In June 2015, Naivasha, a small town in Kenya, was severely affected by an outbreak of cholera with as many as 34 cases of people affected. Most of the sufferers were from an informal settlement that relied heavily on shallow water wells. Tests run on the water in the wells showed that it was contaminated with human waste. The reason for the contamination was the lack of sanitation facilities in the pre-urban, low-income area, which forced people to defecate in the open or near water bodies.

The case of Naivasha was no different from that of hundreds of slums in East Africa where the poor in urban areas were deprived of even the basic hygiene needs. As per the US Agency for International Development (USAID), almost 1.3 million children under five years of age died each year from diarrheal disease. In areas like Naivasha, people were dependent on charcoal or forest wood as the main source of household fuel. This led to air pollution and deforestation besides causing many chronic diseases. To address the deteriorating condition of the urban poor and the environment, in 2011, Emily Woods and Andrew Foote, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) grads came forward to start a social enterprise – Sanivation. The startup aimed to improve the overall dignity, health, and environment of urbanizing communities in East Africa by delivering clean, safe, and efficient sanitation services.....

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