An estimate of the costs for building the latrines has been made. I have no idea what the costs are for building a two pit latrine. But this estimate seems a little expensive in my view. Which Neighbour is willing to review this budget. Preferably someone with expertise on building latrines in Nepal and/or South East Asia.

I have added the cost estimate to this posting.

Cost estimate of latrine.xls

Dear Claudia and Rewati,

You will find here attached a revised version of the estimate. My comments are below:

Superstructure:
40% of that cost is related to the superstructure. There seemed to be a wrong calculation in the Excel sheet as the amounts do not correlate together.

The design shows a concrete block superstructure with cement coating built at 18 inches over the ground level. None of this is necessary. People can build a superstructure with the materials they use usually for their house. One can build it out with old ironsheets or adobe (mud – clay mixture). As long as the superstructure provides intimacy, there is no binding rules for its construction in the case of a twin pit latrine. Even the roof can be put later if no money is available to buy metal sheeting. The only important thing is the floor that should be made of concrete with the squatting plate fitted properly.

As one volunteer suggested, it is possible to have the toilet installed in the house. This can be very convenient for the family and it avoids building any superstructure. Using a “wet” squatting plate do not bring any smell either.

My proposal is to consult the community on this topic and seek their support so that they take care themselves of the superstructure, so that no funding is required for this part of the latrine (except the roof).

Foundation and pit:
Due to the choice of a twin pit latrine, the pit is generally lined from bottom to the top as emptying may cause a risk of collapse (but this depends on soil). Full lining is costly. However here are some suggestions to limit the costs to a minimum:
-use locally available materials that are free: stones if available. It is hard work to take them out, chisel them and everything, but worth it in terms of cost as the only cost is transport and construction (compared with cement blocks). Are there some masons available in the town that could participate through a rate reduction in their own salary?
-Rewati mentioned that river gravel is widely available. Pits could also be lined with concrete (cement, gravel, sand).
-Make the pits below the latrine to save on the slab and covers (concrete).
-Make the pits close together so that they have a shared wall (one wall less to build – see attached picture). This is not possible if round tubing is used as in the design proposed.
IF THE SOIL CONDITION DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A PROBLEM, it can be recommended to line only the first 0.6-1.0 m upper section of the pit. (Obviously not if we use two pits side-by-side.)

Punning: I do not know what this is.

So, if we increase substantially the level of contribution of the community, we could make that project a reality with 100 Euro per latrine rather than 450 Euro (see revised Excel sheet). The amount we would look for would be about 20,000 Euro. I don’t think it could go much lower than that for the simple reason that twin pit latrine are a little more expensive than other latrines.

All the best,

Martin

Other issues:
1.Location:
As I do not know precisely what type of soil is there, I would not build any latrine within a minimum of 30m from any water point.

2.Funding:
A way to get started with only a small portion of the funding required is to use a “revolving fund”. For example, if the money is made available for only 20 latrines, the first 20 are built. As the families reimburse their small loan, more latrines are built. If things turn well, the social pressure incites the people with a loan to repay as quickly as possible so that more people can benefit from the latrines.

Cost estimate of latrine revised.xls

See attached.

Common wall pit.JPG

Dear Martin and Claudia,

Thank you Martin for your good contribution regarding review the budget.

Yes, the villagers can make the superstructure from locally available materials. Similarly they can use stone and gravels which are available in near by river side. They also contribute un skilled labour as their contribution.

I think this revised budget may be little bit insuficient. But we can manage. Any way revised budget is ok.

Other issue:
Location: Location is slightly slope and soil is red and black.
Funding: Yes, I also agree with your ideas, but I thunk it would be better in the started with 1/4 (25%) house in the village.

Regards,

Rewati

Hi Martin & Rewati,

Martin thanks for revising the budget. This makes a lot of difference.

I think the idea of the community themselves making the superstructure and saving on costs is wonderful. Having latrines installed on a revolving fund or microcredit basis is also great.

Rewati, can you talk to the community and ask them how they feel about all this and let us knoe as soon as possible?

thanks

Claudia

Dear Claudia,

I was out of the Kathmandu valley for few days due to my urgent work. So I was unable to post in time. Coming Saturday I will meet with community people and then I will post their comments.

Regards,

Rewati

Dear Rewati,

In view of your forthcoming meeting on Saturday, here are some tips on issue that could eventually be discussed with more emphasis:

1. In order to put on track this project, I go with other volunteers and believe a local health committee would be great to take on the project and health dissemination activities. You could provide them with guidance (have you had a look at the PHAST booklet?) and act as a resource person. Conducting a health campaign requires constant input and is a daily task that, with all your other works, can hardly be achieved as you are mostly outside the community. My suggestion: get a feedback from your meeting if such a committee could be organized. I would not exceed 9 members, with both women and men. 1 or 2 children could also be part of the committee. If the local teacher shows interest, he/she would be a good input too.

Selection criteria for members of the committee:
1. Interest in the topic, willing to learn
2. Able to provide some time for the good of the community
3. Has some communication skills - good speaker and listener
4. We look for people with different networks within the community so that they promote the activities to everybody in the community. (Coverage is more important for sanitation then for water provision.)
5. Ability to read/write an asset but not as important as the above-mentioned criteria.

2. The latrine subject: From your input, it is well understood that poor sanitation is a problem in Sikharpa, but how does people feel about it? Is it really in their top priority? Let them talk about the problems they think are related to poor sanitation. How much do they want to do something about it? What are they willing to do to make the situation better? These are general questions that are vague. To have a better idea of the real interest they have, I suggest you ask those two questions:
- How much time per week would you be willing to spend in solving this issue? [No time, 1 hour/week, half-day, day]
- If you were given the chance today to buy a solution-kit at the corner shop that would solve the sanitation problem, how much would you be able and willing to pay for it?
This provides some kind of personal indication and we can then adapt the response according to their feedback. Also you could discuss how a pilot project could be done at the school.

3. Seasonal factor: When does people have more time to get involved in health promotion activities (likely on evenings?)? When would they have more free time so that they can help build latrines? For example, during planting/harvesting participation may not be possible. This may provide us with appropriate key dates.

4. Discuss when should you come back to the community and what is expected from them and from you at that next visit.

At this stage, you certainly do not want to make promises that could be unmet. We have no funding yet, but it is not a reason for not taking action. If they are willing to change things and make things happen, it is the most important factor to make the change happen.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Dear Martin,

Last week I went to Sikharpa for meeting, but I unable to conduct a meeting. Because Sikharpa peoples are busy in harvesting work. So again I am planning to go to Sikharpa for meeting. Probable I will go coming week for meeting.

Regards,

Rewati

This document is an overview of the stimated costs for building two pit latrines in Sikharpa.

Cost estimate of latrine.xls