Latrines: A Very Good Thing

During my baseline survey, many of the 62 family compounds I interviewed talked about wanting a latrine. There were some pre-existing latrines in the area, but many of them weren't very sturdy and were susceptible to collapse, particularly during the rainy season.

A partially collapsed latrine

Two years ago the Catholic Mission of Salémata held a training for a group of village masons that covered ideal pit dimensions, durable latrine designs, how to mold a concrete latrine cap, and installing ventilation pipes. So, there was obviously a high level of community interest and available skilled masons, but the high cost and inconvenience of obtaining building materials meant that very few families had actually installed a latrine, and of course, without latrines people are forced to practice outdoor defecation, which contributes to the spread of dysentery and other diarrheal diseases.

All of this led me to write a Peace Corps Partnership Project grant proposal, and with an incredible amount of support from my friends and family in America it was quickly funded. Once I had the means, it was time to go back to the hardware stores in Kédougou where I’d gotten quotes, order the materials and arrange to have them transported the 80k (50 Miles) on a rough, unpaved road out to Salémata. Ordering the supplies was painless, but withdrawing the money from my account turned out to take almost five hours of waiting at the bank. With help from my host family and neighbors we spread the word about the project requirements and held meetings to make a list of participants and a plan for how people would pay their contributions, compensate the masons, and verify that the work had been done. Once all the supplies actually arrived (there were some truck problems and some inadequate stock problems, so it took a couple tries to get everything delivered and ready to go) participants paid their contribution and got checked off on the Chief’s list, and then came in pairs to collect their cement and materials.

Once the latrine building got underway I walked around with the head of the village Sanitation Committee to check in and see how things were going. We chatted with people about the project, talked about different ways to make covers for the hole, and made sure to work the many benefits of hand-washing with soap into the conversation. People were really positive and it was a huge relief to see that the whole thing had worked – latrines were built, awareness was raised, progress was made.

Some of the latrines are totally done and in use, but there are a few people who still need to put up the crintin privacy fencing. Now that hot season is upon us the Bassari craftsmen are starting to show up to the weekly lumo market with sheets of crintin, stools, beds, tables and chairs made from something that everyone calls bamboo, so hopefully the rest of the latrines will be screen in and operational in the next few weeks.

Working on this project has been a fantastic experience. As one of my neighbors said, “Adama, this is a very good thing for Salémata. Your work is good and now we have a latrine in our household. It will be a good thing and the people will see the latrines and remember you. Whenever I look at our latrine I will think of you.” As flattering as that is, this project wouldn't have happened (or would have been much, much more difficult) if people hadn't already been interested in latrines, if there hadn't been trained masons on hand, if my family and friends in America hadn't put on such a successful fundraiser, or if the chief and Sanitation Committee hadn't be willing to do the lion’s share of the accounting and explaining and distribution of supplies, and I’m grateful to everyone who contributed time, energy, and support to the project.

Winter Morning Delivery

Last week the last of the materials (the PVC pipes for ventilation) were delivered to my host fmaily's compound. The truck showed up really early - I had just woken up and was still sitting around my hut, wearing my warm socks and waiting for water to heat up when I heard it rumbling up the path. 

PVC pipes being delivered

I was happy to see them being unloaded and got out my camera to document the occasion, so of course the little kids (who are always up early and full of energy) bounded over, as much to gawk at the truck as to pester me for pictures. I complied, even though I hadn't had any coffee yet. Mankaba took a dozen pictures, mostly of his feet, but also of me and Sajou, and of my arm and Sajou and Daouda. Then Daouda took about a dozen photos of the back of Mankaba's head and then Mankaba told him to stop it and then I said "Ok, that's enough." and padded back to my hut for breakfast and to get properly dressed.

"Ok, that's enough, give it back now."

Delivery!

The materials for my latrine arrived! Or, most of them did. Everything except the sections of PVC pipe that will be used to provide pit ventilation was delivered, but the hardware store ran out of PVC pipe. It only took two days for them to get it in stick, but then the delivery truck had some mechanical issues and that took a few more days to fix. Things seem to be back on track now and really, it wouldn't be Senegal if there wasn't at least some sort of minor delay and the driver's a nice guy who gave me a good deal on transport so I can't complain (too much).

The truck drove right up on to our compound and they unloaded the cement into my host mom Mariama's old hut, which luckily is still standing. She had a new square hut built about six months ago and has just been using the old hut for storage, which was extremely serendipitous for me and my five metric tons of latrine-bound cement. People have been digging or hiring diggers to get the latrine pits ready, and once the PVC ventilation pipes arrive (which should happen today, if all goes well) the masons will have everything they need to start installing the latrines themselves.

The truck guys unloaded the iron bars (rebar, you would call it?) on to the ground and my host brother Mamadou and his friends hauled them over to the side of the storage hut. Sajou Ba and Diabou tried to "help" for about ten seconds before they (quite rightly) got scolded away. 

