Kush Kumar’s job is to provide sanitation solutions to people who don’t have toilets. Kush, from Bihar state, India, works for a programme set up by PSI and Unliever’s Domestos Toilet Academy, with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to help families own a toilet.
Kush explains how it works. “If I go to a village, I organise a meeting with people. We make them realize they should all have a toilet, which is a good thing. We often build toilets in four or five houses in a village. Once people see the results, they agree to invest.”
Up until recently, Kush would go to a village and after a lot of education and discussion about why toilets are important, only one toilet would be ordered. But as the programme has become more successful, the demand has increased dramatically. “Now, people come and ask us for a toilet. They ask us to come and take their orders.”
Thanks to the efforts of people like Kush, over 70,000 household toilets have been installed and over 350,000 people have gained improved access to a toilet since 2015.
Watch this video for more information.
Photo credit: Unilever