredibly grateful for the people who walked with me through all of these iterations and helped us reach this point of clarity and purpose.

3. Applying a Design Thinking Iterative Approach To Yourself

As a product designer with deep professional roots in the Design Thinking Methodology, I am quite familiar with the concept of not being married to any professional products that I create but being married to the process. The goal of approaching work in this way helps me to reframe ‘failures’ as just a part of the process of iteration and implementation until the output (be it a piece of design work, a research proposal, a manuscript, communications strategy, etc) best meets the needs of the end user or audience.

However, over the past few years growing as the leader of Wish for WASH, I have realized the importance of internally applying these same principles to myself. As a human-being who happens to be occupying a leadership role, I do make mistakes. And for me, some of those mistakes have hurt and felt more personal than others.

I am still working on truly internalizing this reflection into my life’s practice. However, I think the idea of approaching personal or leadership ‘failures’ as parts of the journey (and reframing them as opportunities to iterate and continue to grow) is a healthy way to strive to be both a responsible and servant leader. And in this increasingly polarized world, I have a deep respect for those who strive to lead with these leadership approaches.

4. The Need for Leaders to Lift As They Climb

Over the course of the past 5 years, it has become increasingly clear to me that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. I have been blessed with incredible communities of support that have enabled me to grow and thrive as blossoming innovator and thought-leader in the WASH sector.

The opportunities that have been afforded to me by my communities of support have given me a platform to better advocate for increased representation of diverse voices in the WASH sector with a particular focus on women, youth, and people of color. I firmly believe in the notion that responsible and servant leaders seek to lift as they climb to amplify not only underrepresented voices in the sector, but the voices of their team to ensure their professional development and ownership of products.

The decentralized and remote nature of Wish for WASH has facilitated an environment where our team members have had the opportunity to own products and processes rather than having it all led directly by me. While there have been some logistical challenges, overall, our 5 Year Wish for WASH Impact Survey revealed the value of the professional development opportunities and autonomy afforded to our team members.

5. Family Over Everything

And last but not least — family. As a person of faith, this mantra has always been central to my ethos, and as a young and growing leader, I could not align with it more. For those who know me personally, you know that my family is my rock. They are my biggest cheerleaders, support system and enablers, despite how crazy my ideas may sound. My family is always there for me, no matter what the topic is or which time zone I am based in. And as I have gotten older, this blessing is not lost on me and I am so thankful for it.

Because of this, I have sought to create a family environment within Wish for WASH. While not completely successful and with room for improvement, I do think that my team members feel seen, heard and valued. The work that we do is important, but the people doing the work — and their stories, visions, and needs — are equally as important.

My biggest realization over the years is the value of loving your people. Seek to love your teammates, your co-workers, your supervisors. Despite hardships, obstacles and differences. Show up for them. And approach them with respect and grace. It is not always easy and is a space where I am excited to continue growing. But overall, family — no matter how you define it — is everything.

So with that, I am ecstatic to still be reeling in the surreal. It has been 5 years and we are just getting started. Happiest Birthday, Wish for WASH! I am forever grateful for the person you have inspired me, and continue to inspire me, to become and the amazing people that I am blessed to work and grow with.

Onwards and upwards. The best is yet to come.

To learn more visit our website here and subscribe to our newsletter here.

Original post can be found here. 

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Wish for WASH Design Thinking Course Reflection- Week 2

May 19, 2018 by Hill Belfi

The first time I learned about Wish for Wash, I asked what a bidet was in front of a class of thirty high school students… now I talk about toilets five days a week. In my junior year of high school, I reached out to Jasmine Burton because I was passionate about global health and wanted to get involved. I joined the Decatur latrine project in Spring 2016, designing a toilet for a refugee community garden that did not have sanitation services on-site. It was the first time I had been a part of a project that was actively servicing a real need for a community, and I was hooked. I committed to Georgia Tech, and joined the Wish for Wash team (through GT Engineers Without Borders) in Fall 2017. This past year, we began work on an off-grid, composting toilet in cooperation with the sustainability program at the Paideia School in Atlanta. I am a member of the back-end design team; looking at the most effective way to move the waste from the toilet to the composting bin, and then how to seal and move the bin to allow for full composting to occur. I’m excited to now be a part of the Paideia Education team and teaching design thinking through the lens of equitable, off-grid sanitation. Human-centered problem solving is hard – schedules will clash, materials will get delayed, your users may change, and their needs will evolve – but through Wish for Wash I have developed projects that address real, urgent needs in both local and global communities, and that adds excitement to every new challenge.

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Day 1 Reflection of the Wish for WASH Design Thinking Toilet Curriculum Pilot

May 14, 2018 by Anya Smith-Roman

For the past year, I have been working on the Georgia Tech Engineers Without Borders team called WISH for Wash.

“Wish for WASH is a social impact organization that seeks to bring innovation to sanitation through culturally-specific research, design, and education because #EVERYBODYPOOPS”.

2.5 million people do not have access to basic sanitation needs which is the moment of visible empathy that WISH for Wash was founded on; however, it’s important to note that sanitation problems aren’t only a global issue. There are sanitation issues in our own backyard.

Here in Atlanta, we are running out of water and yet our population size is constantly growing. We need to find a way to reduce our water usage, and one place we use a lot of water is in our toilets.

This was the train of thought that a teacher at Paideia School had when he approached the leader of WISH for Wash curious about a collaboration between our two organizations.

This teacher has a five-year plan of developing a tiny home to be put up for rent that will be entirely sustainable; this home will be created by students in different phases over the course of these five years during various “Short Term classes” at Paideia.

Meanwhile, our WISH for Wash team is currently doing research on compositing in order to build our latest prototype of a composting toilet.

The trade-off: our WISH for Wash team is conducting composting research in Magnus’ backyard in exchange for us leading the first of several short-term classes contributing to this tiny home. This course, “Giving a S***: Design for a Better World,” is all about design thinking and sustainability with the goal of having two prototypes of a composting toilet by the end of the 18-day class. The key part of this design challenge is that the composting toilets the students’ design should be a toilet that a family in Decatur (potentially their own family) would be willing to use.