I'm happy to see that things are moving along and even happier to see that people are still motivated and interested in the project. Every time I walk over to the market I see more holes being dug and someone calls me over to ask if the materials are ready yet or tell me that they paid their part of the community contribution and are ready to start. There's still a lot of work to be done but we're off to a good start. 

Meetings & Millions

It's been a busy few weeks here in Kédougou. We got four new Agriculture PCVs (and they're awesome), it it suddenly freezing cold (68°F out at night! I have to sleep with a blanket and a fleece!), and the latrine project I've been working on has been making good progress. 

People have been steadily talking about the project, and now that the rainy season is definitively over  the ground has dried out enough to dig a pit without it collapsing. My host father (who is also the chef du village) informed the neighborhood that it was time to get together and called a meeting last week. One representative from each interested household came, along with Mr. Sow, the Coordinator of the Salémata Sanitation Committee and a couple committee members. Thanks to past causerie info sessions and a training at the Catholic Mission last year most people (and all the masons) already have a pretty solid idea of why latrines are important and how to place and build them. During the meeting I explained (and then Jarga Sada repeated more clearly) exactly what the requirements were and why I chose to work on this project. They discussed and then decided upon details of how things would play out -- where to get sand, who would manage the cash, how to dig the holes, all the logistical things that I'd hoped they would sort out during the meeting. 

Everyone decided that Jarga ("traditional chief") Sada Souaré, my host father, should be in charge of collecting the community contributions, checking each family off the list, and paying the masons once the work in complete, which is great. He's well respected, very trustworthy, and cares a lot about improving health in his village. Mr. Sow (above, in the blue shirt on the right) was really helpful, particularly with the technical aspects of the project, and Jarga Sada (below, in the pale blue with the notepad) made sure that everything ran smoothly. I'd forgotten my camera but luckily the Sanitation Committee members took photos and then e-mailed them to me. All in all the meeting went really well and I couldn't have been more pleased (and relieved) at how it went. It even started on time (meaning that it was scheduled for 2:00pm and everyone promptly arrived at 4:00pm)!

Jarga Sada aking the list of participating families

Once the participating families were all signed on, committed to making the cash contribution, and started getting their sand, crintin privacy fencing, and pits going, the next step was to finalize the order for building materials and arrange for transport. To do that I came in to Kédougou, talked to the hardware store employees who had given me estimates when I was planning the project, got a few comparison quotes for due diligence, chatted with drivers about delivery rates, and then spent four hours waiting in line at the bank to make a withdrawal.

Here in Senegal we use the CFA franc ("say-fah") and one American dollar is worth about 500 CFA. This project is fairly modest as far as construction projects go, but the budget was still over a million CFA and holding a million's worth of pretty much anything is just kind of fun. I stacked it up, laid it all out on table, fanned myself with it, and then went to the hardware store to pay for everything.

I didn't hold on to it for long, though, (which was fine with me, carrying large amounts of cash is slightly nerve-wracking) and the hardware store wrote me out a very nice receipt (so that no one can accuse me of "eating" the money) complete with both my names and an official stamp and signature and everything. 

Tomorrow I'll be hightailing it back to Salémata to meet the big old truck that will be delivering all the materials. I'm really glad that the project is coming along and - even though there's still a lot of work left to do - I'm already looking forward to seeing the actual latrines get installed. 

Collapse!

So, we love our Regional House. It's where we come to get our mail, check our e-mail, get our protein fixes, stock up on vegetables, take a break, or catch a car up to Dakar. It's also where we have a fancy marble-inlaid latrine (or douche,* as they're somewhat inaccurately called here) can take a stand up (outdoor, unheated) shower, which is really nice. Or, it was, until the walls of our shower/latrine area started to crack. And then crumble.

The out-of-order latrine at our Regional House

And then, over night, a hole opened up in the floor of the latrine area. The photo on the left another PCV took last week; the other one I took today. We had no idea that the people who built it just dug an enormous pit, covered it with a thin slab of concrete without any sort of supporting structures, and called it a day. Luckily the floor came apart slowly, no one got caught by surprise, and we're already starting the process of having it pumped, re-built (more practically, this time) and will hopefully be able to salvage some of that nice marble from the floor.

All this has really impressed upon me the importance of a good, sturdy latrine cap, and I'll be keeping that in mind as my own latrine project rolls out. No one wants to go douche-spelunking. 

* "Douche" means "shower" in French, but people use it to mean "toilet," kind of like how Americans call toilets "bathrooms."

Privy Party!

Back in August my amazing grandmother (with lots of support from my equally amazing mother and family) decided to celebrate her birthday by hosting a lovely tea party to benefit the latrine-building project I’d proposed. She called it a Privy Party and it was a resounding success. She raised so much money that I was able to expand the project, increasing the number of latrines that we’ll be able to build.

