COVID-19 Response: A Uganda Innovator solves the soapy challenge at community water points
Story developed by: Emma Pfister, Response Innovation Lab & Christina Broda-Bahm, Engineers Without Borders-USA
An Innovation Story
Amidst the challenge brought by COVID-19, one in particular has been the increased need for handwashing. The WASH sector has been working on access to hygiene for decades with some level of success; however six months into the global Coronavirus pandemic, nearly two billion people across the globe lack the soap and water needed to properly wash their hands.
In Uganda, our partners at Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB-USA) brought a challenge to the Response Innovation Lab: An effective soap dispensing solution was needed to accompany the handwashing stations in public spaces such as the busy Ntinda market. In combating COVID-19, soap is needed to dissolve the “outer envelope” of the virus-cell causing it to fall apart. Yet, soap bars can harbor bacteria, disintegrate quickly, and have a tendency to be carried off, while liquid soap is expensive, not always accessible, and not sustainable, says Richard Mutabazi of the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA). Finding a way to provide solid soap to users at handwashing stations in public places across the city has become an imperative.
Together with EWB-USA, the Uganda Response Innovation Lab (Uganda RIL) is looking to the local ecosystem of innovators to address this challenge by developing a soap dispenser that solves the challenge, and can serve the communities in Uganda now and into the future.
“The creativity and resourcefulness of the innovation ecosystem in Uganda is strong and growing. Large networks of skilled inventors are across the country, working to solve new and old problems in exciting and new ways. ”
Photo provided by EWB-USA / Ntinda Market, Kampala, Uganda (2020)
The Uganda RIL Manager, Charlene Cabot, has said that when Covid-19 struck, innovators quickly realized that their communities were at risk and that they could potentially address the situation. The RIL tapped into that community and the supporting ecosystem by putting out a design challenge for “Solid Soap Dispensers for Public Handwashing Stations in Uganda.” The call drew 45 attendees to its webinar addressing the challenges of providing soap in a highly trafficked public space and what an effective solution could look like.
Three primary criteria for the Challenge were identified:
People should not come into physical contact with the bar of soap;
The soap needed to be in a lockable container; and
The dispenser had to be easy to use.
Additional considerations included that the solution is low-cost, constructed from locally available materials, and has the potential to be mass-produced. The soap dispenser also needed to be flexible enough to be mountable to various handwashing station designs.
Within ten days of launching the Challenge, the Innovation Lab received 31 applications. After much deliberation, three teams were invited to pitch their designs. Ali Kabona was awarded top prize and Tugume Clever and Emmanuel Achelu received second and third respectively.
Kabona’s innovative spirit, along with his highly detailed presentation and effort to use low-cost, locally sourced materials in a simple and effective design ultimately landed him in the top position. Kabona’s design then underwent several iterations thanks to real-life testing and user consultations facilitated by EWB-USA.
Based on the feedback gathered, Kabona refined the device into a compact, metal structure that can be easily welded to the hand-washing station. The dispenser has a lockable compartment for the bar of soap and soap flakes easily fall into the user’s hands when pushing a simple lever.
“If we are going to control COVID-19, we have to make hand hygiene accessible to all.”
~ Zoe Pacciani, Uganda Country Director, Engineers Without Borders USA
Cabot and Pacciani believe that the design approach used in this project is more likely to produce interventions that people adopt and use regularly. Charles Mubache, the chair of the Ntinda Market, has already placed an order for 200 of the winning devices to attach to handwashing stations strategically positioned around Kampala.
The solution to this challenge was local. As supply chains are challenged around the world with COVID-19, an increase in localization is paramount to solving problems efficiently, and with lasting solutions. The Soap Challenge conducted with EWB-USA is a perfect example around how global institutions can work together to support localization of problem solving during humanitarian emergencies.
Photo provided by EWB-USA / Ntinda Market, Kampala, Uganda (2020)
“It was a very tough competition, we had a really hard time narrowing down the applications, because there are so many great innovations, and good ideas to solve issues that affect vulnerable people.”
If you are interested in learning more about the prize challenge process, and even supporting one yourself, please contact us.