This partnership is actually why I joined this team back in the fall in the first place; I love working on innovative education endeavors and this team needed someone who had experience with curriculum planning and facilitating design thinking.

Since joining the team, it’s been a crazy process because it’s the first time I’ve ever taken lead on developing a large-scale design thinking curriculum. I’ve helped with workshops and conferences, but I’ve always been working alongside very experienced facilitators. Going from that kind of advanced team to now leading a team who has had minimal design thinking experience has been a big change, to say the least.

We’ve come a long way since the fall though, between having Innovation Diploma members lead us through a Flashlab, creating multiple iterations of our outline, getting feedback from various DT facilitators and then today, leading our first day of the course!!!

To be honest I was low key terrified for today. The stakes are high on day one because if you can’t get kids hooked on day one then you’ve basically lost them already and it’s hard to get them back.

Luckily for us we ended day one on a very positive note! The seven students, four girls and three boys 9th-12th grade, admitted that most of them joined just because they thought the title of the course was amusing and the description seemed intriguing and different from other courses offered. (Different due to it being lead by Georgia Tech students and hinting at very interactive and interdisciplinary learning.) However, by the end of the day, we had everyone pumped about discussing toilets and excited that the work they will be doing is hands-on and has a larger purpose and impact. (They told us this themselves at the end of the day when we asked why everyone joined the class and what their expectations are after what they learned today, so this isn’t just me putting words in their mouths based on observations.)

To me, that means day one was a huge success because everyone is excited about our work moving forward, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

17 days left to go…

Read more by Anya Smith-Roman on her blog: https://pinyabananas.wordpress.com

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How One Organization Is Using Sustainable Development Policies to Improve Sanitation in Nicaragua

October 7, 2017 by Emily Ferrando

Sabana Grande or The Community

Sabana Grande is a community in Northern Nicaragua within the municipality of Totogalpa. Currently, people living there and in most rural communities across Nicaragua are using pit latrines. Pit Latrines are not impermeable, and thus allow bacteria from the waste collected to escape from the latrine. The bacteria can get into the surrounding soils and eventually make their way into the ground water. Another problem associated with pit latrines is that once they are full, there is no way for them to be emptied. This means that families have to build new latrines whenever their old ones fill up (which can take only two years), resulting in a lack of space as well as a necessary financial investment. In order to take on this problem, a local organization, Grupo Fenix, is starting a pilot run of letrinas secas ecologicos, or “dry eco latrines” in English.

Local Organization

Grupo Fenix is an organization that was founded in 1996 at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería in Managua with the focus of bringing renewable energy technologies into the rural parts of Nicaragua. Since its founding, Grupo Fenix has grown and developed into much more than just renewable energy technologies and has become an organization of groups with a variety of focuses based in Managua, Sabana Grande and the United States. One of the key aspects of Grupo Fenix is its local and community core which ensure that it works on projects that are important to and successful for the people they are aiming to serve. This has led to a partnership with Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa, a group of women who work on building solar cookers and food dryers as well as improving their traditional ovens and stoves. These projects have made a huge impact on the community, allowing women to spend less time in the kitchen, making their time their safer and improving efficiencies of the stoves. Another group is located at the Solar Center, run by Jorge and Oscar, which builds and installs solar panels around the area. It also builds small-scale solar panels that can be used as phone chargers, has built a solar water distiller in order to get distilled water for the solar panel batteries and has made a solar water heating system, as well as a variety of other projects.

Their Approach

The specific group that is taking on the issue of improving sanitation in the community is Promotores Solares Agroecologicos (PSAE). PSAE has a group of ten men and women that make up its natural construction team. They have built a variety of things in the community, most notably at “Solar Mountain”, an area that was reforested and is used as a community center for sharing knowledge about sustainable practices. At Solar Mountain, PSAE has already built two dry latrines which are currently in use. Meg Slattery, who has been working with PSAE since 2015, has shared some more information and insight on the project.

Interest for the dry latrine project was sparked in 2016 when Alyssa Jenkins, a graduate student at the University of Dayton who was writing her Master’s thesis in civil engineering on WASHtech and the Appropriate Technology Framework and Technology Introduction Process, went to Sabana Grande and wanted to use the dry latrines as an example in the community. The University of Dayton has a long-standing relationship with Grupo Fenix and many students as well as professors volunteer in Sabana Grande each summer.

After this interest was sparked, a survey of 409 homes in the communities of Sabana Grande and Santo Domingo was completed by three local community members as well as Alyssa, Meg, and two other University of Dayton students. This survey collected data on the sizes of families and their experience with traditional pit latrines while also providing the families with information about the dry latrines. Meg went to about 70 houses and said that “nearly everyone we spoke to understood the concept and benefits of the dry latrine (evidenced by the questions they asked) and wanted more information.”

As stated earlier, Grupo Fenix is dedicated to community involvement and that really shows through in this project. Out of the 10 people working on this project, only Meg is from the United States and the rest are all from the community. Meg summarized the importance of this involvement very well in stating, “in any literature you read about WASH in developing countries, having local champions who promote a new technology is crucial to the success of a project. In our case, local members of the community not only promote the technology, they are the ones who are building them, which I think makes acceptance and interest on behalf of the rest of the community much stronger. The result is that work-of-mouth is very effective in promoting the technology, because everyone knows the construction team and they get asked about the latrines a lot.”

PSAE is currently carrying out their pilot test of the dry latrines with three located in homes throughout the community, one in the public health center, and one in the Center for Alternative Rural Education (CEAR), which is run by INPRHU, the largest NGO in Nicaragua. These five latrines are currently in the construction phase and have two chambers and a urine separator. The two-chamber model allows for constant use of the latrine because, as the waste in one chamber is composting, the other chamber is in use. Once completed, the latrines will contain graphics to help educate users on proper use, maintenance and the benefits associated with the dry latrines. Workshops will be held for the families and organizations who receive the latrines. Some specific feedback that Meg and PSAE are looking for: “if [the families/organizations] are happy with their experience, if people understand how to use [the latrines], if the sizes are appropriate for the amount of people using the latrine, or if there are other improvements people would like to see.” Many of the community members have shown interest in utilizing the compost as fertilizer. PSAE plans to demonstrate the additional composting process they currently use at the Solar Center latrines to ensure that the compost is safe for use a a fertilizer. After this extra step, the families will either be able to use the fertilizer themselves or sell it (Solar Mountain has sold compost at eight córdobas (approximately $0.30 USD per pound).

