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Teaming up for toilets

One week in August provided a whole new experience for a group of Nicaraguan teenagers.  These eight young people are some of the few in Nicaragua who are fortunate enough to study abroad, but before heading off to university, they spent seven days under the leadership of Nicolás Argüello from the American Nicaraguan Foundation learning about a way of life in Nicaragua very different from their own.

Nuevas Esperanzas has been involved with the community of El Ojochal del Listón for several years and was well aware that sanitation was a priority for villagers, especially the women.  So when we were approached by Nicolás about the idea of a team coming in to build latrines, we were more than happy to introduce them to the community.  Before the project began, only 3 of the 26 families in El Ojochal had any form of basic latrine – everyone else just ‘went behind a bush’!

In order to facilitate the construction of 26 new latrines in this remote mountain village, a new model of latrine was specially designed, combining convenient and hygienic moulded fibreglass bases and pedestals with a simple, low cost cubicle made by wrapping sheets of zinc around some wooden posts.  This 'wrap around' design gives total privacy without the need for a door which is often the weak point of many low cost latrines.  By making use of locally available wooden posts, the cubicle structure required only a few sheets of zinc for the walls and the roof, greatly simplifying the task of transporting materials to some of the more remote houses.

Nuevas Esperanzas met with the community in advance to plan the project, to arrange work groups and to request help in preparing the holes.  Materials were purchased in advance so that the task of transporting the zinc sheets and 26 fibre glass pedestals could begin.  On the first morning, after a briefing at the Nuevas Esperanzas office, the team set off to see another side of life in their own country.  Young people from privileged backgrounds in the capital city rarely have the opportunity to get to know campesinos from far-flung rural communities like El Ojochal.

The team were warmly welcomed by the community.  After the initial culture shock, both for the team and for the villagers who struggled to understand that these young men and women had come to get their hands dirty, everyone pulled together and got on with the work.  Inevitably there were a few set backs along the way.  It is not easy to dig a hole the correct size when the ground is stony and unstable and so some improvisation was required from the morning of the first day.  Later that day, heading back down the narrow mountain road to return to León, the team were dismayed to find a broken down truck blocking their path.  It took several days to clear the truck and so the young volunteers had the chance to learn from first hand experience just how physically challenging it is to live in such a remote place as they walked up and down the hillsides on foot.

By the end of the week, the 26 latrines were almost complete, leaving just a few finishing touches to be overseen by the Nuevas Esperanzas team the following week.  On the last day, the community prepared a typical Nicaraguan meal to share with the young volunteers.  They celebrated the fun and challenges they had enjoyed that week with a piñata and party for over a hundred people, a Nicaraguan tradition enjoyed by all levels of society!

14/08/09