Malawian Toilets
Hey folks. I hope everyone is doing well. Congrats to everyone who is expecting bebe’s. there must be something in the water back home! ;) Just got back to Lilongwe. I spent the last week in the Northern part of Malawi on a field trip, conducting monitoring visits for some of CPAR’s projects. It was great to get out of the city, and back into the bush. Part of my job is to do periodic reviews of the projects, suggest improvements, and help the field staff find solutions to unexpected issues. However, as most of my time is spent at CPAR’s country office in the capital city, it is easy to become far removed from the realities of rural Malawian life, and the projects on the ground.
Our first task was to assess a water and sanitation project which is being implemented in 20 villages, targeting 6000 people. The purpose of the project is to provide access to clean water and to impart proper sanitation practices in order to reduce the fatal yet common diseases of typhoid, cholera and diarrhea. I love the water component of these projects. They are simple, and it brings huge changes to a community. Previously women had to walk between 2 – 5 kms to fetch the family’s daily bucket of dirty water from a muddy stream. Now, there are more than 50 clean boreholes strategically situated no more than 1km from each household provided a closer and cleaner water source. The sanitation aspect of the project is trying to get each household to build a pit latrine (i.e toilet), and getting people into the habit of washing their hands. Previously, the common practice was to use any bush, and to clean their hands on the grass. Surprisingly, this is the most difficult part of the project as it involves changing habits. So we spent two days driving off road to the most remote areas, walking through villages (while avoiding bushes), taking pictures of people’s toilets, and asking them about their personal hygiene practices. It’s kinda crazy trying to get people to do simple things such as washing their hands after toileting and before eating, considering it is something they’ve never really done before. While the people were amused to see the “white” (aka brown) girl walking around their village taking photos of toilets, I found it shocking to see how people live in such poverty. Even the differences between these rural villages and Malawian towns are incredible. Not to mention Malawi compared to the rest of the world. Yet, it is also completely humbling to observe the work ethic, strength and dignity of the people as they go about their daily lives filled with hardships. Attached are some photos from the trip!
Cheers,
Tess
posted by Tess and Jim O @ 3:04 PM
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