Good sanitation brings good health and dignity

A community is not just a location, or a surrounding; it is a sense of togetherness people build for a common goal. And what is a better goal than sanitation and hygiene? In the Kassa Oromia and Awdal kebeles (sub-districts) of the Oromia region, people have united to keep their environment clean. They understand that hygiene and sanitation play a crucial role in preventing disease outbreaks reduce malnutrition and keep children healthy. Their hard work paid off. Both kebeles successfully become open defecation-free (ODF) and here is how they achieved this status.

Toilets were not considered vital in the villages few years back and open defecation was a common practice. “We know that this has to change,” says Etabezhu Alemu the village health extension worker in Kassa Oromia kebele. “The community did not make the connection between hygiene and health very well. That’s why we started working with women, community elders and religious leaders.” Multiple community mobilization activities held in the villages and sanitation committees, comprised of health workers, women and religious leaders were also formed to plan activities. Slowly, things began to change.

Etabezahu leads regular meetings in her health post and keep records of each household’s sanitation status (if they have built a toilet or not) while Gezahegn Melese, the team leader for communicable disease prevention and control of the woreda (district) health office, provides technical support. This collaboration has been critical to sustain community buy in and change attitudes.

Many families started building their own toilets with easily available materials. “This was just the first positive step.  We managed to achieve the first ODF status. Yet, the toilets were unimproved (not easy to clean floors were made of mud, and they sometimes collapse,” adds Gezahegn. 

As more and more families built their own toilets in their backyards, the need for improvement becomes visible. “We introduced the cement slab and showed the community how it can be built. We also started producing precast toilet slabs creating jobs for the youth. We make sure that our hygiene and sanitation supplies are affordable and sustainable to the majorities,” said Gezahegn. 

The introduction of improved hygiene and sanitation products such as the SATO pan - an affordable toilet pan which is easy to clean and uses less than a liter of water per flush than conventional toilet pans - encouraged community members to invest more on hygiene and sanitation. Good performers also proudly show their toilets encouraging other neighbors to follow suit.    

A sanitation marketing center which sells SATO pans, disinfectants, detergents, soap, sanitary pads, water purification materials, water supply spare parts and other vital supplies is also opened in center of the town. The center provides Water supply and sanitation supplies that people need with reasonable price.  It is also run by the youth group.

“We are happy that our success in improving hygiene and sanitation in our kebeles is recognized nationally,” says Abdi Umar, Head of the woreda health office. “Community members, elders, health workers and our technical experts work together to bring this change. Our work is not yet done. We want all families to have improved toilets [with cement slabs and SATO products] to achieve 100% basic and safely managed sanitation status. I know we can achieve that too.”

“It's been three months since I started using the SATO pan. It doesn’t smell, there are no flies, and I am no longer afraid to send my children to use the toilet,” says Misra Mohammed Abdi a mother of two proudly showing her newly built toilet.

Growing up in a clean and safe environment is every child’s right. Access to clean water, basic toilets, and good hygiene practices not only keeps children thriving, but also gives them a healthier start in life. In this regard, communities in Kassa Oromia and Awdal kebeles made a significant stride.

UNICEF through its Make a Splash partnership is actively working to end open defecation and achieve considerable basic and safely managed sanitation in the woreda. Despite the significant progress in some areas, 38 per cent of the rural population and 7 per cent of the urban population still practices open defecation. UNICEF aims to reach to untouched areas to eliminate open defecation and ensure that all individuals have access to basic and safely managed sanitation services.