 project came together because some of the challenges were trying to tackle this project we also saw, for example, in India, so trying to put it all together. Okay, awesome, and we're going to get into it, but first, Rob, I'll tell us what you did. Yes, so my name is Robert Wangam Kumbi, born and raised here in Kenya. I am a community developer, social entrepreneur, and also a youth activist. Okay, amazing. So now to you, Aina, you said that this project, you started in India? No. So we started it in the UK actually, at university, so I go to Durham University, so I started it with two, like myself and one other girl, she's from Nairobi, Priyanka Doshi, and now we're a team of seven girls, seven girls doing a project. So we started in the UK and now, of course, it's based in Kenya. So we have Robert doing the local leading and making sure it all runs well. Okay, so we want to know about the project, so you can tell us why you decided Kenya. So maybe, I don't know, which one of you is in a better position to tell us, to give us a brief about Takataka Zero? Yeah, I can do it. So the reason we chose Kenya in Nairobi specifically is because Priyanka, the other leader, she's from here. So she grew up, she's born and raised here, so that's why we chose, that was a perfect place. And who we are as an organization is that we came together to find a sustainable solution for the abundant waste that we don't only have here, but also the places that we're from. So we wanted to come together to use technology, but also the community to create a way that we can use waste. So because often we think of waste as something we just throw away, we burn in the street because there's no use for it, but actually it is useful and with the right technology it can be a resource. So that's what we're trying to do. So the main challenges we're trying to tackle is the abundance of waste without solution, as well as trying to work with youths, because so often we're the ones with good ideas, but we just need a bit of support so that we can get our ideas out there, as well as food insecurity in the communities we're working in. So it's a bit of a complicated project, that's what makes it special because we really tackle a few different things at once with one model. Alright, okay, interesting. Now, Robert, tell us about how you go about, you know, converting waste into, you know, something sustainable for the future and something beneficial to the community. Yeah, so actually in this case, as Ana is saying, is that what we do, we use a community cooker to do all this. So we have a community cooker. Yeah, we do have a community cooker which insinuates the rubbish and it's not all types of rubbish. We specifically only deal with paper rubbish and also plastics. So there is a way or at least I can say maybe there are some things that we consider when we take this rubbish at least before we insinuate it. Okay, what are some of the things that you consider. So first before you tell us that, so you go to the dumping site or anywhere where there's rubbish and then you collect it, then you separate the rubbish from the recyclable one and the non-recyclable. I'm getting that you're using only the non-recyclable, the plastic, the papers, and then you put it in the incinerator, that is the cooker. Yeah, so what we do actually is when we get the rubbish, obviously there is what we do called sorting. We sort the rubbish and, well, the cooker, there is a specific way it is to be operated and in this case we always recommend that we bundle the rubbish. At least like we make a bundle out of the plastics and the paper was through. Okay, so what is the benefit of this cooker? Anna, tell us about it. Yeah, so the really great thing is that there's this difference between burning and incinerating. So because the cooker and its technology allows it to reach to around 1200 degrees Celsius. So by when you're incinerating this waste, unlike when you do it in the street, all of the toxic gases or most of the toxic gases, the carcinogenics are removed. So from the chimney, for example, you only see white smoke and only ash is remaining. What is really special about the cooker is that, of course, all we need is rubbish and you can use it to boil water, you can use it to do anything in a souffle, chapatis, you can bake, so we do breads and even the technology, it can connect to showers. So you can have hot showers and all of this is without electricity or any other resources. This is quite sustainable, especially because you're doing it in some of the low-income areas in Kenya, that is Malaria and Kebra. So how is it so far since its introduction, when was it introduced and how is it benefiting the society? Yes, so I guess maybe Anna can talk about how it all started and maybe I can talk a little bit about how it is benefiting the society. Yeah, so we started two years ago. So November 2020, it's taken us a long, long time to be here. We actually launched the project this Saturday, so last Saturday a week ago. And so we launched the project in Mathare at Mathare Community Outreach School. And so what we've been doing, we've been working with different youth groups, first in Kibera, then in Mathare, and then that's how the project started to come along. So now we're based at this specific school where we make two meals a day for the school children. It's around 320. So we make two meals a day for these youths. And that's where we're based now in Mathare, but we're still working with youth from Kibera as well that are working with us. And you can see some pictures of you working with school children there. And it's amazing what you're doing out here in the community. So now the students are benefiting from this. And I read somewhere that in your website, I think there was a gap that you saw during the COVID-19 period. Was it the COVID-19 period when there was a break from school and the children were not being fed because there's no school anymore. So what was happening in this time? So it's not just COVID-19, actually. So COVID-19 was especially tricky for the school because a lot of organizations moved out. So they actually had some food programs