Summary
Reduce diarrhea by increasing children’s hygienic use of latrines, improving the quality of hygiene and sanitation in the area and facilitating the emergence of sustainable sanitation services.
Background
In Malawi, latrine use by children is particularly low. The latrine also known as the “Chimbudzi” are feared by children due to the large drop hole and unreliable construction materials. Children do not start using latrines until they are 7 years old, while infants and toddlers defecate openly which means pathogen-rich feces are left unattended in the environment. This is a considerable health risk, especially in areas where hand-washing practices are poor.
School sanitation facilities are usually poor and are not designed sustainably. Schools with latrines have problems because the latrines are poorly managed, are not particularly valued and are abandoned once pits are full. Cleaning toilets is usually enforced as a form of punishment, which further erodes a child’s sense of the importance of good sanitation.
Upgrading existing household facilities is slow and undermined by subsidy-driven initiatives. Efforts to improve sanitation have been hampered by failures to develop sustainable sanitation services beyond the life of a “sanitation project” and limited evidence that previous sanitation interventions lead to increased use of latrines by children.
Location
Chikwawa, Southern, MalawiAttachments
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Budget-K...
Focus
Primary Focus: Sanitation - Schools
Secondary Focus: Sanitation - Households
People Getting Safe Drinking Water: 11,000
11 participating schools, each get 2 improved handwashing facilities. Each school has approximately 100 students.
School Children Getting Water:
People Getting Sanitation: 11,000
11 participating schools, each get 10 latrines. 100 students per latrine (11 schoolsx10 latrinesx100 students)
People Getting Other Benefits: 11,000
The program will also address hygiene at school and at the household levels by increases hand-washing practices in the community as a whole, and innovatively addressing the problem of open defecation by toddlers, a key contributor for the high rate of diarrhea.
Start Date: 2008-01-01
Completion Date: 2008-12-30
Technology Used:
The project will build Arborloos with a superstructure at the schools, plus encourage sale of full scale composting latrines and child size arbor loos at the household level.
Phases:
The first phase of the project will involve an improved sanitation and beautification competition between the schools in each TA.
The second phase targets adults by making full-scale composting latrines available to each household under a loan scheme
Community Organization:
The program engages children as change agents to introduce improved hygiene practices to the household, a model that is thought to be effective for promoting long-term changes in health and hygiene practices in the developing world. Water For People and its partners will begin activities in primary schools in 3 Traditional Authorities (TAs) in the districts of Chikwawa and Rumphi. The participating TAs are Kasisi in Chikwawa, and Mwalweni and Mwamulowe in Rumphi with a total of 11 schools from Kasisi, 12 in Mwalweni and 8 in Mwamulowe.
Government Interaction:
Ancillary activities:
The program also targets adults by making full-scale composting latrines available to each household under a creative financing arrangement in which the cost of the latrines is paid back over time with the income generated from the sale of the compost. Demand for latrines will be met by sanitation promoters who will implement the loan scheme. Once the debt is repaid, the family can sell its compost for much-needed income. Soil is poor in much of Malawi and fertilizer is a sought-after commodity.
Other Issues:
Children throughout the region will receive child-size “arbor-loos” that allow them to defecate safely and hygienically. Ash and dirt are added to feces after each use, which helps eliminate odors, promotes composting and increase hand-washing. The ash/soil mixture serves as an effective cleansing agent, reducing the need for expensive soap. When the pit latrine is full, the slab can be moved to a new location and a tree planted in its place thus beautifying the school.
Each student receives a “Chimbudzi Buddy Voucher” (CBV) that they take home to encourage the family to purchase a children’s latrine and an improved sanitation facility for their home. If the family presents the CBV to the local sanitation promoter and acquires a children’s latrine and an adult latrine then the school will be rewarded a point. Participating schools will qualify for the competition if they successfully do the following: beautify their school, eliminate open defecation at the school, increase hand-washing at the school and in the broader community through innovative hygiene promotion techniques developed by children, and prove that at least 55% of the pupil’s CBVs have been converted to improved household sanitation.
Maintenance Revenue:
Maintenance Cost:
Metrics:
Prior art before metrics
Cost: $30,440
Please see attached.
Co Funding Amount: $440
Chikwawa District Assembly
Community Contribution Amount:
Fund Requested: $30,000
Implementing Organization: FreshWater Project
FreshWater Project is a local nongovernment organization (NGO), devoted to providing clean water and sanitation services to disadvantaged rural communities of Malawi. Founded in 1995 by Charles Banda, FreshWater Project is unique in its approach in that it works with the communities – responding and listening to their needs, and working together to build the capacity of the people.
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