I can only hope that the latrines
will turn out as well as the tea party did ~ 

My community here is very excited about this project, and I’m eager to start building, but there are still a few weeks left until the rainy season is definitively over and building can begin. I’ll be doing my best to make the most of this time to increase awareness of the importance of latrines and of how to go about getting involved with the project - each participating family will provide a contribution, learn about disease prevention and latrine use and maintenance, and assist with the construction of their latrine. It’s not a hard sell; people around here are generally really enthusiastic about latrine use. Some compounds already have latrines, but they’re often used by a large number of people, leading to the latrine prematurely filling up and breaking down.  Many other houses have no latrine at all, and so people resort to practicing outdoor defecation (a fancy way to say pooping off in the bushes or out in the fields) or settle for using a neighbor’s latrine when they can, which is fine but tends to exacerbate the overuse problem.

I really can’t do enough to thank all the people who contributed to this project – especially my family – but I will do my best to post updates as the project progresses and to (eventually!) send out thank-you cards. It’s been really moving to see how engaged and motivated people are to help other people improve their communities.

Latrines!

Diarrhea is no fun. Many things can contribute to high levels of diarrheal diseases, including improper hand-washing (i.e., without soap) and a lack of access to latrines. Along with malaria and respiratory infections, diarrhea is one of the most common reasons that people living my community have to seek treatment at the Health Center; during my baseline survey people frequently talked about how not having a latrine on the compound was a problem for their family. Many people in my village understand the connection between good sanitation and illness prevention, but almost half of the people living around me don't have access to a toilet or a latrine. (This really makes the personal pit-latrine that I have all to myself, right behind my hut, seem positively luxurious.) People usually don't have latrines because of the cost of the cement and rebar needed for the latrine cap, because the only place to buy cement and rebar is nearly 85 kilometers (about 50 miles) away on a fairly terrible dirt road, or because they don't know how to go about installing one. 

Not having enough latrines contributes to open-air defecation, or, less delicately, pooping behind a bush. This means that it's really easy for fecal matter to spread around under the trees where kids play and into the fields where their parents farm, bringing with it any amobeas and dysentery (which will forever remind me of Oregon Trail) and giardia germs that might have been lurking about.

My little host sisters and cousin, playing under a tree. 

In order to address this problem I started planning a latrine project at the end of last year but after my first funding source fell through things were delayed, and by the time I decided to apply for Peace Corps Partnership Project (PCPP)  funds the rainy season was fast approaching. I'm hoping to get the PCPP fully funded by the time the rains stop so that we can start building in November, when the weather is dry and the corn harvest has been brought in.

Image courtesy of
practicalaction.org

This little illustration basically shows what we'll be building if all goes as planned. After I arrange for the purchase and transport of the materials out to our village, each family, with the help of local masons, will reinforce the pit and lay in a cement cap, creating a sturdy, long-lasting latrine for the whole compound to use. 

The village chief, local health workers, and the heads of local women's groups will hold community meetings before and during the implementation phase to explain the cash and in-kind contributions that will be required for participation the project. We'll also have educational sessions about proper latrine usage, latrine maintenance, using oral rehydration solution to treat diarrhea, and the importance of hand-washing with soap.

This PCPP is intended to facilitate the construction of 30 latrines, and if they're all installed successfully then pretty much every compound in my area will have a proper, functional latrine and know how and why to use it,  which will be absolutely fantastic.  If it goes well this project will serve as a model for future latrine projects in neighboring communities, which would also be fantastic.    

If you would like to read the project profile (or if you're interested in donating to this project) please take a look at the PCPP profile page.  

Install Prep & How Hot It Is Today

Today I'm going to go into the market to finish buying things for installation at my site. Peace Corps gives us an installation allowance, and yesterday I bought a foam mattress, a couple trunks, some odds and ends, and a variety of buckets, tubs, cups, spoons, and kettles.

These are the type of kettles we bought for our latrines. I'm pretty sure toilet paper will not be available for purchase in our villages, so most people are going to be switching over to "the water method," which is what Senegalese people do. (People use water and their left hand to clean themselves off in the toilet, which is why it's really, really not okay to eat, greet, or do pretty much anything with your left hand here.) Most people also have a few of these kettle floating around for handwashing, teeth brushing, ablutions before prayers, and so on. Handy!

So. I could go one and write all about cultural insights and all the ways my life will change while living in Salémata, but really I just want to talk about how hot it is right now.

 

It's 8:30 in the morning at and it's already getting pretty warm. When there's a little wind it's much better, but yesterday afternoon the breeze died and the humidity went up to 112% (I checked on Wunderground) and coming back from the market was kind of like swimming through hot pudding.

The silver lining is that because it is so hot during the afternoon no one does anything except dozing in the shade, drinking water by the liter and eating mangoes. Could be worse.