A packed room full of students, staff and faculty recently came together to hear from Bentley’s newest partner in learning, Kweku Anno. As a Ghanaian engineer, inventor, social entrepreneur, and global health and sustainability champion, Anno discussed his efforts to improve public health through his company, BioFil.

With more than 2.5 billion people worldwide lacking the basic necessity of a toilet, considerable disease transmission and increased childhood mortality rates are the result.  In fact many children must face the decision to pursue an education based on the availability of sanitary toilets. Anno has developed an innovative system that provides a basic, clean, and sustainable sanitation facility at an affordable cost for families and communities in Ghana. His system, BioFil, can dramatically improve the quality of life for people in regions that don’t have the infrastructure to support standard toilets and wastewater treatment systems. 

This summer, Bentley students will work in Ghana as interns to learn about persistent global health issues and assist Anno in continuing to build his business. “We are not going to Ghana to solve their problems, we are going Ghana to learn about what they do to solve their own problems,” said Diane Kellogg, director of the Ghana Project and professor of Management. The students will work with Anno to grow his pioneering technology and promote it to the worldwide market.

The on-campus event was sponsored by the Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, the Ghana Project, and the Valente Center. To learn more, visit initiatives.bentley.edu/Ghana.