Next Steps

Moving forward, PSAE is looking for sources of funding so they will be able to build more dry latrines throughout the community during the next dry season. If they are unable to secure such funding, they are considering a fund, learn and build model. This is where an outside organization (often a university( sends down some interested participants who are taught how to build the project by members of the community and their cost of participation funds the project. This practice was used to build the latrine at the health center and is used frequently at the Solar Center within Grupo Fenix. Whichever way the project moves, forward, it will definitely be a project to keep an eye on!

They also have a fundraising campaign if you would like to help fund their next round of dry latrines!

Find out more about Grupo Fenix at their website.

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2018 Wish for WASH Reflection

“For the Wish for WASH team, 2018 was a year filled with new, exciting partnerships that engaged different communities in domestic sanitation issues. Engaging new people into the WASH world has always been an important part of our goals, demonstrated by the many talks and conferences that have introduced many people to a little part of the sanitation world. However, with our partnership with The Paideia School and Autodesk Fusion, we learned just as much from them, if not more, about what sustainable sanitation would like like for users of all types.

This year, we facilitated a design-thinking class with high school students on how we might build a composting toilet for an Atlanta household. Our own unconscious biases were challenged by high school students who questioned everything from the practicality of maintaining a composting toilet to new ways that smell could be controlled in tight spaces. The rapid 3-week course resulted in each team making their own low-fidelity prototypes of toilet models, which showed that innovative, unique, practical solutions could come from people from all ages and backgrounds.

Our team teamed up with Autodesk and held a workshop on their modelling tool, Fusion. This intuitive tool was very intuitive to learn even for people who had never designed on computers before, and is what we’ve been using since then to model our designs. Other than new tools, the EWB team sought to build a more quantitative research design for evaluating carbon additives to test what composts best. To do that, team members built an arduino sensor that can live track temperatures in composting piles, so we can make more informed decisions on what would break down human compost the best.

This year, we learned so much about how to engage new people into the WASH community, and the value of new ideas and perspectives in the WASH community. We also gained a broader understanding of what more sustainable sanitation solutions could have on Atlanta and why they might be needed in the future. Through our efforts this year, we tried hard to incorporate  design thinking not only in our sanitation solutions but also how we run the EWB Student chapter of W4W. All in all, I’m excited to see how our 2018 lessons carry on into this new year and I’m excited to see what  2019 has in store for the Wish for WASH community!”

- Tanvi Suresh, Senior Analyst

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2017 Recap + Reflection

Two weeks ago, the Wish For WASH leadership team had a rare in-person meeting. I call this event rare, because you see, our small team is scattered across the globe and we take any chance we get to convene in a single geographic location. Our team squeezed into a small booth and we enthusiastically caught up with each other both professionally and personally. As we shared our 2017 accomplishments and advancements in Wish For WASH, I thought I’d take the time to share some of them with you.

2017 had an exciting start for me, as I moved into my current role as Senior Technical Engineer. After graduating the previous December, I left the Georgia Tech student engineering team and became more independent in my Wish For WASH duties. This transition was bittersweet for me, I loved being able to work with and mentor students of all years of college, but it was time for me to pass the torch on to another student to manage the team. My new role now encompasses a much wider scope, where I take on independent tasks within all our projects as well as evaluate most of the new designs that are coming through the organization. It is a great position for me, I get to be involved with a little bit of everything! I have also taken on the role of giving more speaking engagements on behalf of Wish For WASH, which gives me the opportunity to spread our message throughout the community. Helping to shed light on the global sanitation challenge is, in my opinion, the most critical piece of what I do.

In the summer of last year, our president and founder, Jasmine, took the opportunity to check-in on our 2016 implementation in Lusaka, Zambia. Returning to our sites to ensure their proper functioning and stability is at the core of Wish For WASH; we are always looking for longitudinal involvement and success of our project sites. I am pleased to report that after nearly 18 months since the toilet’s installation, it is still functioning as designed and the users are still thrilled with their toilet. They are still the envy of all of their neighbors! It is our dream to see this entire community outfitted with sanitation solutions that will promote cleanliness and prevent disease spread. I am confident that this will happen sooner rather than later.

August was exciting for much of the leadership team at Wish For WASH as Katie (VP of Communications), Mariel (VP of Product Development), and myself began graduate school. Education has been at the foundation of Wish For WASH since the beginning and I believe that the diversity in our studies will make us a better-equipped team to tackle creating toilets from many more approaches. Furthermore, at Wish For WASH we understand the value of universities on global health challenges and are thrilled to utilize our institution’s resources towards advancing our goals.

A major event of 2017 was the Clinton Global Institute University (CGIU) conference that Tanvi and myself had the privilege to attend in October. This was Wish For WASH’s second year attending the conference and the first time for both Tanvi and myself. Held at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and hosted by President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea, CGIU was a convention of student impact-makers from around the world to share our ideas, make connections, and become inspired to push forward and overcome whatever hurdles may be in our way. The conference featured groups and individuals at all points in their projects, from just simple designs or ideas to groups like Wish For WASH that have had multiple implementations and have lots of tangible progress. I was blown away at the caliber of men and women attending this conference and how excited they were to tackle issues like environmentally-friendly city zoning, sustainable and ethical investing strategies, and illegal animal poaching. I would encourage you all to read Tanvi’s blog post about CGIU to hear more specifics about the conference.

