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The project is to improve 30 latrines over 12 weeks in a rural village with virtually no sanitation infrastructure. In addition to preventing surface water from entering the latrine pit and pulling contamination into the groundwater, improved latrines avoid the danger of wood and clay slabs breaking and dropping people into latrine pits. This level of infrastructure will be a new step forward for the poor farmers who live in the village. Some of the villagers currently must wait for dark to defecate in a nearby field because they have no latrine at all.
The community will provide all of the labor and the locally available materials for the project for a total of 27% of the project cost. The money from the Partnership Program will go toward purchasing cement and tools to complete the work. Once the project is complete, the standing Water and Sanitation Committee will continue to utilize the skills and knowledge of latrine improvement gained during the project to improve other latrines in the village.
In an earlier project, the Peace Corps Volunteer and her homologue installed 10 reinforced concrete latrine slabs, leaving roughly 75 households without improved sanitation infrastructure. The rest of the households are eager to "keep up with the Joneses" in the American vernacular. The volunteer has received many requests to install slabs in other households; some households going as far as to dig the pit before the volunteer could tell them ‘no’.
The village of Zamblala has a population of roughly 1200 people. It is located in rural Mali, in the cercle of Koutiala. Most of the villagers are subsistence farmers. During much of the year (November through June), precipitation is negligible. There is little or no infrastructure in the village, including a complete lack of water delivery infrastructure or sanitation infrastructure. Most latrines have neither a reinforced slab nor any kind of lining, causing erosion at the mouth, and allowing surface water to enter the latrine pit and pull contamination into the groundwater. There is also the alarming possibility of the wood and clay slab breaking and dropping one into the latrine pit itself!
The village chief and 15 villagers have formed a Water and Sanitation Committee, with the goal of improving access to clean water for the entire village. The committee is headed by the Peace Corps Volunteer’s homologue, and several of the members are prominent in the community. There are 6 women on the committee, and the members range in age from early twenties to a gray-haired member in her mid sixties.
As described, there are virtually no improved latrines in the village. Some households have an unimproved pit latrine with simple wood and clay slab, while other households simply wait for dark to defecate in a nearby field. The community is aware of the implications to health and well-being of the unimproved sanitation situation, both through a PACA session, and one-on-one sensiblizations done by the volunteer.
Although there are no instant, dire ramifications if the project does not go forward, the benefits are substantial if this request is granted. Though it is difficult to discretely measure the health benefits of ending open defecation for the entire community, they are real and significant nonetheless. This is in addition to the pride felt by any homeowner who can invite guests to use the facilities without fear of horrifying them.
In an earlier project, the Peace Corps Volunteer and her homologue installed 10 reinforced concrete latrine slabs, leaving roughly 75 households without improved sanitation infrastructure. The rest of the households are eager to "keep up with the Joneses" in the American vernacular. The volunteer has received many requests to install slabs in other households; some households going as far as to dig the pit before the volunteer could tell them ‘no’.
The Water and Sanitation Committee, feeling the eagerness of the community, formally requested that the volunteer submit a new project proposal. The volunteer's homologue conferred with two other PCV homologues in the area to determine an efficient and lasting method for latrine improvement.
The community contribution is all of the unskilled labor and the locally available materials in addition to paying for the skilled labor. This includes digging both the latrine and soak away pits, and collecting the sand, gravel, and rocks. It also includes supplying at least two people to assist with concrete mixing and simple masonry tasks. Transport of materials from the market town 3 kilometers away is also a community contribution. The community portion, both cash and in kind is roughly 27% of the total project cost.
The project will take approximately twelve weeks to complete. Each latrine improvement will take two weeks, on average, but the portion of the project which must be completed by trained Water and Sanitation Committee members will only be a day and a half if the household has done its part. This means that work could go on in as many as 4 households in one week. Considering urgent farm work, weddings, funerals, and other days off, 2.5 households per week is a safer estimate, meaning 30 households will receive latrine improvements.
There is an initial phase involving the purchase of the brick mold in the capitol and the first wave of supplies in the local city. After that, cement will be purchased as necessary. Transport from the city where it is available each week is reliable and storage in village during the rainy season can be problematic. The initial purchase will be done with the volunteer's homologue and the treasurer of the committee. After that, when a rapport has been established with the supplier and transporter, the volunteer will be able to travel to the city alone and purchase additional supplies.
The actual process begins when each household spends 2-3 days digging the latrine pit and collecting the raw materials. The trained Water and Sanitation Committee member then arrives with the cement, brick mold, rebar, and tools necessary to construct the bricks and slab, making sure to measure the dimensions of the pit and it's distance from the closest well. After that, the household must water the bricks and slab every day for a week. During that week, the soak away pit should also be dug, if it was not initially dug. At the end of the week, the committee member will return to lay the bricks and add the slab. At this time, the remaining floor space in the latrine will be covered with a layer of concrete and the rocks and pipe will be installed in the soak away pit. If the latrine area is small, and there is concrete left over at the end of the day, the household will be invited to use it for finishing the surface of an associated urination and washing area.
The project directly builds skills by training committee members in masonry techniques and project design and management. In addition, each household in the community will learn about latrine maintenance and will be able to learn or practice simple masonry techniques often used in sanitation work. As the project cost includes the brick mold, the community will have the capacity to build new improved latrines long after Peace Corps has gone.
The community will have all the knowledge and skills, as well as all of the tools to repeat any and every part of the project. Not all members of the community will be able to purchase the cement or rebar to complete the project in its entirety, though. Each household will know to sweep the latrine and washing area every day and wash the areas down once a week. They will know what should and should not go in the latrine and soak pits, and what to do when one or the other fills up. In this way, the sanitation benefits will be long-lasting.
The volunteer and committee have committed to designing a long-term plan for sanitation in the village including a plan for safe waste transportation and treatment when a latrine has filled up. It will be the committee's role to enforce compliance with the plan when the volunteer has gone.
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