Jun
In 2003 DelAgua Health along with the University of Colorado and the Rwanda Ministry of Health embarked on an ambitious project to distribute water filters and fuel-efficient cooking stoves across the country. The program monitored the use of the water filters and cook stoves with the data being used in a health impact study conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Emory University. Between 2014 and 2016 the program reached nearly 2 million people with cookstoves and 500,000 with water filters in 7,500 villages. Nearly a thousand community health workers visited every household on a repeated basis to provide behaviour change messaging, training, and repairs.
In June 2019 the PLoS Med published the results. It was found that the water filters and portable biomass-burning cookstoves reduced the prevalence of reported diarrhea and acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years old by 29% and 25%, respectively. The results suggest that programmatic delivery of household water filters and improved cookstoves can provide a scalable interim solution for rural populations that lack access to safe drinking water and rely on traditional fires for cooking.
“Until now, there has been limited evidence of the effects when these products are delivered at scale,” said Evan Thomas, director of CU Boulder’s Mortenson Center for Global Engineering. “The study demonstrates the viability of bringing water filters and cookstoves to vulnerable households and will help inform future national initiatives.”
Unsafe drinking water and household air pollution are major causes of mortality around the world. An estimated 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, more than a third of whom rely primarily on open wells and untreated surface water that can be contaminated with human and animal feces.
Cooking indoors on traditional open-fire stoves with solid biomass fuels such as wood and charcoal has been linked with pneumonia, low birth weight and impaired development in children. Household air pollution is also associated with pulmonary and cardiovascular disease in adults. More than 80% of Rwandans rely on firewood as their primary fuel source.
“After neonatal disorders, pneumonia and diarrheal disease are the two leading killers of children under 5 years of age in Rwanda and much of sub-Saharan Africa,” said Professor Thomas Clasen of Emory University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who led the health impact study.
“The results of this randomized controlled trial provide strong evidence that effective interventions can be successfully delivered and embraced by a population at risk, even in remote rural settings.”
In the fall of 2014, over 101,000 households with nearly half a million people from the poorest economic quartile of Rwanda’s Western Province were selected to receive a Vestergaard Frandsen LifeStraw Family 2.0 table-top household water filter and an EcoZoom Dura high efficiency portable wood-burning cookstove together with community and household education and behavior change messaging. Each household was visited approximately every 4 months for a year following the distribution.
The program was financed and led by the social enterprise DelAgua Health (in partnership with the Rwanda Ministry of Health) and branded “Tubeho Neza,” which translates to “live well” in Kinyarwanda.
“DelAgua is delighted that the study has confirmed some of the health benefits of a well-designed large scale intervention as well as the acknowledged reduction in carbon emissions,” said DelAgua Chairman Neil McDougall. “Key to this success has been the ongoing education and support of Rwandan Community Health Workers (CHWs). Without CHW involvement, the intervention would not have demonstrated the same health and other benefits and as such their involvement is integral to the success of this and similar future projects,”
Overall, the results suggest that the program was effective in improving drinking water quality, and reducing risk of diarrhea and respiratory illness among children under 5, pointing the way toward an interim solution for healthier living while cleaner cooking solutions are developed and scaled to reach the poorest.
"The intent was to address the leading causes of illness and death in Rwanda, respiratory disease and diarrhea, especially among the lowest income households," said co-author Dr. Jean de Dieu Ngirabega, who was the director general of Clinical and Health Services in Rwanda Ministry of Health and later the head of the Institute of HIV/AIDS, Disease Prevention and Control in Rwanda Biomedical Center during the course of the program.
"The program's success speaks in part to the hard work of our Community Health Workers, who trained households on the use of these technologies over several years. I am pleased that these results show these positive health benefits can be achieved at scale. It is an opportunity for low-income countries to meet the targets set out in Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) for health."
“These results should have important policy implications in Rwanda and beyond. We see strong evidence that the intervention provides significant benefits that might continue to accrue if the program continues to be supported,” said Thomas, an associate professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Science who designed and managed this program for DelAgua from 2012 through 2016.
I documented the project capturing every aspect from issues that were set out to be solved, to the distribution days and community health workers visits. I photographed in a number of different regions and villages to show the extent of the program. I collaborated with DelAgua Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health to present a powerful set of images which showed the work undertaken. The work has been exhibited around the world, formed a book and won several international photography competitions including being nominated for the Sony World Photography Awards.
See full report article at - University of Colorado
For more information about DelAgua Health go to - DelAgua
Mar
One of the projects that I photographed with Microsoft last year was Station B.