Finally the end of 2017 featured both the closing out of the Decatur farmland toilet implementation and the launch of Wish For WASH Thinks. Finishing the second toilet installation project was a big milestone for us, and we are so thrilled to have provided this community with a permanent and elegant solution to their sanitation needs! We look forward to seeing the toilet’s performance over time and in a contrasting user demographic compared to our Lusaka, Zambia site. Wish For WASH Thinks is a revolutionary idea within global sanitation, and I am excited to be a part of a platform where sanitation successes, failures, and data can be shared for all to appreciate. We believe that creating a safe space to freely discuss sanitation will only push the field forward towards the collective goal of bringing adequate and safe sanitation to all.

In 2018, I am thrilled to continue to work with the Wish For WASH team to push onwards in sanitation and establish ourselves even more within the global sanitation community. If we can match our 2017 successes, it’s guaranteed to be a great year.

Until next time, Brandon

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Jasmine’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

After over a year in the making, creating partnerships, raising funds, developing a strong team, and manufacturing our SafiChoo 2.0 for testing, the Wish for WASH beta pilot has FINALLY been successfully executed! Coming out of 2014, with just a foam prototype, one of my best friends and incredible teammate, Katie, and other interested people who wanted to contribute, the prospect of moving forward was daunting as I felt like there was no foreseeable light at the end of the tunnel. Consequently, coming out of 2015 following a 100% funded Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign (thanks so much to everyone who made that possible), I was flooded with a host of emotions. I felt an overwhelming sense of social media burn out but was simultaneously filled with extreme joy to finally see that Wish for WASH,  finally had the means-- the funds, the product, the team and the partners-- necessary to get a beta test started.

Not to say that early 2016 was a cakewalk. Despite the Indiegogo exhaustion which was paralleled with an all-encompassing excitement that enabled Wish for WASH to hit the ground running in 2016, I had to quickly learn how to navigate customs regulations, international commerce fees, and transport logistics.  Once the toilet was in country, in addition to coordinating travel itineraries for the Wish for WASH team members who were willing and able to travel to start the build and then monitor user feedback with me in the field, I persevered each day to identify and follow up on the necessary steps to get approval for the pilot. This season of life was definitely proof to me that to be a social entrepreneur you must be willing to wear many hats, and often times, stacked on top of one another. From team visionary, to team travel agent, to team financial director, to team partnership relations developer, to team logistics officer, the past few months juxtaposed all of the skills that I have developed since the start of this Wish for WASH journey as a grand test of resilience, patience, and professionalism.

Our incredible on the ground partners, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WUSUP) and Lusaka Water and Sewage Company (LWSC), have helped me and Wish for WASH in general so much in terms of navigating cultural nuances and requirements while being amazingly supportive of our intention to use iterative and rapid prototyping practices in order to gain a minimum viable product that best meets the end user’s needs. Our manufacturing and shipping partners have brought our designs to life and enabled them to get where they needed to be at rates that we could afford. Our Indiegogo backers are passionate supporters who have enabled us to finance this toilet test and it’s been awesome to see how happy people are to receive their campaign perks as tangible proof that they are a part of our story.

And lastly, my incredible Wish for WASH team has continued to amaze me. Seriously, I am so blessed by them! They have taken off time from work, used school scholarships to help support their time in Zambia, had business meetings across 3 different time zones at weird hours to work out logistics problems, graciously responded to my slew of weekly emails, and patiently worked with me in the field to install the toilet despite the crazy and random obstacles that came our way.

It is incredible to see an idea transform into a reality, but for me it is more than that. Despite what happens from here, I have learned to deeply appreciate the fact that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. As the founder of Wish for WASH, I am often the face of much of our work, but I am here to tell you that Wish for WASH is so much more than me; and for that, I am grateful. With my incredible team, partners and supporters, we created the 2.0 SafiChoo toilet, successfully fundraised for it, shipped it to Zambia (and have one also being built in Atlanta), installed it and now have amazing local people using and providing feedback on it. Moving forward, we are hoping to continue this work in Zambia in an effort to bring innovation to sanitation! All I can say in retrospect is…Shit's getting real and I couldn't be more excited to see what happens next!

[wishforwash]

Katie’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

My brother once compared hearing about someone else's line of work or innovation within their field to listening to the radio coverage of a football game when you've never played football or are unfamiliar with its rules: it's much harder to appreciate the well-executed plays, recognize unorthodox moves, or anticipate the next call. Instead, you experience the game in a 2D, second-hand fashion: you can only hear what the announcer says -- no "picturing" in your mind's eye -- and you only feel emotion in accordance with the announcer's own choosing.

 In hindsight, that's more or less what this Zambia project sounded like to me until I actually showed up and started playing the game, myself. My appreciation for the game of sanitation, and even more so, for the clever strategies ("plays," if you will) that Wish for WASH is implementing, shot up exponentially during my time in Zambia.

 Our beta is being sponsored (non-financially) by the international NGO Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), whose Lusaka team was looking for a "fix" to the fifty-some abandoned or misused toilets that they'd helped a third-party donor install in 2010.  Because of this need, Wish for WASH was offered the chance to attempt our version of retrofitting one of these facilities. This meant installing our trademark SafiChoo seat on the user-interface side of the system and converting the disliked twin composting pits into a semi-filtering fecal-sludge pit that a nearby waste management center (recently launched under WSUP's leadership) could service…

 By the time I showed up on the scene, all this was already underway and looking strong! No, not everything was being executed perfectly -- plays hardly are, particularly when it's only your first or second time trying to run them. The survey and tracking tool we’d developed and I’d naively assumed was working perfectly was not being filled-out sufficiently, for example. But changes were made on the layout of the survey and in the training of the inquisitor, and the team was sent back onto the field to try again.

 My personal favorite part of the week, however (beside the fabulous coffee house we went to on Thursday), was gathering more information about the Chipata compound and its residents to supply Wish for WASH and WSUP with a better, current profile of the population of potential users and customers. Wish for WASH has so far been focused on a single household in the Chipata compound for product iteration and assessment purposes. In contrast, Lauren and I had the chance to be willing listeners for a focus group of women and 11 separate households throughout the neighborhood who currently live with a range of sanitation realities. Our goal in these conversations was to create a file of sanitation needs and capacities while leading answers as little as possible -- to start on neutral ground, where individuals could choose for themselves which grievances were of importance to them to discuss, and discuss them. What would be their ideals. Why. Etc.

