Ghetto lab brings hope to slum

Mr Joshua Twesigye, the assistant manager of compost management at Ghetto Research Lab, shows the compost material at the lab. Photo by Promise Twinamukye

Kisenyi Zone in Kamwokya, Kampala is a sprawling slum where residents live in squalid conditions, without basic social services.
There is a shortage of toilets, poor garbage disposal, rampant unemployment and poverty, among other challenges.
Faced with these challenges and negligible efforts by the authorities to resolve them, Patrick Mujuzi and his colleagues decided to take matters into their own hands.

They established Ghetto Research Lab, a project that deals in environment conservation, agriculture, crime prevention, and anti-HIV/Aids fight, among others.

The Ghetto Research Lab is funded by Tikkun Oluwn, a company whose headquarters are in Switzerland.
One of the Ghetto Research Lab innovations is a toilet built using discarded plastic mineral water bottles and polythene bags.
The toilet was built using 13,356 bottles stuffed with polythene bags.

According to Mujuzi, the toilet took two months to build.
He says at least 300 people were paid to collect the bottles and polythene bags from Kisenyi and other areas such as Bwaise, Kanyanya and Mpelerwe.

Mujuzi says the advantage of using plastic bottles and polythene bags to build the toilet is twofold; ensuring hygiene to prevent diseases and conserving the environment.

He adds that the area where the toilet is located had no toilet and people had resorted to easing themselves in polythene bags and dumping them in drainage channels, in the bush and on roadsides, while others directly eased themselves in drainage channels and the bush.
Mujuzi says they intend to promote the use of plastic bottles and polythene bags to construct houses and toilets to other parts of the country to conserve the environment.
Mr Joshua Twesigye, the assistant manager of compost management at Ghetto Research Lab, says the toilet is designed to eliminate odours.

Compost toilet
The toilet consists of a bucket where the excrements (called ‘gold’ by Ghetto Research Lab staff) are collected.
After easing oneself, the user sprinkles sawdust or rice husks on the excrements.
The sawdust sucks all the liquid in the excrements.

“When the bucket reaches the three quarter level, we take the ‘gold’ for treatment. It is collected in a big container for the formation of manure, which takes eight to 12 months to get ready. We don’t let the heat generated from the poop to go to waste; we pass a pipe through the collected ‘gold’, and connect it to the bathroom to produce hot water, hot enough for one to wish they could add more cold water,” Twesigye says.

“Before putting the poop in a bigger pit though, big particles of dry leaves are embedded on the ground and soil is put on the sides so that the poop goes in the middle and cover the top with more waste material such as spoilt food and damaged tomatoes, to help collect good manure,” he adds.
Twesigye adds that some of the ready manure is sold while the rest is used as fertiliser for crops grown at the lab.

Agriculture
Members of the lab grow vegetables and other crops on the land where it is located using conventional methods.
They also use hydroponics, a modern method of farming where soil is not required for crops to grow.

They also engage in fish farming, which is essential in hydroponics, with the fish excrements providing the crops with nutrients while the crops provide the fish with oxygen.

The lab plants crops such as mint and passion fruits among other crops using hydroponics.

The fish are kept in a large tank that is connected to pipes which takes water in and out of the tanks.

The water goes out through a container where crops are planted and in the process, fish excrements in the water provide the crops with nutrients while the crops give the fish oxygen that is sent into the tank through the recycled water.
Members of the Ghetto Research Lab also rear rabbits and chicken.

Plastic pavers
At the lab, plastic bottles, containers and polythene bags are turned into plastic paver, helping rid the environment of waste.
Melted plastic is mixed with sand to make the pavers. Each plastic paver costs Shs2,500. The Ghetto Research Lab also makes soap and shampoo.

Sensitising on HIV/Aids
The lab also sensitises people about HIV/Aids.
Henry Byaruhanga, the lab’s rehabilitation officer, says: “Every two months, we hold a meeting to talk about how we can avoid being victims of the disease and how we can cease from victimising other people around us and the people we love.”
Byaruhanga, who is living with HIV, says joining the lab has helped him to contribute to the betterment of the community.

Crime prevention
The lab has also played a role in reduction of crime by teaching youth income-generating skills and campaigning against drug abuse. Through the efforts of the lab, several youth who were previously idle and prone to crime have transformed their lives.
These youth are now engaged in plumbing, art and crafts, farming, among others, to earn a living.

Helping people with disabilities
Mujuzi says the lab, in conjunction with You and I Foundation, a charity organisation in Kyebando, Kampala, has constructed 40 compost toilets for people with disabilities.

“With help from You and I Foundation in Kyebando, we were able to make 40 compost toilets for the physically challenged. Since it is hard for them to use public toilets, we had to bring them into their houses. Every weekend, we go and collect the compost poop and bring it for treatment,” he says.

Mujuzi says they plan to transform the lab into a big educational institution.
“I would very much like to see the lab as a big facility, just like a university-only I will not need a lot of books, only mindset. This could help in very many ways,” he says.

Challenges
Mujuzi says they have a shortage of land, which impedes their efforts to expand their operations. He adds that they also face financial constraints.
“If we had enough land, we could have lots of fish, vegetables, enough to supply hotels and restaurants, which can enable the workers of the lab to have a decent pay and deter them from thinking of their dark past as a better option,” he says.