Soaeigna: Urban sanitation

Open defecation occurs where people have no choice but to defecate outside, onto the ground, often in full view of other people1. It affects around 15% of the World’s population, almost entirely in poor areas. Besides being unpleasant to live with, it’s very bad for the health of the community – flies and other pests transfer germs from exposed faeces to food and water sources. A single gram of faeces can contain as many as 10,000,000 viruses, 1,000,000 bacteria, 100 parasitic cysts and 100 parasitic eggs2. Ewww. Ingesting this heady mix can cause serious diseases, and leads to millions of deaths per year.

1 billion people are forced to practice open defecation around the world – UN ‘End Open Defecation’ campaign

In Madagascar, less than 11% of the population have access to improved sanitation facilities. What does this mean? Where I live, there’s a distinct divide between the richer and poorer parts of the community. If you head off the main roads and down into the winding alleys and cut-throughs of the poorer areas, there are no toilets, flushing or otherwise, and many families don’t have access to a latrine either. Thousands of people have no choice but to shit3 behind a bush, in the road, or on the ground in their family compound.

Tanambao market (photo by Killian Barry)

Soaeigna is a two year urban sanitation project Azafady is running in Fort Dauphin, the town on the South East coast where we’re based. Part of a long-term, wider plan to improve sanitation in town, it is currently in the second phase after a successful first year. Phase II includes the provision of latrines to 200 households, health and hygiene education, and a novel community-led triggering and monitoring programme to get people to want to improve the situation. It is estimated this phase will benefit around 4,000 people directly, and 70,000 indirectly as improving sanitation in the market area of town has obvious positive effects for all its inhabitants.

Each of the Pioneer volunteer schemes I’ve been the co-ordinator for has included a placement in Fort Dauphin working on Soaeigna. Staying at Azafady’s Lanirano campsite, volunteers enjoy a nice break from the more basic life in the bush, whilst getting involved in all aspects of the project. Pioneers help to make pieces of the wooden framework which forms the latrine “house”, the concrete SanPlats which cover the pit, and reinforcement rebar for the pit walls – the soil in town is so sandy that pits require reinforced concrete sides.

The latrine provision is basic but effective: for a small amount of money (which helps recipients to feel a sense of ownership and involvement, as opposed to being given everything for free), Azafady provides a SanPlat, the frame for the wooden house, and the parts for reinforcing the pit walls. With the help of our professional construction team, the participating family digs the pit, lines it, and assembles the house/cubicle on top. They then add walls and a roof (usually using cheaply available timber and palm leaves), and the latrine is ready for use within a few days.

To get the youngest generation on board with the cause, we make visits to primary schools in the area, and provide health and hygiene education. It’s hoped that in addition to getting the kids to use the latrines, and wash their hands more, this will also influence the behaviour of the parents and other relatives. The workshops include games, songs, and group discussions. What’s really great is how much the kids know already – they just need the facilities and encouragement to put it into practice.

The progress of the project is monitored not just by Azafady, but by the community themselves. Our community agents visit each group every month to see how things are going, and to help the inhabitants carry out their own survey. Is the latrine being used? Is it being kept clean? Is there a hand washing facility present? Families inspect each others latrines so that those who are doing well are encouraged by their results, and those who aren’t are shamed into trying harder. It’s blunt, and sometimes embarrassing, but this is the beauty of it – the taboo around talking about these issues is being broken, and everyone is getting involved.

It’s clear from visits to the area being targeted that this project will have a massive impact. Just one month after his compound received two latrines (shared amongst over a dozen people), one man told me they had already noticed an improvement – “It smells less, and there isn’t shit in the bushes anymore”.

Building on this success, Azafady has just begun work on Project Malio, a further three-year sanitation initiative in Fort Dauphin. This project uses lessons learnt from Soaeigna to improve the process, and will provide 800 more household latrines, as well as 13 latrines for the town’s public (non-fee paying) schools, in addition to further behavioural change campaigns.

With thanks to Mimi Coultas for editorial and technical advice, and Killian Barry for the photo of Tanambao market.