Microsoft is creating a platform and bringing together partners to program biological systems, essentially understanding how to program cells like we program computers and eventually control how a cell behaves. Instead of programming in 1s and 0s researchers are using the building blocks of DNA to write “programs” that could, for instance, help a cell recognize and attack cancer. This can open doors to new treatments, drugs, cures and materials. The industry holds huge promise but still faces a number of challenges.
Microsoft is leveraging its expertise in programming and research to develop systems with state of the art programming languages, algorithms and machine learning methods to program cells; something few companies have the capabilities and research infrastructure to do.
Microsoft is partnering with researchers at Princeton University in the US and two UK companies – Oxford BioMedica, which focuses on gene and cell therapy, and Synthace, which develops scientific software – as it develops the new system, called Station B.
The project is featured in the Financial Times
Microsoft Station B, Synthace, Kings Cross, London
Microsoft Station B, Microsoft Research Center, Cambridge
Microsoft Station B, Oxford Biomedica, Oxford.
Microsoft Station B, Microsoft Research Center, Cambridge
Andrew Phillips, head of Microsoft’s Biological Computation Group that developed the Station B platform
Sarah-Jane Dunn, scientist for Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK.
Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK, biologist Paul Grant runs experiments in the Station B lab.
Jason Slingsby, chief business officer at Oxford BioMedica
Sean Ward, Founder and CTO at Synthace, London
Feb
At the end of last year I photographed the new ICON Outlet at the O2 for CallisonRTKL. The opening of ICON Outlet completes CallisonRTKL (CRTKL) and the clients’, AEG and Crosstree’s, vision to deliver an unparalleled leisure and entertainment district for London – a place where retail and leisure converge. The development will complete the circuit within the Entertainment District to create a 360-degree visitor experience that not only supports the main arena events but has the critical mass to be a customer draw in its own right.
“The retail world is ever-evolving, the focus on the curated experience is a real shift of approach. Shopping destinations are now seeking new leisure experiences to attract, activate and energize their existing offer. What we have here is one of the most iconic leisure destinations in the world, anchored by the world’s favorite arena. We believe that the addition of the ICON Outlet is the final critical piece that will not only transform the O2 but in its own right create a new paradigm,” said Nathmya Saffarini, Senior Associate Director at CallisonRTKL and thought leader in sports anchored entertainment districts.
The success of a mixed-use project hinges on activity. The more people are walking around, using the space and engaging with it, the more it creates an inclusive atmosphere and people want to be there. Creating spaces where communities can come together, alongside major entertainment destinations would ensure that the district will never ‘go dark’ and the different zones will offer varied, engaging experiences for visitors any day of the week.
New contemporary food concepts were curated for ICON Outlet to compliment the fashion district and deliver a true lifestyle destination.
The urban outlet has been divided into key themes, which the developers state reflects consumer trends and behaviour, from ‘Best of British’ highlighting quality and heritage to ‘Global fashion’, featuring premium brands from across the globe. Other areas include ‘Beauty and accessories’ and ‘Sports and lifestle’, offering some of the most exciting names in athleisure.
To complement the retail offer, Icon Outlet will also host a range of experience-led services, including personal shoppers and stylists, hands-free shopping, and unique event shopping packages.
CRTKL’s concept focuses on the creation of two unique retail experiences – the Petals and the Clouds – to correspond with the leasing strategy and the character of the space they occupy. The ceiling treatments within these spaces are a unique feature to the site, designed to create a sense of light, space and tranquillity. Clever use of LED lighting enables the tone and look and feel of the development to shift depending on the time of day.
“The two-storey mall section referred to as the Petals creates a sensory explosion of colour and form inspired by London’s fashionable retail streets. The canopy that runs along its street is designed to replicate the dappled shade of a tree-lined thoroughfare,” said Nathmya Saffarini, Senior Associate Director at CallisonRTKL.
The single storey section referred to as the clouds is designed to be a column-free retail space, the ceilings, roofs, walls are hung from the existing trusses in the space. It is a clever solution that gives the client the flexibility to move internal partitions as needed to meet retailer requirements.
“‘The Cloud’ is designed as a calming retail escape. It creates an ambiance of light and tranquillity with its immersive forms and cool colours. The ceiling treatment consists of a series of fins that envelops the space below,” said Nathmya Saffarini, Senior Associate Director at CallisonRTKL.
Designing the ceiling treatments was one of the most exciting challenges, the design needed to be lightweight, work with the O2’s smoke fire strategy whilst creating visual interest underneath the tent liner.
A second phase comprising another 32 stores on the lower level will open in Spring 2019. Being in the middle of a global city, it has an amazing residential catchment so an outlet would work in its own right but being in an iconic building, with river frontage, tourist attractions and the huge profile of its leisure offer Icon Outlet should mature into one of the very best outlets and should set the bar for others.
