Saving Lives through Sanitation
Building latrines
Imagine a place where almost every family loses a child to preventable diseases like diarrhoea. In 2006, Medair surveyed a group of communities in Afghanistan, and found such a place.
In the remote Afghani valley communities of Wardak and Bamyan, Medair discovered that safe waters sources and latrines were virtually non-existent. People drank their water directly from the main river or from unprotected springs, and their waste was left in areas where it could easily contaminate the water.
“According to villagers in both provinces, everyone suffers from bloody diarrhoea at least twice each summer,” said Torsten Zellmer, Medair’s WatSan Manager. “In addition, approximately 75 percent of women also suffer from urinary tract infections, and one of the reasons is because they don’t drink enough, so that they can avoid going to the toilet.”
Unfortunately, this is a global problem. 2.6 billion people lack proper sanitation, and the results are dire. Almost two million people a year die from diarrhoeal disease.[1] It is the second leading killer of children under five,[2] responsible for 5,000 deaths a day.[3] Additionally, lack of sanitation is directly linked to maternal mortality, as well as female literacy and independence.[4]
“Lack of sanitation kills,” wrote Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), in her statement regarding the International Year of Sanitation. “It degrades health – especially that of children – and undermines education. It affects whole communities but consistently those most severely affected are the poor and disadvantaged.”[5]
Although the statistics are frightening, there is reason for hope. According to Dr. Chan: “Improving sanitation represents one of our best options to really accelerate health, social, and even economic development… Simple achievable interventions reduce, for example, diarrhoeal disease by 391 million cases per year.”[6]
Medair knows firsthand the importance of sanitation for community health. Medair’s Water and Sanitation Advisor Juergen Matheis says, “We consider hygiene promotion as an essential entry activity, providing the ground for everything else to come.”
In 2007, with the help of donations, Medair was able to launch a significant WatSan project to meet the needs of these vulnerable Afghani communities. We began building and improving shallow wells, protected springs, latrines, bathrooms, and also delivering hygiene promotion.
Says Mr. Matheis: “Our key messages are drink safe water, wash hands at critical times, and use a latrine.” He also stresses that our focus is on hygiene promotion rather than education that only focuses on deadly outcomes. “Making people want something that is ‘cool’ or in fashion works better than painting the doom of diseases on the wall,” he adds.
The Afghani project is already making a difference. Haroon, a Medair-trained hygiene educator in Dashtak was encouraged by the number of villagers attending WatSan meetings. “We can already see people changing their habits,” he said.
“I didn’t know that water could give diarrhoea,” said Soraya, “or that skin diseases are coming from parasites transmitting from one person to another, from lack of hygiene, and from dirty clothes. Changing habits takes time, but as soon as we will have latrines and a bathroom, it will be easier!”
Contributing to Medair’s WatSan projects is one of the most significant ways you can help to make a difference to the people who need it most. “The economics add up,” wrote WHO Director-General, Dr. Chan. “For every dollar, ruan, or rupee invested, there are benefits that can, on average, be valued at nine times as much.”[7]
And, since 84.5 percent of all Medair donations go directly to field programmes, you can be confident that your contribution is having a significant impact on beneficiaries.
“At Medair,” says Mr. Matheis, “we take sanitation seriously. We are in close contact with the beneficiaries to explain what we do and why. We know that the behaviour changes needed to put good hygiene and sanitation habits into practice do not happen quickly, and we have the patience to see the process through.”
Please take action today by donating to Medair’s WatSan projects. Your donation will help improve the health and dignity of the world’s most vulnerable. Together, we can put an end to this senseless loss of life from preventable diseases like diarrhoea.
[1] Progress for Children 5, UNICEF, 2006
[2] World Health Report 2005, CHERG
[3] Progress for Children 5, UNICEF, 2006
[4] UNICEF, International Year of Sanitation 2008 Press Kit
[5] www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/iys/about/en/index.html
[6] www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/iys/about/en/index.html
[7] www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/iys/about/en/index.html