 I love hearing people talk. Prodding a bit deeper. Knowing that they're the ones with control because the information desired is simply that of their own experience and observations and not something pre-established by the world as right or wrong. The challenge is to set all presumptions and expectations aside and to learn from scratch. And I love that challenge.

 Lauren and I also had the great fortune of making friends with three young Chipata women who became our translators (interpreter is maybe a better word) during our house visits. Really excellent people and the best of partners for our work! We spent hours together in easy conversation over tons of topics. I especially appreciated their sense of humor and quickness to recognize miscommunications. They were proud yet unforgiving hosts of their community. An ambitious trio of a future nurse, doctor, and soldier. Our time in Chipata would have neither been as successful nor as enjoyable had they not been a part of it.

 There's a lot left undocumented here. But this is a reflection… not a learning report, which needs to be produced anyway, so I didn't feel it was necessary to duplicate. Anyway, in summary, I am extremely thankful for the week in Zambia. Worth all 72 hours of travel! Amazed by Jasmine's direction of a tough project and her equal talent in planning great mini-trips and meals to make sure I experienced and enjoyed more of Zambia than just her couch and Chipata. I'll be watching with heightened anticipation to see how WSUP and Wish for WASH use the pilot's product assessment and community surveys to create new, unique plays in this exciting and complex game. And hopefully, I'll be able to get my feet wet again, soon.

[wishforwash]

Lauren’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

I sat on my makeshift bench, consisting of nothing more than a pile of suitcases on a squeaky luggage cart, as I waited to be picked up from the Lusaka Airport. I messaged our driver a description of where I was and what I was wearing so that he could find me. This description was a little unnecessary, however, considering the fact that I had no trouble standing out. As one of the few females milling around, and the only white person, I was more than a little conspicuous.

When I started my adventure in Zambia, I was no more than an outsider. I didn’t know what the local languages were, what the history of the nation was, or where Zambia even was on a map. But after just one week, I was so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience such a unique and beautiful country.

I experienced so much during my time in Zambia, and I have a few key takeaways after working with Katie and Jasmine in the Chipata Compound.

Lesson 1: It’s All About the Who

There were many skype calls and emails before my trip to Zambia outlining the objectives of our Wish for WASH pilot study. However, no amount of preparation could compare to the wealth of knowledge received from talking to the community members themselves. By talking to the friends and families of the Chipata Compound, we were able to identify the roots of the problems and understand what people really desired in an ideal sanitation situation. Through both a focus group and walkthrough of the compound, Katie, Jasmine, and I were able to get to know potential users on a personal level, which informed all of our later decision making. Interacting with people on the ground was the best way to get a true sense of the community, and was the most valuable use of time during my stay. It also gave me the chance to practice (i.e. butcher) a few phrases in the local dialect, to everyone’s amusement.

Lesson 2: Take a Step Back

Oftentimes when I am involved in an exciting and intensive project, I find it too easy to get sucked into the nitty gritty details. When this happens, I tend to lose sight of the overall objectives of the team or organization. At times like these, I think it’s best to take a step back and re-focus on what the true mission and vision of the project are. Without taking time to reflect on the past, it becomes impossible to navigate the present or prepare for the future. Katie and I had a fantastic opportunity to look back on the past several weeks and gain a clear sense of what our pilot study had accomplished, and what work still needed to be done in the final weeks. Reflecting on Wish for WASH’s progress in the Chipata Compound allowed us to understand the best path to take in order to have the greatest impact on sanitation in the region.

Lesson 3: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Working in the development sector is not easy. At any given time, it seems like there are an infinite number of problems and insurmountable obstacles. Sometimes it feels like we’re only ever going to be a temporary fix, and never the whole solution. It is so easy to become discouraged by the state of our nation, by the state of the world -- but we can’t give up that easily. We have to remember that just because world change is a slow process, doesn’t mean it’s not taking place. I believe it’s important to take time to laugh and appreciate all of the amazing things that are happening all around us. Do whatever it takes to stay encouraged and keep fighting.

I had an incredible week in Lusaka, Zambia. I made some great friends, learned some new phrases, and even got to see Captain America: Civil War an entire week in advance! I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time with such inspiring and passionate women who have dedicated their lives to changing the world, and I will not forget the impactful lessons they taught me. I’m also grateful to the people of Zambia who welcomed me with open arms. I may have arrived an outsider, but I departed a friend. I’m so excited to see the final progress of the Wish for WASH pilot study, and I am honored to have played a small part in such a big undertaking. To my friends in Zambia, zikomo and tizaonana! (Thank you, and I’ll see you later!)

[wishforwash]

Mariel’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter.”- Bob Goff, author of Love Does

In the winter of 2014, about a year after my graduation from Georgia Tech, I was feeling restless and looking for ways to make an impact on the world around me. I stumbled across the book Half the Sky, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violations: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. The book also opened my eyes to the idea that corporate can occur with a conscience while instilling a passion for social justice that has propelled me forward. One immediate outcome was joining a 450 mile bike ride in the summer of 2014 to raise money for the International Justice Mission. It was along this physically and emotionally exhausting journey that I was introduced to Bob Goff and his book “Love Does”. In his book, another which I highly recommend, he says “Love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keeping planning for it…Simply put Love does.”

The knowledge that love for humanity is about action eventually drove me to contacting Jasmine and asking how I could help with Wish for WASH. Fast forward a little over a year and I found myself boarding a plane for Zambia to assist with setting up our pilot. At the beginning of the week, Jasmine and I met with our Zambian partners to select a site for the toilet; we were able to meet the family and some community leaders. We also devised a plan for converting an out of use pit latrine into a “septic tank” solution with pour flush technology that would integrate into our toilet seat that had been developed. I went with our contractor to purchase the materials from roadside “shops” and concrete brick makers. I worked on a design iteration of the seat insert, which would work better with pour flush to eliminate smells for the user. I’m looking forward to seeing how that works once it is delivered this upcoming month. I went to the fecal sludge drying location and we contracted them to clean out the retired latrine so that installation would be completed. I spent my week in Lusaka taking action and propelling our project forward as best I could. On my last day we went to the site for one last inspection before I departed, building was on schedule and it would be operational the following week.

