Teaching the Sanitation Ladder at Pahuwa

This morning in Pahuwa we taught the women the Sanitation Ladder. Each group of women were given a stack of 16 pictures which they were to sort from worst to best. The drawings showed everything from no toilet facilities to well designed and well maintained facilities. The women were asked to explain what they saw in the pictures and what was good or bad about it. Then I asked them to justify their answers. "Why is this one better than that one?"

I had just spent some time discussing with them how germs spread and how to block them by practicing good sanitation. I had impressed on them the importance of improving health in the village by always using a latrine rather than fields so that they stop the spread of germs. I learned that many of the women have no toilet facilities at all, and it seems cleaner to use fields rather than the latrines in the village that are not maintained. The women also explained to me that typically the women in the village do not have access latrines during their monthly cycle. In fact, they are forbidden to use it at that time and must resort to using fields. I told them that even if it is not a priority to their husbands, the women can work together to improve sanitation for the health of the whole community.