This project is a community-wide effort to help families achieve better health by promoting sanitation in rural villages in Eastern Bolivia. The project will provide families with an ecological composting latrine. Families will contribute both labor and a portion of the materials to construct their new latrine. An important component of the project is an education program ensuring that villagers understand how to maintain and why it's important to sustain their latrines for the long-term.
The vast majority of people living in rural villages in Bolivia do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. Most families must choose between open defecation or a dirty, overflowing pit latrine. Poor sanitation causes severe health risks such as diarrhea, which is the leading cause of death of children under the age of 5. This situation is not only unsafe, it provides no privacy or dignity for the residents. Women and girls are particularly affected due to lack of privacy.
This project will build 20 ecological composting latrines, a model that uses a double vault system that separates urine from fecal matter and has proven to be an effective and low-cost solution to rural sanitation problems. An additional hygiene promotion program will strengthen participants' motivation to adopt improved bathroom habits. Through interactive games and activities beneficiaries will develop a deeper understanding of the interconnection among sanitation, hygiene and health.
The program's benefits are numerous: improved health, maintenance of clean water system, community empowerment, safety and privacy for women, increased dignity and healthy behavior change. Etta Projects' Sanitation Program improves family and community sanitation and increases understanding of sanitation and hygiene issues. In doing so, the 20 families that will benefit from this project will lead healthier, more productive, more dignified lives.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