On my last day I also had a chance to say my goodbyes to Fatness and her family, the user of our new toilet. She hugged me, smiled and said thank you- that she couldn’t wait to try it out. My interactions with her reminded me that even though water and sanitation are enormous global issues you cannot lose site of the people whose lives you touch.  I once read a story about a man and his son walking along the beach and all these starfish had washed up on the shore. The little boy walks along picking them up and sending them back to sea. The father is confused and tells the son that there are too many and he will never make a difference. The little boy picks up another starfish, throws it back in the ocean and replies, “It made a difference to that one.” I hope every day that I can be like that little boy and always strive to make the world a better place no matter how futile it may seem. As Wish for WASH learns from our single toilet and scales, I think of all the families and communities that will be impacted and that makes me incredibly proud to be a member of the team.

[wishforwash]

Courtney’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

For Spring Break, I traveled to Lusaka, Zambia as part of the GT Wish for Wash team. We helped with the installation of the Safichoo toilet for its pilot program. Along with fellow teammates, Mariel, Brandon, and Taylor, I worked with Jasmine and the local engineers at the Chipata Compound. The toilet was installed for a community elder and her family, and our team will start receiving feedback from the users very soon. When we were not working in Chipata, we were able to explore many parts of Lusaka. On the first full day of my visit, I was able to play with two cheetahs and go on a safari at Chaminuka Game Reserve. It was extraordinary to be so close to these wild animals and see how gentle they are if you do not threaten their territory or start running. The cheetahs are brothers named Chipo and Chaminuka, and since my group visited relatively early in the morning, the animals were extra playful which made the experience much more exciting. Another day, we went on an adventure to Monkey Pools which has clear, turquoise waters, jungle-like forests, and beautiful picnic locations. Additionally, we visited the Lusaka National Park early one morning and were able to see and interact with white rhinos. We witnessed the rhinos sharpening their horns as well as learned a bit about their lifestyle and breeding habits. Not only was this trip an incredible learning experience, it was a fantastic way to visit my older sister and see her life in Zambia. It was truly an experience that I will treasure forever.

[wishforwash]

Taylor’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

Over spring break, I traveled with a group of current and former Georgia Tech students to meet with Jasmine Burton and assist in Wish for Wash’s Beta Test Pilot of the latest SafiChoo toilet system in the Chipata Compound in Lusaka, Zambia. Our efforts in Zambia were meant to test not only the usability of the design, but also to learn more about the end user preferences and gain insights into this potential market.While conducting our 6 week test of the toilet design, we also are striving to find a sustainable method for manufacturing and financing the installations of toilets on a large scale. Wish for Wash believes in creating a human-centered design that will engage end-users and provide them with a product they will actually use. There are many great technologies that exist for waste management and treatment, but often times they go unused due to low user engagement and poor usability in their design. Wish for Wash is seeking to find a way to bridge the gap between technology and usability that will be most impactful. Approximately 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to basic sanitation, which leads to increased violence against women, negative societal impact and a multitude of public health issues.

It was amazing traveling to Africa and learning more about the actual implementation of a new toilet system in an impoverished community. There are so many more issues involved with the creation and implementation of the design that had not occurred to me before this trip. Before, I had thought that the biggest challengeswere solved once a design was created and the fundraising for a project wascompleted. Having traveled to the actual site, I realized the issues go much deeper. For one, installing a personal item like a toilet as a complete outsider to this environment creates challenges of trust. Discussing people’s sanitation habits can make them uncomfortable. The users also must first recognize they have a sanitation issue and have an active desire to change that, if you want the user to be personally invested in the success of your project. End users must also possess both the ability and desire to continue to improve their sanitation conditions once Wish for Wash is gone.

My role on the team is primarily creating a sustainable financing model for Wish for Wash’s various projects. Our team has a wide variety of skills and concentrations,ranging from web development to financing to designing, and I am relatively new compared to many of our members (most of them know a great deal more than I do).One enormous challenge I face is ensuring people continue to pay and care for their new toilet system long after Wish for Wash leaves. Additionally, financing a project where there is little to no extra money in a community is a challenge that cannot be ignored. For my contribution to this project, I am striving to create a business model that will promote user buy-in initially and continued user ownership of the toilet so that they feel responsible for long-term maintenance and routine upkeep of their system.When speaking with a local engineer in Lusaka’s Chipata Compound, he voiced the challenges with donations in the community; people who receive a donation (such as a new toilet) do not take ownership or responsibility in a long-term manner. They treat it poorly and when it breaks, they simply wait for someone else to come along to fix it, as had happened before. I truly believe the best way to make Wish for Wash’s system successful is to maximize user ownsfership, and the best way to help the community is to help it help itself. We need to minimize our impact and simply be a resource these communities can use to better themselves. After traveling to Zambia and meeting members of the community, I believe the best way to help these people is to treat them with respect and treat our involvement in improving their sanitation conditions as a business contract between equals. Our work should not be perceived as a donation from us to them, but rather as us working alongside them to achieve a common goal of success. Wish for Wash strives to increase people’s dignity through improved sanitation, and we must also do so through the creation of a mutually respectful business contract between Wish for Wash and the local people.

[wishforwash]

Brandon’s Zambian Pilot Reflection

 It has been nearly one month since I’ve returned back from my implementation trip to Lusaka, Zambia with Wish For WASH, and there hasn’t been a single day that I haven’t reflected on my experience. I remember the exotic and lush scenery, the urban markets, and Chipata compound where we implemented the Safichoo 2.0 toilet. For my first trip off of the North American continent, it was certainly unforgettable. The most striking events for me have to be sitting on the toilet for the first time after it had been installed, and getting to pet Tigo the rhinoceros.

           Reflecting on these memories brings up an assortment of emotions ranging from awe and wonder, to sympathy, to confusion (I still don’t understand all of the handshaking rituals). The strongest emotion that I associate with my six day trip to Zambia, however, is pride. I feel proud of the work I am able to do as an engineer for Wish For WASH.

