When Judith Ayé was a little girl, she knew she wanted to make a difference in her community, a difference that would  empower and help people live better lives. She also knew she enjoyed rolling -up her sleeves and fixing things. Now at age 38, she is a trained plumber leading a nine-man team. However, she’s not just a typical plummer, wearing a safety helmet and a fluorescent vest, this ambitious lady runs her own  business connected to water and sanitation projects in urban areas of Agboville. It’s hard, sweaty work, that’s a labor of love.

In Côte d’Ivoire, 1 out of 5 family use open air as toilets.  Five out of 6 people in rural areas and one in two people in urban areas do not use improved toilets. 

Judith offers acceptable, appropriate and affordable sanitation solution to consumers who do not have access to basic sanitation.  

Like many young women in her community, Judith was guided toward sewing and making garments as  an alternative to the traditional education path. However she soon realized that sewing was not lucrative nor her passion. So when the district of Attécoubé, in Abidjan,  partnered with a government agency to offer entrepreneurship opportunities to the youth of this community, she jumped on the opportunity.

Judith was selected among other teenagers to  participate in a week long training program aimed at  ????? After the program, she successfully completed three hands-on training sessions in the field.  The field training was challenging. Like her male peers, she was expected to use her strength and brains to troubleshoot, repair and install sanitation delivery devices that help improve sanitations services.  This training was launched in 2018 by Saniplus. Saniplus is a company which supplies sanitation products and services . Saniplus is supported by the USAID funded Sanitation Service Delivery (SSD) Project.

After the training, Judith decided to focus her business on fabricating and installing SaniPlus products, including toilets, septic tanks, and soak pits. A few weeks later, the sales team referred her to a man who wanted to install a soak in his house.

In just one day, she molded the seven concrete rings, which was required for the soak pit construction at the man’s house. A few days later after the rings dried, Judith completed the installation with the quality standards required thus, providing an environmentally safe and long-lasting sanitation solution for the home. Thanks to the installation, the client can now reduce the need for frequent and expensive septic tank emptying services.

Today, Judith’s impeccable work and dedication, allowed her to build 23 soak pits in Abidjan and its suburbs. She is optimistic about the potential growth for her business and has expanded her activities to conducting door-to-door sales and promotion visits to offer products and services to new clients.   Dedicated to providing the best service, now every quarter, Judith enrolls in training sessions that keep her updated on how to use new equipment and stay abreast with the latest sanitation services techniques.  

Overall Judith is determined to take her business to the next level of success, and this time, with other women alongside her. 

“I intend to encourage other women who want to do something in the field of entrepreneurship so that we can build toilets and sanitation facilities together,” exclaimed Judith.