More than just a toilet.

Poverty-stricken residents of communities in Honduras and Ghana have a new lease on a better life with safe water and sanitation solutions from Water Mission and iDE—supported by more than 3,000 KOHLER® pour-flush toilets. 

It’s time to shine a brighter light on a sad and heartbreaking truth: each day people are dying because of a lack of basic sanitation.  
 
According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, one in three people lack access to a toilet, open defecation still exists for ten percent of the population and women and girls spend 266 million hours a day trying to find a safe and discreet place to go. The result? Hygiene-related diseases, like diarrhea, that account for one million deaths annually. This has to end. 
 
Partners like Water Mission and iDE are making a meaningful impact and changing the story for so many. 

In January 2017, Water Mission initiated a Healthy Latrines program to provide safe sanitation to families in western Honduras. Enter the KOHLER pour-flush toilet, an affordable seated toilet that flushes when water is poured in by the user. To date, Water Mission has impacted over 6,300 people by building Healthy Latrines including a KOHLER pour-flush toilet. Additional installations are currently under construction as part of a program to reach 5,000 families in five years. The organization provides the toilet to the families, who in turn, are asked to help build the healthy latrines.    

“We like the KOHLER toilet because it is designed to be practical in its installation,” remarked Hector Chacon, Water Mission’s country director in Honduras. Moreover, individuals take great pride in the aspirational design and working to improve general sanitation issues. 

In addition to its longstanding partnership with Water Mission, Kohler has also worked closely with iDE, whose WaSH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) social enterprise in Ghana called Sama Sama has developed its own self-enclosed toilet.  As part of an overall effort in Ghana (a place where just 67% of the population lives with access to a toilet), Sama Sama chose the KOHLER pour-flush toilet as an option for those individuals requiring a sitting model, such as families with older members or those with special needs. The Government of Canada provides funding for iDE’s projects and to date, Sama Sama has sold 354 KOHLER toilets and praised the low-flush design as being critical in areas where water is scarce.

Sama Sama Managing Director Osei Agyeman-Buahin said the goal is to consistently innovate to diversify its offering for a diverse customer base. One customer described why she chose the KOHLER pour-flush toilet, "The toilet uses little water to flush. It is easy to clean and very nice looking. We are old and the sitter is very comfortable—it helps us with our knee pains.”