For many people living in high-income countries like the U.S., sanitation is something we rarely think about. We flush a toilet, wash our hands, and move on with our day. The infrastructure that moves and treats our waste operates in the background, largely invisible to us.
But for many communities around the world, sanitation is not something that can be forgotten. Even when households have access to toilets or latrines, managing the waste those systems collect remains an ongoing challenge—one with significant implications for health, dignity, and quality of life.
Over the years, communities partnering with Outreach International have made tremendous progress in improving access to sanitation. Through Community-Led Development, local leaders have identified sanitation as a priority, mobilized their neighbors, and implemented solutions that improve daily life for families. But as communities continue to strengthen and expand sanitation infrastructure, another challenge begins to emerge.
What happens when those systems fill up?
In rural areas where centralized sewage systems do not exist, managing the waste that accumulates in pit latrines and septic systems, known as fecal sludge, can be difficult and expensive, and in some communities, nearly impossible. Emptying services may be unavailable. Road access may be limited. And extreme weather can further complicate the problem, such as flooding rain overflowing tanks. Without long-term management options, even successful sanitation systems can fail over time.
Through the community-led development process, groups of neighbors raised these concerns. And that realization became the beginning of an unexpected partnership—one rooted in curiosity, innovation, and a shared commitment to building a world beyond poverty.
When Different Strengths Come Together
At Outreach International, we know that the people closest to a problem are closest to the solution. Our role is not to arrive with predetermined answers. Our role is to listen, learn alongside communities, and help them to create opportunities for lasting change.
In the Philippines, community members identified sanitation maintenance and waste management as ongoing concerns. They needed a practical, affordable way to manage waste more effectively while extending the life of existing sanitation systems. This led us to seek a partnership with SCD Probiotics, a fellow Kansas City organization whose work focuses on harnessing beneficial microorganisms to improve environmental and human health.
Founded by Matt Wood, SCD Probiotics has spent decades developing natural probiotic technologies that support healthier agricultural systems, wastewater management, environmental sustainability, and numerous other applications. What stood out to us was not only the company’s scientific expertise, but its willingness to explore how that expertise might be used in new ways, and serve communities facing complex challenges far beyond Kansas City.
From Community Challenge to Research Opportunity
To explore the possibilities that could arise from our this solution from SCD Probiotics, we collaborated with Dr. Musa Manga, a leading researcher in environmental health and sanitation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For nearly two decades, Dr. Manga has worked alongside communities throughout Africa and Asia, helping develop more equitable, sustainable, and climate-resilient approaches to water, sanitation, and fecal sludge management. His work focuses on an issue that often receives far less attention than it deserves.
Around the world, many sanitation initiatives focus on increasing access to toilets and latrines. Those efforts are essential. But long-term sanitation success also depends on what happens later. As waste accumulates, households and communities need safe, practical ways to manage it.
Working alongside local leaders in San Isidro, Philippines, we launched a proof-of-concept pilot to explore whether probiotic technology could help reduce sludge accumulation and odor in household sanitation systems.
Importantly, the project remained rooted in the same principles that guide all of our work. Community members participated in training, application, monitoring, and data collection. Local leaders helped guide implementation. Households actively contributed to the learning process.
The project was not simply testing a product. It was testing whether a new approach could become part of a larger, community-manageable solution to an ongoing challenge.
Encouraging Signs and New Questions
The early findings were encouraging. Households and community leaders reported noticeable reductions in odor following probiotic application. Measurements also suggested meaningful reductions in sludge accumulation within treated sanitation systems. Community participants found the product easy to use, safe to handle, and practical to incorporate into their daily routines.
For Dr. Manga, the preliminary findings were particularly exciting. Reflecting on the early results, he described experiencing “goosebumps” as he began to recognize the potential of what the SCD Probiotics pilot was revealing, and the new possibilities worth exploring.
Additional research, testing, and long-term monitoring are still needed. Questions remain. More evidence must be gathered. Yet the pilot demonstrated something important: when communities identify challenges, and when organizations with different expertise are willing to work together, innovative solutions can emerge.
A Kansas City Partnership with Global Potential
In May, we welcomed supporters, researchers, innovators, and community advocates to our headquarters for In Common: A Gathering for Creating Good, an event celebrating the collaboration and the relationships that made it possible.
At the celebration, Outreach International CEO Dr. Elene Cloete said, “I believe that collaboration can lead to transformative change… and such change is possible if we come together and we connect on our shared goals.” That spirit of radical collaboration became the foundation of our partnership. Rather than asking what one organization could accomplish alone, we began asking what might be possible if community leaders, researchers, nonprofit practitioners, and scientific innovators all work together.
The gathering highlighted something we have long believed to be true: meaningful progress happens when people are willing to share their knowledge, resources, and expertise in service of a common goal beyond their own interests.
It also reflected something special about Kansas City. As Dr. Cloete noted during the event, Kansas City is a place rich in generosity, innovation, knowledge, and potential. This partnership demonstrates what can happen when those strengths are directed toward challenges that extend far beyond our own neighborhoods.
From community leaders in the Philippines to scientists, researchers, nonprofit practitioners, and innovators here in Kansas City, this effort reflects a growing network of people committed to creating solutions that are practical, sustainable, and community-driven.
Looking Ahead
The story of this partnership is only beginning. The pilot in San Isidro was never intended to provide a final answer. It was designed to ask a question, test a possibility, and create an opportunity to learn. And what we’ve seen so far gives us so much reason for optimism.
As we continue exploring the potential of this work alongside SCD Probiotics, Dr. Manga, and community leaders in the Philippines, we remain guided by the same principle that started this journey: lasting solutions emerge when communities lead and partnerships follow.
Working toward a future where every community has the opportunity to thrive requires more than addressing challenges through a narrow scope. It requires bringing together people with different perspectives, varying expertise, and unique strengths—all working together to build a world beyond poverty.
How to Help
Learn more about Outreach International and SCD Probiotics and discover how you can become part of the solution that leads to a better future for us all.
