Our August 2022 staff meeting was held at Periyanaickenpalayam (PNP) Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP), Coimbatore on the 26th. Prior to the meeting, the staff was introduced to the works of the plant – functioning, treatment and maintenance. Following the brief training, the meeting began with updates from team members on collaborations with the Forest Research Institute, study of human-wildlife interactions, communication with government officials, Tribal Day events organised in several field areas, challenges faced by the team and cross learning visits.

After the meeting, the team was taken to Yazh Enterprise at Vivekananda Puram to visit a tailoring unit run by community women and Keystone, as part of Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP). An insightful interaction with the women in the community provided evidence of their growth since inception. The team also discussed possible marketing strategies and other on-ground sustainability factors.

The team headed to the new Coimbatore office for lunch, followed by an orientation on other programmes run by TNUSSP. These included School WASH, Women Enterprises, Menstrual Health Management, and Community Toilet/Public Toilet (CT/PT) Operation and Maintenance (O&M) with the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) and Sanitation workers. Team members were randomly split into groups of four, each assigned one of the above mentioned programmes, to discuss scope of scaling up and sustainability in the upcoming year. All groups presented the ideologies and approaches they came up with to potentially expand and create new opportunities within their programmes.

IIHS Internal Learning Visit to PNP FSTP on August 17, 2022

A team of fifteen members from Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) visited Coimbatore for a one-day internal learning programme. The team was given a talk on the journey of TNUSSP as a Technical Support Unit (TSU) supports at PNP and Narasimhanaicken Palayam (NNP), followed by open discussions on the scope of projects like FSTP O&M, School WASH, Women Enterprises, Menstrual Hygiene Management and outreach programmes. The team was able to provide fresh perspectives on approaches and strategy for the way forward.

The team visited the FSTP at PNP, and instructed on processes, O&M and reuse of Fecal Sludge at the Resource Recovery Park by the ULB. They also visited the Yazh Women Enterprise Centre at Vivekanandapuram, where they spoke to women about their jobs, discussing challenges faced by them in entrepreneurship.

After a hearty lunch, IIHS and Keystone’s Coimbatore team spent some time debriefing, reflecting on thoughts and learnings based on their visits.