Become a partner through increasing the use of SANPLATS in Nakyerongosa community
Status: 
Step:
3
Due to the need to promote better sanitation practices in Nakyerongosa, it was agreed by the project team and the community members to cast sanplats. These were casted and the community members are supposed to access them at a subsidized fee.
The innovation was as a result of a community out cry due to the black ants which eat up the logs which initially are used in construction of most of the community members’ latrine slabs. The sanplats have been of great help to the members who have accessed them. They have prevented damage to the latrines. This has even been evidenced through proper management of the latrines arising out of the sensitisation prgrammes that have been carried out. Prior to provision of sanplats, community members feared using their latrines during rainy seasons because they were slippery. The sanplats are not affected by anything and are therefore durable and safe too.
However, due to the low incomes of the people, most of the households cannot afford to access sanplats. It is due to this need, that I am requesting neighbours who can assist to do so. We would like to provide each deserving household with a sanplat so as to be able to achieve our goal for the project.
Project: Previous Discussions
Dear All
Here is a link,which may be of help-
WATER PUMP(FOR AFRICA)
http://www.playpumps.org/site/c.hqLNIXOEKrF/b.3831731/k.6E04/Global_Advi...
Email- info@playpumps.org
Best regards,
Sushmita,
India
Hi Sushmita,
Thanks for the information. I am going to look up the web site, and hope to get some helpful hints which will be beneficial to my project in Nakyerongosa.
Kind regards,
Asuman.
Casting of sanplats has been completed and people are buying them amidst poverty that is raging in Uganda. Through construction of durable pit latrines and continued usage by households and training of the community in hygiene sessions, there is a reduction in water related diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Many people have reported that they are spending less money and time in clinics to buy medicines for their families.
This also has enabled the community members to concentrate on social and economic activities and improve their well-being. The community wants to implement an income generating project that will enable them to make money so as to continue improving on the hygiene and sanitation in their households.
Another benefit arising out of the improvement in sanitation is that women no longer fear to pick green vegetables to be used for their meals during the rainy season. Uganda is a very fertile country and during the rainy season, green vegetables commonly referred to as “dodo” grow everywhere. They are highly nutritious and can be mixed in beans, soy flour and groundnuts to make sauce to be eaten with any food such as sweet potatoes, cassava, maize flour or bananas. Women used to shun picking vegetables during the rainy season because many community members with poor latrines were not using them due to fear of falling due to them being slippery. The situation has changed dramatically with the project increasing ownership and use of durable household latrines.
Another development arising out of the project has been the training of local masons who were identified by the community. These have been trained to build latrines in Nakyerongosa village. They have also been given materials to assist them in carrying out the construction work. It is hoped that this will ensure sustainability in that these masons will assist the community to construct pit latrines at a lower charge. During the community meetings that were held before the project started, members pointed out some of the reasons for the poor status of pit latrines as high costs charged by masons in construction and high costs of cement to make latrine slabs. It is a success that these two issues have been addressed by the project.
Visits are being conducted in the village to assess progress of all activities in hygiene, sanitation and water. These visits mainly focus on house to house check ups where discussions are held with household owners in the struggle to promote better hygiene behaviors and sanitation practices. Through these discussions a lot of issues have been raised. For example, women have reported that, their husbands have tried to participate in the construction of the required facilities which was not the case before. This positive change has attributed to the sensitization seminars which were conducted at village level. “Mrs. Margret Kivumbi shared her experience and informed us that initially, men took household chores to be meant for women, and they could not bother to assist us. But thanks to the project, things have changed nowadays and we are currently saved from too much load we had before. One can find time to rest now.”
This is also another positive outcome arising out of the project. We have been emphasizing equal participation of both men and women to solve hygiene, sanitation and water issues in the household.
The 'gobar gas plant' is an environmentally friendly product which converts faecal matter to fertilizer, and also produces methane gas as a by-product. This gas can be used for cooking etc. This is a cost effective solution through which cutting of trees for cooking can be reduced since methane gas can be made available for cooking, organic fertilizer can be made available for community use, and the environment can be kept clean. Contamination of ground water with faecal waste can be avoided by chanelling all faecal waste to these gobar gas plants.
A basic schematic diagram and explanation of how the gobar gas system works can be seen on the following site -
http://www.childhaven.ca/gobar.htm
Vijai
Hi to you all,
I have received questions on the status of the pit latrines that we are trying to improve through provision of sanplats. I have therefore attached some photos of an unsafe latrine and sanplats that have been casted to enable households improve their status.
Regards,
Kaggwa