Participatory hygiene and sanitation promotion in ecological sanitation in Zimbabwe

Ecological sanitation in Zimbabwe introduced a cultural change, where communities have always regarded human urine and feaces as a waste fit to be thrown away. For people to change and regard it as a resource and a worthy recyclable product is a process which had to be handled with care. It was through the use of participatory methods at the beginning of the project, during the implementation phase and demonstrations that carried the day for its acceptability, use and maintenance of technical options in ecological sanitation. Hatcliffe Extension, where the experiment is taking place, had social and political instability as these people come from different areas of the country and are in that area due to different circumstances. The task of the software approach was to create a coherent group, make the group establish a common interest and facilitate them to plan and manage the project for their common good. The process involved, team building exercises, problem identification, analytical, planning and behaviour change-tools. The process was to address their fears and change them into hopes and challenges. This community of about fifteen to twenty thousand people were using five communal VIP latrines that were difficult to maintain and over-used. These latrines where placed on one side of the settlement rendering them impossible to use at night and also by children. The majority of the people then resorted to using plastic bags or buckets at night then either pour the waste in the VIP latrines in the morning or just make slurry by adding water and dump on open ground. Children where just defecating on the open ground. Mvuramanzi Trust was then requested to come up with intervention strategies to improve the above-mentioned scenario. The technologies chosen were the Fossa alterna and the sky-loo, some of the methods chosen to promote the concept of ecological sanitation in Zimbabwe.