running at the school, but with COVID-19 they actually left. But what are big challenges is also especially for the families when there's holidays. So even the three-week break that we had for the elections, a lot of families couldn't feed their children at home because they really rely on the two meals a day that they receive in school. So this is what we're truly trying to work on to make sure that, at least when they are in school, they're very reliable meals twice a day because sometimes even that they can't afford. So even just then you saw the, you remember the greens with the children? So we partnered with Nestle, they built a kitchen garden for us. So these greens we can add to the meals as well at the school. Amazing, amazing. And Robert, you tell us about how it's benefiting the society and you've seen that is one of the ways by feeding the school children and making sure that they have at least two meals a day. What are the other ways? And before you get to the other ways, I also read that you allow them to bring the waste and then there's food in return. I don't know if this only applies to the school children or also the community. Yeah, so for now since the community cooker is based in a school, so obviously it has kind of interfered with how we had planned for it because the earlier plan was that the community cooker was to act as a swap shop in a way that people from the community were to bring in waste and in return they were to be given something like maybe food but in a school setting it's kind of different because at the same time you don't want to interfere with learning. Exactly. Yeah, so what we are doing now is strictly baking, well preparing meals for the school kids that is breakfast and lunchtime. Maybe if I can talk a bit about how the community cooker or the project is to benefit the society or the community at large is one thing we are working with youth groups and so we are also looking into helping the youth groups like specifically there is a group from Kibira which we started over the project with. We are planning to help them at least come up with a business for themselves and also get funding so that they can maybe continue with what they've been doing which is they have been setting up small businesses and apart from that like now the school is also a beneficiary of the project since they have a cooker and we've been able to get enough funds for at least the pilot project which will be in two months like will be running for the two months. What is the pilot project? Like what is happening now which is now that we have the project at the Mathare so it's our ever-first project with the community cooker like and partnering to Taka Taka Zero so we are trying to see like how it will all go down because we aim to apart from the goals and achievements that we hope to get from it all also we are doing some research only so that at least when we implement now the cooker in another place or build it in Kibira at least we will have some folks which will help us at least escape some challenges that we have been facing through the time. Okay I want some of the challenges so now the community cooker is only in Mathare and you want to bring it to Kibira as well so what are some of the challenges that you have seen or experienced during this time? Quite a few that's why it took two years but especially one of the things is because we started in the UK and we needed funding for this for the project so the cooker that we work with in Mathare it existed it was built by Safaricum Foundation actually in 2017 but because there was no project implemented with it they used it three times the school and then it shut down so this structure has been there for around five years now and so we wanted to come introduce a project with it and repair the cooker so what was really tricky was to find the funding for it it was quite expensive especially being a startup and since the challenges that we have in Kenya are different from the UK it was really hard to convince people that this is a good project and it is but the challenges are different and the model just didn't quite make sense to people so it took a while to do that but now we have the funding and that's why we're doing a pilot so that we have more statistics and we can really then prove to sponsors as well afterwards and say look this does work this is the impact we're making this is how much rubbish we're getting rid of and making use of let's do it again let's do it in Kibira let's do it in different areas yeah okay and how much are you helping the environment and maybe you tell us some of the sustainable development goals that you are contributing to yeah go ahead and so we're focusing on a few especially with the environment we're focusing on sustainable communities climate action and sustainable consumption and production so those are the main three ones that we're focusing on with the environment because of course we want to change this mindset towards waste and change even the fact that in the end we hope the msr the waste doesn't even end up on the ground anymore so it doesn't have to be collected for example the youth groups we're working with they have such great initiatives they go out every week collect waste but because there's no infrastructure then they bring it to the dump site and the dump site is next to houses and where people are living and then some people come there to collect to bring to another dump site so we want to intercept this process and now they can just bring it to us so that it doesn't even have to harm anyone and on dump sites as well it creates methane the health impacts are just amazing as you know yeah great and Robert tell us about how you you've said you're involving youths and youth groups in this particular project and how is it benefiting to them creating employment and you've said you're also mentoring them into starting their own businesses how is this going yeah so so far it's been a positive I can say that because like luckily maybe if I can talk about the youth group that we've been working with since day one this is one tune from Kibera Lenny Sabah so one thing about the