Project Unchaai

The vision of Project Unchaai is a bottom-up approach that empowers informal settlement communities so that they reach new heights in sustainable sanitation and hygiene that will consequently increase the imageability of the city of Rajkot. Project Unchaai is a two-part strategy towards sustainable sanitation and hygiene in informal settlements of Rajkot. Most of the vulnerable informal settlements of Rajkot are facing crucial issues like open defecation and hence the project focuses on access to toilets, the first component of the sanitation value chain. The first part of the project is a situation-based decision-making tool for the informal settlement dwellers to achieve sustainable sanitation. The tool will help the community to decide the best possible solution for a successful individual toilet based on their situation. The second part of the project focuses on behaviour change of the community to towards proper hygiene through the medium of a prop-based game. The game aims to sensitize and inform the community about proper hygiene. As the project follows a bottom-up approach, there was co- creation with the community on site to gain constant insight and feedbacks that helped in strengthening Project Unchaai.