           The pride I feel stems from seeing our toilet implemented in a real community with real users who will depend on the performance of our toilet for their sanitation. Adding this human experience to the development of the Safichoo keeps me grounded in my work, and serves as a reminder of the power of design in public health. As I move forward with my work for Wish For WASH, I cannot be more excited to continue to plan more implementations, collect user feedback, and progress our designs even further.

[wishforwash]

Indiegogo Contribution Shoutouts!

Thank you so much to all of our supporters that have enabled us to begin our beta test of the SafiChoo toilet this year. We offered a range of exciting perks and below are our Indiegogo shoutouts to the people who supported our efforts by selecting the W4W poop shirt, Techy for Toilets, Lettering for Loos, and Purposed Postcard perks! We are so thankful for you WASH Warriors because #everybodypoops.

Kantwon Rogers

Niquelle Brown

Lauren Nolte

Lauren Winkler

Evan Trader

Susan Kinzie

Braden Rolland

Camille Scott

Courtney Burton

Amy Lee

Zam Margolis

Rebecca Nocharli

Katy McCants

Dana Maloof

Margeaux Leighton

Dorit Mordel

Zach Higbie

Diandra Kelly

Chris Hunter

Jessica Stalter

Sheila Isbell

Abubakar Suleiman

Jordan Rowley

Alexandra Greenway

Mark Gurevich

Austin Beacham

Chris and Beth Thompson

TreVorski Garrett

Alex Fried

Steve Fernando

Jack Eidson

Chris Kapsimalis

Eda Kosma

Linda Green

Ngozi Bolton

Joey Womack

Diane Lefebvre

Kelsey Moore

McKenzie Delaney

Andrew Brandes

Joe Irwin

E. Roe Stamps

Jacob Blaeser

Alex Becking

Lindsey Warren

Lesley Stevenson

Sarthak Jaiswal

Jasmine Lawrence

Zach Newton

Eric Chiu

Brandon Hirsch

Chuck Sarpong

Amber Henderson

Brenda Tennis

David Mitchell

Kienna Chapman

Tamera Meredith

Chelsea Ducharme

Katie Isaf

Denise Callaway

[wishforwash]

Chronicles of a Toilet Crowdfunder

2016. It’s a new year for all, including Wish for WASH. Founded in December 2014, it has officially been 1 year of this social startup’s existence. And wow what a whirlwind of learnings, growth, perseverance and creativity it has been. The continuous and outpouring support that we continue to receive from people and organizations around the world with whom we are related and whom we have never met is truly a testament to the mantra “it takes a village to raise a child”. In this case, Wish for WASH is a an infant organization run by young passioneers who have worked tireless throughout weekends, between classes, late after work and in countries around the world to bring this social mission of improved sanitation in low resource communities into fruition. While we have a lengthy journey ahead of us, we have come so far because of our incredible communities of support.

We ended last year with a high energy and frequently marketed indiegogo crowdfunding campaign with the hopes of raising enough capital to fund our beta toilet pilot in Zambia and in a resettled refugee community in Atlanta over the course of 2016. As a team who prides itself on valuing human centered design to fuel our product and service innovations, it is now time to bring our work into the field for critical feedback.

Does the toilet work?

Does it improve the user experience?

These are questions that will catalyze much of our work this coming year. As tough as it is to hear that something that is more or less your baby isn’t working as planned, it is necessary to receive this constructive criticism to continuing iterating until it has the impact and value that is intended. It’s a long journey, but it is an exciting one for sure.

Emerging from my first ever crowdfunding experience with a 100% funded campaign that was rooted in intense almost guerilla-like social media strategy has given me a completely new perspective of the sustained level of energy and passion required to be a fundraising professional. For me, November and December 2015 were months where I was almost exclusively fundraising for this Toilet Testing campaign and it was- quite frankly- exhausting. I learned just how challenging it is to activate translated passion in the form of a financial donation especially since the SafiChoo toilet does not directly or tangibly benefit the lives of those who donate. Luckily, our strong following and communities of support helped us cross the finish line after we developed consistent social media schedules, exciting new perk offers, creative ways to expand our reach through new media outlets, mentoring support from social organizations who had been through crowdfunding hurdles as well as a slew of other social entrepreneurial lessons. One of my favorite learnings that kept my spirits high despite the grueling hours spent mass emailing or facebook messaging hundreds of people was that much of the millennial generation is willing to support social missions in ways beyond financial contributions. I had friends from college, childhood and even people whom I have never met offer to write blog posts, share the campaign on their social media pages, connect me with potential partners/donors/media outlets to broaden our reach, donate a portion of their monthly pay check to our cause, create pieces of art that would be sold with a percentage of the money going to Wish for WASH, offer their website and digital media expertise pro bono, or host events where the proceeds went to Wish for WASH. As a huge fan of creative problem solving, I was amazed at how many unique ways that people came up with supporting our mission beyond solely direct funding. And despite the level of anxiety that spamming to raise money may have caused at times, I am so honored to see how selfless people are and how much they care. Broke students and fellow entrepreneurs who are in the same penny pinching situation as Wish for WASH frequently shelled out $5-$10 and it was truly inspiring. In the end, this is what I learned from crowdfunding:

People genuinely care. Despite how tight their time or budgets may be, the people who feel your translated passion despite if the product or service directly benefits their day to day life find a way to support you in a way that may lead to incredibly lucrative (both fiscally and personally) results that you may have never known was possible.

Fundraising is hard work. For the people who do it as a full time job, I am seriously impressed because it takes incredible time and passion as well as a heart that will not be deterred when faced with an inevitable slew of rejection. I learned throughout our campaign that if 3 out of 10 emails were answered positively, then that was a successful campaigning day. Having realistic expectations and not taking unanswered or rejection messages personally is crucial to be a successful fundraiser. So hats off to all of the fundraisers out there for having an incredibly creative and resilient spirit!

