Part 2/3: Advances with the composting facility and toilets

A great deal of progress was made this week on the toilet and composting plant projects as well.

At the Adventist church, bricklaying has begun on the foundations of the new composting toilets. Construction materials, water, and everything needed to mix concrete and mortar were gradually hauled to the site. The bricklaying itself continued practically all week, and the structure is steadily taking on a concrete shape.

At the same time, the walls of the campus toilets were completed and the tin roof was installed. Another crucial step was completed at the composting plant: the composting warehouse walls were finished, and on Friday, its roof was completed, including columns that will allow for extending the roof to cover the terrace.

The work does not stop there, however. On Friday, excavation began for the foundation footings of the future fence posts around the composting plant. Step by step, we are creating a site that will play a vital role in the future—not just for waste management, but also for education and finding sustainable solutions directly with and for the local community.

Challenges with the Toilet Design

We are gradually succeeding in carrying out our work plan and organizing the local community's involvement in education and activities related to the composting toilets project. We outlined the steps and the overall scope of work in our application for the UNDP Challenge Fund, but of course, we could not avoid complications and adjustments. One of the main challenges was budget adjustments, which were primarily due to the fact that the design and construction of composting toilets were completely new to us in Zambia. We had not dealt with this type of solution here before, so we had to verify and adapt certain parts of the project on the go, based on newly acquired hands-on experience.

But that was not the only challenge. Once we started planning in more detail, researching local conditions, and analyzing new information from the questionnaire survey conducted among local farmers, it became clear that the original layout concept for the toilets was not the most suitable for this environment. Therefore, we concluded that it would be more efficient to cluster individual toilets and create several strategically located, higher-capacity sites instead of a larger number of smaller, scattered locations.

Once we incorporated all the gathered information, experience, and the revised concept into a concrete design, the final number of toilets also changed. From the originally planned count, we adjusted to a total of 16 toilet cabins. This outcome is not merely a consequence of budget revisions, but primarily a result of gradually refining the design based on the actual conditions and needs of the local community.

We believe we have succeeded in finding a solution that meets the requirements of the locals, fulfills our commitments, and provides us with valuable experience for the years to come. Follow us so you don't miss where this part of the project goes next.