75% of Rwandans live in homes with dirt floors.
Earth Enable is working to change that.
The company started in 2013 when four Stanford students were tasked with their partner organization – MASS Design Group – to design a product or a service that would make homes and communities healthier.
After discovering the significant health problems that dirt floors cause, including childhood asthma, diarrhea, malnutrition, and parasitic infestations, they made it their mission to eradicate unhealthy living conditions across Rwanda by transforming the rural housing sector.
Through research, development, and innovation, they have developed ultra-affordable housing products for the rural poor. As of November 2019, EarthEnable has installed about 113,614 square meters (about 1,222,931 square feet) of healthy earthen flooring to directly replace dirt floors.
Over 4,536 homes (about 19,051 people) impacted in over 879 different villages who no longer have to live on a dirt floor and can lead healthier lives. They serve customers in seven districts of Rwanda and two districts of Uganda, with plans to expand to additional districts each in Rwanda and Uganda in 2020.
Interested in working with Earth Enable?
Earth Enable loves partnering with university students and graduates! “We’ve had ideas from our most junior masons and customer reps that have become major parts of our business model,” said Gayatri Datar, Earth Enable Co-Founder & CEO. “Being open-minded and constantly curious enables innovation to be democratized.”
Are you are able to mobilize resources from your university to take on a research project? EarthEnable would love to partner with you. Send your proposal to gayatri@earthenable.org.