guys is that they have been so patient and also from them being involved with the project we've had like we've learned a lot from the experience so I think I can say it's been good and luckily for them now we are we are working towards coming up with a business plan like before the pilot project ends at least the we they are now working they are the main workers who we are working with so they get a salary and like all at least a number of the youths who will be attending or who will be working at least for that two months will be getting a salary and apart from that we plan to also help them come up with a business that at least they can get something to show for after the the project is done yeah okay and also right that you're helping them develop skills that they can use in their future career so are the skills aligned to what they want to do in future or what skills are they getting exactly so maybe a better way to answer that is that apart from us just giving them the platform or giving them maybe the funds or helping them get the fund at least to maybe help themselves another thing is we are also looking into setting up workshops and inviting people from all walks of careers at least our career fields so that at least they can get to interact with them we don't want to necessarily force ideas on the youth but at least to give them a chance or to get informed so that at least it is easy for them to choose what they would like to do at least a win life amazing tell us about the community cooker it's a project it's a it's another organization partner with you how did you come together and what is the vision that you have as an organization yeah so the community cooker foundation are the ones that create these cookers so Jim Archer he invented them and he's now there's around 15 around Kenya but what we did we reached out to community cooker to bring a project to it so what we find is really important it's not just technology because technology is great and it has been really inspiring to everyone who hears about it because it's so unique but what we always like to say is it's it's a man made problem right the waste so there needs to be a community led solution as well so we've tried to partner with them actually that's how we met Robert so he used to volunteer for them so we reached out and that's how we then met Robert and he joined joined our team so we're now working with community cooker to even in the future we're hoping maybe we can work with some of the other existing ones see if they're running as well as they could and maybe if we can help out with our business model if we could maybe improve and make allow for more impact to come what are some of the gaps that you feel that are needed to be filled so far so a main thing is that you always need a constant source of waste and that seems like an obvious but yeah yeah there's so much there's so much but you have to get access to it right because on the dump we can't use it so we need communities and we need for example the children to be involved that's why we've worked so much with them so that every day they have this incentive to actually bring their bags to school we have extra bags not their school bags yeah yeah oh my god um there we have taka taka zero bags that we ask their parents to fill up at home and so they can bring it to us because the cooker actually can incinerate around 30 kilos of waste in an hour so if it's run 24 hours a day which it can that's a lot of rubbish so um we're really asking these youth groups don't bring it to the dump site bring it to us because even sometimes now past few days we've had to do extra collection because we haven't been receiving enough so that's the main thing that we really have to work with the communities so how can the community come together and help even you know communities that are not people from Missouri or Kibra how can they help quite a question so what we're hoping actually in the future is if we can have like waste collection like a waste collection business so there's so many um professional waste collectors right but they collect it from your homes even the apartment buildings and they bring it to the dump site exactly or it's burned so what we're hoping is maybe we can get a mode of transportation for example or we can set up collection points around the city or around for example Mathare in the different blocks then we can just people can put their waste in there specifically the one that we need and then we can come and pick it up all right yeah quite interesting and now Robert what is what what is the importance of walking together with the youths and community towards achieving this goal sorry what is the importance of working together involving the youths and the community towards this particular goal that you're having well I can say for any community one thing I can't help but think of maybe the impact that at least when people work together at least the kind of impact they can bring and especially in this case the youth since one thing they are the people who have the energy and the time and also apart from that now we are in an information age where we are so informed only that what we are lacking are the tools and well that's about the youth but as a community I just feel like the importance obviously is at least the togetherness makes it easy for the project not only to cut a zero but also for other projects to see light yeah okay awesome and Anna for people that are trying to start other projects like you did this a project that's actually sustainable for our future what would you advise them as we come to a close yeah yeah so I think that's actually a big thing because we want to be especially with the youth groups we want to be like a prototype so this is how it works and to show that even if it may take a long time you need the patience but it can work in the end and it will and so one of the big things I would advise is to be very open minded and that the project you might come up with at the beginning is not what it will look like at the end so every day when you're going through the project you're meeting new people you're meeting the community