Crowdfunding is a team sport. There is no way in the world that I would have been able to do this alone. Thanks to the Wish for WASH team, we had continuous creative graphics to post, new opportunities to pursue, new perks to offer, new student members that were excited to contribute and more passionate people to help reach out and respond to the mountains of emails that were surfacing. Additionally, having the support of my family to help spread the word and to keep me sane during peaks of frustration was and continues to be invaluable throughout this entire process. If you are thinking of launching a crowdfunding campaign, definitely ensure that you have a team that has your back no matter what the results of the campaign may be.

Anything is possible. So cheesy, I know, but I believe it now more than ever. If Wish for WASH was able to reach our goal of $25,000 for toilet testing in low resource communities in just over a month’s time, then anyone who is driven to make a difference can attract the kind of support needed follow that dream to its furthest. This is a proof of concept test for a toilet that many people who donated will never physically see or get to use, but still through successful communication and advocacy strategies, they now care and they helped in whatever capacity that they could. And for that I am incredibly thankful.

Overall, I am incredibly excited and re-energized by the results of this campaign and am excited to continue sharing our story as it unfolds. Despite if this pilot is a “failure” in terms of traditional metrics of success, we will be able to share our learnings externally for growth in the international sanitation community as well as continue iterating our work so that it one day achieves its intended impact as a meaningful and sustainable step in the direction of universal access to hygienic toilets. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get here today. We are forever grateful for you believing in us because #everybodypoops. Happy 2016!

-Jasmine

[wishforwash]

The Risk of Tiptoeing

It is scary to take a stand - to choose a side, make a move, release an official statement - to commit oneself to one thing at the expense (or opportunity cost) of a sea of other options. This is especially true when the stance is being made within a lion's den of critics and opponents who are simply waiting for someone to say or do something - anything – out of which they can make a meal… usually in a public manner. I, for one, am especially sensitive to such vulnerabilities. It has taken me a month, for example, to finally swallow my fear of writing this blog post. Why? Well, besides being busy, I believe it is because doing so requires me to take ownership of thoughts and words, which could, quite possibly, be offensive to some reader, or wrong in the eyes of a critic, or worst of all, un-profound. Yet despite such an intense phobia, I have entered into a sector that I would argue is the largest of all lion dens (well, perhaps besides politics): humanitarian aid and community development. Even the name can cause one to cringe… actually, even the name is controversial! However, I could not have found a field with greater mentors, role-models, and supporters as I come to terms with the fact that often getting a reaction from people means that one is starting to do things right. After all, I could avoid issues by tiptoeing my whole life, but then again, I won't make it half as far as I could were I to risk the noise of walking… As a worrier, I have considered that this might also mean I could begin walking twice as fast and twice as noisily in the absolute wrong direction. Yes, this is true, but the great thing about standing tall and walking is that someone might actually notice me and/or the wrong direction I am going. And then we can have a nice little discussion: I can explain why I had chosen, thoughtfully, the path I was on; listen to the suggestions of the concerned party; make a new, informed decision on what to do next; turn or not; and continue walking with confident strides. On the other hand, I could continue tiptoeing, concern no one, hurt no one, help no one, and still be going in the wrong direction. Over the past year, one of my greatest examples of incredible courage in the face of potential failure and criticism in humanitarian aid and development has been my friend and the founder of the Atlanta-based startup for sanitation designs Wish for WASH, LLC., Jasmine Burton. Not every individual, nor every culture for that matter, celebrates a willingness to go out on a limb or to consider others' points of views. But in order to find solutions to age-old gaps in technology, power, and economies, one cannot shy away from a challenge because she would rather avoid errors and protect her self-image. If Jasmine were overly-sensitive to people poking at her “weaknesses” - too young, no Master's, a nontraditional skill-set, not enough experience, etc. etc. - Wish for WASH would not exist, today. Instead, however, Jasmine is now one of the greatest young woman advocates globally for sanitation and hygiene in developing and refugee communities. Jasmine has taught me the strength in being resilient, and she has shown me that when working for a larger cause, one cannot afford to be selfishly fearful about making a move and dealing with the potential reaction. Of course, it is always best to be informed and vigilant! But move forward. Because, when the issue at hand is that 2.5 billion individuals are endangered by their own bodily waste and the lack of a private toilet, every day, tiptoeing is hardly an effective way to proceed. -Katie

[wishforwash]

Going Global

It’s almost July and our leadership team has grown and is going GLOBAL. 

Here are some details about our new leadership team where we are headed: 

Jasmine (Founder + President) is going back to Africa, but this time to LUSAKA, ZAMBIA via a year long Global Health Corps Fellowship. She will be working with the Society for Family Health as well as testing and implementing the SafiChoo 3.0 model in an informal beta pilot. 

Katie (VP of Operations) is headed to Nicaragua to work on the Economic Development team of Amigos for Christ. She will be vetting faith based organizations for potential partnerships as well as learning how Wish for WASH will measure is economic impact once we have a minimum viable product. She will also be assisting with fundraising efforts for continued research and design!

Alex (VP of Business Development) has moved to DC to begin working at Microsoft on Data Analytics. She will continue developing the Wish for WASH business and financial plan with a focus on forming strategic partnerships. 

Mariel (VP of Research and Design) will be a part of our Atlanta based team who currently works at Kids II. Mariel has an extensive background in manufacturing and will be the head of engineering and research as the first Wish for WASH production run and tooling is created. 

Emily (VP of Design + Communication) is currently a Georgia Tech Industrial Design student who has a great eye for aesthetics and ergonomics while being skilled in an array of media platforms. She will be working on the R+D of the toilet with Mariel as well as assisting with a Wish for WASH communications plan. 

Lauren + Brandon (Co-Director of Student Engagement) are both currently  Biomedical Engineering students at Georgia Tech and will be in charge of our Engineers Without Borders affiliated student team with projects ranging from waste treatment to Atlanta based pilots. 

Everyone plans to travel to Zambia to help implement and gain insights on the toilet to help further the R+D process (contingent on funding). With enough fundraising and support, the team hopes to be able to afford to be full time as soon as possible!

We are excited for our multi-lateral and multi-continental projects and are hoping for a great year full of new learnings and growth opportunities!