School Latrines & difficult issues in Tanzania May, 2013

   Isaiah 6:8 says:  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"  And I said, "Here am I.  Send me. "   I continue to ask God to use me in ways that I did not expect.  He must like that prayer because He continues to answer it as He did with this trip.   It started in an unusual manner.   Someone obtained my contact information through the retired director of Lifewater International.    The goal was to teach sanitation to a secular, for-profit NGO based in Mwasa. That NGO would then construct school latrines with money from Europe.    Although uncomfortable with a number of issues, I agreed to go in view of potential impact.

Then it got even more uncomfortable.   The person who arranged the trip called me to say that his wife had just been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, so he could no longer go.   After a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to continue with the project.    Another person with no prior WASH training had already agreed to go and had been fund raising.   I contacted a secular organization called IHSAN (see the link -- they are reinventing themselves to be known as "Sanitation for All") to see if they would be willing to sponsor the trip.  They not only  agreed but also asked if they could have someone from their organization participate in the trip.  What an amazing addition he was! He had an engineering degree from one of the top schools in India and a masters degree from a school in the USA.   Further,  he had personal experience with a poor WASH environment and a great heart for helping the poor while on vacation from his paying job.

Teaching "disease paths" module with "participatory training"

  Neither of the men traveling with me had any prior WASH training or "participatory training" experience, which is a great teaching technique I learned from Lifewater. The idea is to avoid didactic instruction (for which I have heard students remember only 15% of what was said a few weeks later).   So, instead we turn the students' questions back on them with responses like "What do you think?" We let the students think through the issue so they remember the lessons far better. Very often some surprises come up concerning cultural or other issues that we would not have thought about.   Another feature of participatory training is to avoid standing.   Instead, we stay at or below the students' level by sitting or kneeling as you can see in the picture.    I counseled both men on this technique and stayed behind the students to signal reminders to the instructors  to sit back down or turn around a question.    They were brilliant!  

Prior to the trip, the in-country partner sent me some Tanzanian government documents specifying how latrines were to be constructed for schools.    We visited a location where a latrine constructed by the local village had been rejected by government inspectors and another latrine constructed by the in-country partner in accordance with specifications.  Unfortunately,  the approved latrine that met specifications was far more expensive but no more effective.   It was not elevated with a mound to prevent flood water from entering it.   The keyholes were too small and placed too close to the back wall.  But these serious problems were comparatively minor issues.

The vent pipe was built as specified -- with a 90 degree turn in it and no fly screen.   Not only would  this right angle negate the killing of flies, but it also will not draw fresh air into the stalls and foul odors out of the pit.   Would you put a 90 degree angle in the chimney of your fireplace? Worse, the pit lining had been completely sealed, which prevents the pit from performing one of its key functions of  allowing the liquids or effluent to seep out of the pit and into the surrounding soil while trapping sludge.  This gives the pit about six times more useful life.  These problems are a major dilemma, because the latrines must be approved by government officials who have drawings that are incorrect.  Later, an Engineers without Borders group contacted me about constructing latrines in Tanzania, but realized that the politics could prevent them from doing what was right.

The villagers clearly understood the need for safe WASH.

As so often happens, something amazing occurred.    We learned our flight out of Mwasa  was delayed, so we went to a rural school quite a distance from the city.   We talked to school leaders and then looked at their latrine and their water supply. Afterwards they asked us to join them for a soda.   While talking, I noticed a lot of brown teeth, which set off the fluorosis alarms for me.  I asked and they said that yes, they realized they have excess fluorine in the water.   I did not mention the brain damage that it creates, but I suggested they should catch rain water from the roof of each building.    There are few better options than catching rainwater.  They have two wet seasons to save water for pregnant mothers and young children whose brains are developing.   We caught our flight home where I checked into the fluorosis issue further.   A geologist explained that water percolating through igneous water picks up unwanted minerals like fluorine.   The Great Rift Valley of Africa is notorious for excess fluorine in the ground water.