The inhabitants of Ndirande, on the outskirts of Blantyre, Malawi, live in overcrowded conditions and without networks to treat their wastewater. In particular, they do not have an official service that allows them to empty the graves and wells that they themselves dig to relieve themselves.
As a result, many times their only alternative is to dump the waste into the nearby river. Only a few residents can afford to rent vehicles to empty latrines in a way that does not harm the environment or cause disease. As time goes by, this becomes a new problem because they end up being forced to build new units with temporary materials.
Within the framework of the 2022 Local Innovators Program, the team formed by Thokozani Kanyemba (social leader) and Prince Nyasulu (municipal leader, in the area of healthy environment) devise solutions to address the challenge in this city inhabited by more than 800,000 people in East Africa.
These are the photographs with which they stood out in this instance of the initiative, which seeks to explain in images the situation they face:
