Dispatches From the Field: Waterbank Schools + Interface

The Waterbanks team is taking full advantage of their special finalist award of $25,000 and six months of incubation support from 2013 Challenge sponsor Interface, Inc. Since the award ceremony in November, PITCHAfrica, the parent organization to the Waterbanks initiative, has been awarded complimentary membership into the Clinton Global Initiative. Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI annual meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. Of all the networks, CGI’s is one of the best!

It is clear that the six month BFI and Interface incubation period will be catalytic. At the end of this period, in collaboration with the Zeitz Foundation in Laikipia, Kenya, PITCHAfrica will have completed a model secondary school based on Waterbank planning principles. This school includes student and staff housing, a canteen and kitchen, a unique Waterbank latrine and ablutions block with urine diversion and solar dehydration composting, and the flagship PITCHKenya, a rainwater-harvesting 1500 seat five-a-side soccer stadium including classrooms, offices and an environmental training center. The building will be known locally as the Samuel Eto’o Laikipia Unity Stadium, named after the international soccer star and Chelsea F.C striker who is funding the project.

Interface’s funding for Waterbank Schools is specifically supporting the development of open source documentation for a four classroom Waterbank School like this example. Updates can be found at http://waterbanks.org.

Aggray Maganga

ATOPIA