Public Project
Gakinjiro Market
They are building ‘tippy taps’, which are water dispensers for hand-washing, that you can find all over Kigali. They are placed in front of shops and bus terminals and people are actually using them, otherwise they are reminded by a security guard to do so.
This workshop, Gakinjiro, situated in central Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, was rather crowded and the hope is that there were no infected people among the workers.
Even if the workshop appearance seems disorganized there is an organization nonetheless : the place is subdivided in zones where the different stages of manufacturing take place.
In the pictures, the different stages of construction of the dispensers are represented: the sawing and soldering of the metal bars of the trellis stands, and the bending of metal sheets to build water tanks for the models not made of plastic.
Washing hands is a simple yet very important step in helping to limit the spread of the virus and helping communities to recover. A wider theme is how the production of water dispenser will contribute to the improvement of the hygiene condition in this African country, that, especially in the poorest section of the population, is far from optimal. The most important issue it how to make the majority of the population, that is poor and many cannot afford to buy a bar of soap, to adapt the custom to wash their hands. The hope is if this custom is adopted it will help also to limit the spread of other infectious diseases in the future.
During my time in the workshop I had the occasion to appreciate the good atmosphere between the workers. Amidst the loud machinery noise, it was not uncommon to also hear a great deal of laughter.
These photos were taken one day before lockdown which resulted in the complete closure of the workshop, with dozens of workers subsequently left without pay to fend for themselves.
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