Household Latrines Save Lives in the Yungas
(Link to the Sanitation Facilities Project Description)
Lack of access to potable water and sanitation worldwide is one of the most devastating consequences of poverty. Diseases spread through drinking water result in higher rates of infant and child mortality. Worldwide, 2.2 million people die from diarrhea as a result of contaminated drinking water each year, the majority of them under the age of five. Potable water connections, basic-sanitation facilities, and training in basic-sanitation practices are critical to improving health and reducing child mortality.
In the municipalities of Palos Blancos and Caranavi, the lack of basic sanitation poses a real health threat. Only 51% of the population in these two municipalities has access to potable water, and only 16% has access to basic sanitation.
The problem is particularly pronounced in the rural areas of these municipalities, where more than three quarters of the population live. Only 39% of the rural population has access to potable water from a household or community connection. Basic sanitation is limited to 4% of the rural population. This results in high rates of disease, especially diarrhea and parasite infections among children and a high mortality rate per thousand children under the age of five—133 and 116 in Caranavi and Palos Blancos respectively, compared to the national average of 76.
ACDI/VOCA, through the Yungas Community Alternative Development Fund (YCADF), financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, is improving conditions in these two municipalities by providing latrines (Unidades Higiénicos Familiares or UHFs in Spanish) to families in rural communities. Further, ACDI/VOCA trainers have worked with these communities to build the capacity to maintain and manage these UHFs. These UHFs have been deemed such important and effective tools for improving the quality of life in the Yungas that in future grants administered by ACDI/VOCA UHFs will be constructed with all household water connections.
Every UHF built by the YCADF is equipped with a shower, toilet and a large sink. These UHFs provide a safe, sanitary and appropriate means of dealing with human waste. In addition, the families who have UHFs no longer need to bathe or wash their clothing in polluted rivers. These families are at less risk of disease and save hours of carrying water from the river each week.
Where the hydrology permits—where the soil can absorb water fast enough and where the water table is low enough that there is no risk of flooding—the YCADF builds UHFs with flush toilets, and below-ground absorption pits. In areas where the soil is not permeable enough for the infiltration of wastewater, the YCADF substitutes composting toilets for flush toilets. However, even the UHFs with composting toilets have a shower and a sink.
The physical structures make up only a part of the project. Training and capacity building amplify the impact of the bricks and mortar construction, transforming the UHFs from mere buildings into an effective means for improving the health and sanitation of communities in the Yungas. Therefore, ACDI/VOCA trainers work closely with the beneficiary communities, helping them understand what to expect during construction, how the UHFs will work, how to use them to improve their health and how to manage and maintain the systems after the construction crews and ACDI/VOCA have finished their work.
The trainers provide education in health and hygiene to the whole community so that everyone can use, clean and maintain their own UHF to improve their health and hygiene practices. Further training is directed at teachers, students and women—people who are either at high risk of disease themselves or who are responsible for the hygiene of others. This training respects the pace of learning and level of education of participants, takes into account the opinion of every person, whether a man or a woman, and is conducted in the language spoken in the community.
Maintenance and management of each potable-water system is the responsibility of a Committee on Potable Water and Sanitation (Comite de Agua Potable y Sanamiento or CAPYS in Spanish), with whom trainers work closely to organize appropriate administrative systems. The elected members of the CAPYS receive training not only on the details of operating and maintaining the potable-water system, but also in administration and accounting skills so that they can collect fees and manage a transparent budget for the routine maintenance and future expansion of the water system.
These UHFs have already benefited 636 families. Combined with the construction of potable-water projects, UHFs form the backbone of ACDI/VOCA’s efforts to reduce incidence of illness among rural populations in the Yungas. Though it’s neither glorious nor high profile, building bathrooms in rural areas is among the most important work that the YCADF is doing because it saves the lives of children in the Yungas.
