A Nonprofit Offers Better Floors for Better Health

Around the world, more than 1.6 billion people live in homes with dirt floors, which can lead to significant health issues, including respiratory and parasitic diseases. Concrete floors, the most common alternative, are too expensive for many families.

EarthEnable, a nonprofit in Nyamata, Rwanda, works with local entrepreneurs and masons to develop and install sealed earthen floors, which make for more healthy and sanitary living conditions. They’re also more affordable and emit 96 percent less carbon than concrete floors. To date, more than 200,000 people in Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda have benefited from the group’s innovative approach to flooring.

The organization, which won a $2 million Skoll Award for Social Innovation, has expanded its operations to include paint, plaster, and home construction. It has set an ambitious goal of helping to meet the housing needs of 700,000 people by 2027.

“Our model is easily scalable and rooted in community, working closely with locally trained masons — all people need to get started is earth,” says Gayatri Datar, co-founder and CEO. “At EarthEnable, we are building a future where safe, sustainable, and beautiful housing is within everyone’s reach.”

Below, workers prepare the ground for a sealed earthen floor in Jinja, Uganda.

Hajarah Nalwadda, AP