Lynk and DTL unveil innovative ways of cleaning public places from Covid-19

Lynk and Dandora Transformation League, DTL who are part of the Safe Hands Kenya, SHK initiative have begun a pilot cleaning service for disinfecting public spaces. The initiative will target 18 gated courts within Dandora, Nairobi. Another member, Orbit Chemicals will provide the disinfectant for this pilot process demonstrating how a holistic approach can be adopted.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the need for trained professionals who can clean and disinfect various businesses and locations. The first pilot phase will start at Dandora Phase 2 and rapidly expand to other parts of the country. The pilot will rely on disinfection teams to carry out daily spraying for two weeks. The teams will also rely on knapsacks while disinfecting publicly used facilities.

SHK will rely on the technological expertise of its members to create geospatial demand-supply allocation maps that prioritize the communities at great risk. The lessons learned from the Dandora pilot will inform their strategy on how best to scale the initiative.

During the pilot, over 6,700 liters worth of disinfectant will be sprayed in bus stands, markets, roads, and other public areas. Lynk is carrying out training to DTL members in an efficient manner than can be replicated locally in the future. DTL will then disburse fully trained and equipped cleaners to other parts of the city.

Dandora has a very high youthful population, roughly 70 percent of all residents are 35 years or lower. SHK aims to incorporate this large youthful population to be part of the solution in their communities. Thus far SHK members have:

• Unilever, Jumia, and Twiga foods have distributed 54,000 soap bars to over 200,000 residents of low-income communities with the intent of helping them maintain safe hands.
• Distribution of hand sanitizers to over 142,000 people using retail outlets within 81 SHK distribution partners.
• DTL has helped in the installation of handwash stations that will see over 50,000 soap bars from Pwani Oil Products Ltd. distributed.
• Nationwide campaign under the slogan #TibaNiSisi meaning “we are the cure.” The slogan has already been picked by leading celebrity influencers.