Integrated projects–latrines

Sanitation may be an embarrassing word. Something we don’t like to talk about. Something people in the communities we try to help are also embarrassed to talk about. But access to water and sanitation is the foundation of development. Unfortunately the toilets that we take for granted are considered a luxury by the over 2 billion people on earth who lack them. Without toilets, people are forced to defecate on the bare ground, or in urban and peri-urban areas, to stand in line to use a filthy public latrine. The result of this can be summed up in one lethal word: diarrhea. Diarrhea thrives in the absence of basic, hygienic conditions and is the number one killer of children in the world.

Poor sanitation has a profound impact on many aspects of life for the poor. Children who are sick with diarrhea are malnourished and so drained of energy that they cannot learn in school or participate in the primary task of childhood: playing. Girls’ education is devastated often by the simple lack of a school toilet. Adolescent girls often have to meet stricter cultural requirements than boys. When they relieve themselves, they often can only use more secluded places. If there is no toilet at school, they are frequently forced to drop out. Of the world’s 700 million children, 121 million children are not enrolled in school and the majority of them girls. And two-thirds of the world’s 875 million illiterate adults are women. Without education, future generations do not have the tools they need to fight poverty and prevent disease. Finally, local and national economies are weakened by the need of families to spend a significant portion of their spare incomes on visits to doctor and medicines, while missing work due to ill-health.

To address this critical issue, our water projects always involve a sanitation component. Our local partner organizations work with communities to construct simple, hygienic latrines. In rural areas, these are often lined pit latrines that are covered with a concrete slab and enclosed with a superstructure made from local materials for privacy. A variety of latrine designs are available with varying costs so that households can select a latrine that works in local hydro-geologic conditions and also is best for an individual family’s needs and wants.