you really have to listen because you want your project to be people to identify with it and to feel connected so what we really try to do is everything we hear we adapt the project so the project taka taka zero might not look the same tomorrow it doesn't look the same as yesterday we had new ideas so that's really important that's always evolving and to be patient I think that's a very big one to be patient and trust okay thank you for that and now because people some someone will be watching and maybe someone government or something and they want to support this initiative so how can they do that yeah so I think one of the big things is what I was talking about with Robert is that we really want to make sure that the government sees the youth and that they see especially these small projects because often they'll just this is general but often we revert to big companies to big NGOs and that's that's okay and that's good but I think there's a lot of value in these smaller ones because they're very community based and I think we need to support them especially also with funding with training because the youth they have the ideas but they do need the support and so that's something that we really hope that people come and visit our project come to the site see what we're doing and see how you as an individual as an organization can help and how we can help each other Robert you can tell us about the vision that you have and the short term and long term plans that you have towards achieving that vision as you finally come to a closing maybe you can have our honor your final word to the viewer that's listening yeah so I think we'll be in a better position to talk about that okay and then you can give the final word what are some of the plans that you have in place towards achieving that yeah so our main thing is that we want to keep expanding and we want to work with more and more youth groups so that we can go and also work in different in new communities and that's why we work with younger children as well because with those of the future leaders as well so that's what we're really trying to do work with the youth work with the community so that we can build more projects that may look different but that are adapted to to each community so the next one that we're starting is in Kibera so if anyone also wants to support they can always reach out always looking for any support any funding any mentorship that's what we're trying to do why can they find you on your social so we have instagram um taka taka zero same with facebook and linkedin all taka taka zero as well as um please do check out our website it's taka taka zero dot org you have all the information even if you would like to donate we we'd always really appreciate it or if you want to join our team okay awesome robot talk to the youth out there tell why is it important to be innovative and to solve a particular problem in the society and you can give your final word yeah so uh uh uh maybe uh uh in in sound or at least uh what i think the best way to put it is uh youth uh like uh the future is us and the future is now so it's high time at least uh we come together and uh one thing is uh it's not even about coming together because one thing it is something that has been there only that maybe many people don't get to see it but in the community people are coming together and uh as a nation well i can't go maybe a little personally into this because one thing i'm a i'm a kenyan and uh it has been uh uh something uh for us uh at this time of period because uh we we just uh we were just like we're just coming out of uh the elections and all that stuff and uh people have really proven how uh they are embracing change and also how they wish at least for things to work and not only for the youth but also for the nation as a whole so it's one thing it's a it's a big up to the youth because one thing uh they are the people who have been the most calm they have been the people who have been promoting peace and all that and uh also if i was to talk about the government at the same time uh the government uh the now government uh that is in uh i guess root of government and uh well what i can say is that uh the youth really came through for these guys because one thing uh we believe that they best understand what we go through they understand the struggles that we face uh to try and come up with projects and also roll out roll out the projects so uh one thing i start we really really do hope that at least they can remember and uh as they promise to work with youth at least they can come to the ground get to interact with us and not only come to the ground because uh they are from the ground like yeah and in this case uh uh what i'm happy about as a person or uh in this case is because that at least the community and the government are embracing the idea of having young people at a leadership position yeah so it's really great thing that and now it's for the young people at leadership position to really prove that uh the community are right to believe in us so you guys we trust in you we believe in you it's still too early but at the same time never early so uh uh we want to work with you guys we are very ready and we are waiting at least for you to reach out to us and it doesn't have to be only takataka zero but also other projects that are trying to bring a change to the community at large yeah awesome what a good place to end this art thank you very much for coming and sharing uh your project with us and what you do and we definitely appreciate what you're doing to our community and our society yeah thank you so much for having us that has been uh ana and robot from takataka zero who are trying to fuel sustainable futures through waste conversion and you have heard it from them if you are used and you can do something to contribute towards positive change in the society then this is the time and you're welcome to join their team you can get them at takataka zero across the social media platform so this has been sport on tech we'll be taking a short break while we'll be here with more don't go too far we'll be right back after the short break