About the Project

WASH and Learn is a student-driven social initiative that focuses on improving access to hygiene and sanitation services for underserved peri-urban and rural communities in Gujarat. For this, the initiative adopts a community-centric approach wherein on-ground understanding of local sanitation challenges is prioritized along with also making interventions with regard to the needs and capacities of residents. 

In addition to providing support in developing and installing public toilets and bathing facilities, the initiative is also concerned with sustainable long-term development through engagement with the community; it does this through fostering communication between the Self Help Groups (SHGs), sanitation workers, and stakeholders in the local area. This initiative encourages shared responsibility for the maintenance of sanitary and hygiene practices to help ensure that the infrastructure created is maintained properly and made accessible into the future.

WASH and Learn is committed to combining innovation with advocacy by conducting research on low-cost environmentally friendly toilets through academic writing and podcasts focused on sharing stories of successful WASH programs in the Global South. This is in order to connect policy, practice and public awareness and to work collectively to improve the sanitation systems of communities, giving them the resources and knowledge necessary to maintain those systems themselves.