Integrated Sanitation and Hygiene Management in Residential Institutes in Medak District  

Ms. Vanitha Kommu and Ms Indira Prakash work in CEE Andhra Pradesh office. Their experience in water and sanitation, natural resource management, nature education and awareness generation has played a key role in this programme. 

Hygiene and Sanitation Facilities in Student Hostels

The Govt of Andhra Pradesh has started a large number of social welfare hostels for stay and studies of children of economically weaker section. At present there are 2356 Social Welfare Hostels (1691 for Boys and 665 for Girls) functioning in the State with a sanctioned strength of 2,36,600 including Ananda Nilayams and Children Homes etc1. Each hostel has one Hostel Welfare Officer (HWO), Cook, Kamati (cleaner) and Watchmen. The sanctioned strength of each hostel is 100. Health care and healthy environment at these hostels is of utmost importance as the children are in a period of physical growth and need an optimum health and nutrition care. However provision of adequate water and sanitation facilities has been a problem due to various reasons like lack of space, water scarcity, inadequate cooperation from local governing bodies, vandalism, no operation and maintenance staff, no funding etc.

These problems occur in schools as well. This means that these studentsare constantly exposed to unhygienic environment during their formative years. A survey among school children in India revealed that about half ofthe ailments are related to unsanitary conditions and lack of personal hygiene. Childhood is the best time for a person to acquire hygiene behavior. However lack of education on Water and Sanitation and the sanitary condition of many rural schools is a major stumbling block to formation of hygiene practices among children. 

An Initiative for Improvement

The Integrated Sanitation and Hygiene Management (ISHM) programme in Residential Institutions (RI) was initiated by the District Administration, Medak with support from UNICEF, considering the general status and importance of these aspects in the hostels. CEE Andhra Pradesh office provided the implementation support in coordination with Medak District Voluntary Agencies Network (MEDVAN).The programme had the following components:

• Assessment of the status of WATSAN facilities in 230 RIs and development of action plans along with budget estimation.
• Training residential institution (RI) staff on hygiene, water, sanitationoperation and maintenance (O&M) and conducting educational activities with the students for behavioral changes.
•  Facilitating the implementation of action plans through UNICEF with concerned line departments
• Identification of 6 RI in each category to establish model sanitation complexes.

Participatory Survey of Hygiene and Sanitation Facilities in Hostels

Participatory surveys were conducted to identify infrastructural gaps in water and sanitation facilities and behavioral aspects among children pertaining to personal hygiene. The survey was carried out in all 230 hostels while they were closed for summer holidays. 46 Mandal Coordinators (MCs) (working with MEDVAN) having more than one year experience in water and sanitation field were selected and further trained by CEE on the concept on Integrated Sanitation and Hygiene Management in RIs. 

The provision of water and sanitation facilities 

have been inadequate in social welfare hostels 

due to various reasons like lack of space, 

water scarcity, lack of cooperation from local 

governing bodies, vandalism, theft, funding etc.

Out of 230 hostels, 146 were boys’ hostel and 84 were girls’ hostels. In girls RIs women MCs conducted the participatory assessment. Each RI was visited by two MCs, one interacted with the warden while the other interacted with the students. Followed by interactions, the HWOs, students and Mandal Co-ordinators together visited the facilities in RIs. Each assessment took about 3 hrs in each RI. 

Assessment for identifying the issues and facilitating actions

The survey was conducted in a participatory way involving the children and hostel staff (warden, cook, kamati, watchmen etc). While provision of WATSAN infrastructure in the hostels is one main objective, it is also important to understand the child friendly/unfriendly nature of existing facilities or the facilities that are planned to provide. For this reasons children were involved in identifying the issues and needs. This happened in the form of discussions and visits to the facilities with children. Many of these children in hostels are first generation toilet users and hence it is important to make them understand first what are basic facilities required and what kind of improvement is possible. These inputs are provided by MCs to the children during the assessment itself. 

The investigation revealed that the infrastructure facilities for water and sanitation are insufficient and there are several functional problems associated with these like running water inside the bathroom, electrification inside the toilets, repairs of taps, bathrooms, floors, doors, septic tanks, proper ventilation, periodic cleaning of septic tanks etc. 

It was also found that hostels had to depend on water supply from outside sources. So there was a need to provide water facilities/storage tanks where absent or inadequate. A few places required repair of bore well motors and water purifiers for safe drinking water.

  

Once these gaps were found and findings analyzed, hostel-wise action plans were developed. The overall status and the infrastructure gaps and needs were presented to UNICEF and the District Administration.

District Administration Fills Infrastructure Gaps 

The District Administration responded by following two strategies to address the infrastructural issues. 

•  It invited local industries to provide the facilities as part of their CSR by adopting the hostels or through monetary contributions.
• Pooling the fund from the Government Departments, and addressing some of the issues with their help. 

It is important to understand whether 

existing or planned facilities are child  friendly

or not. Trained mandal coorindinators

interacted with children to identify their 

concerns and needs.

As part of CSR contributions an amount of Rs 1.2 crore was collected from industries. The funds were channelized to the respective executing agencies like DE Tribal Welfare, EE Social Welfare, PD Housing etc. for necessary actions. Some industries also came forward and adopted 15 hostels for direct interventions. The concerned departments estimated and shared information about the budget needs for each hostel, which were directly addressed by the industries.

Workshops for Students and Staff on Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Management: In addition to provision of infrastructure, it was also essential to ensure the continued use and maintenance of the provided facilities. Bimonthly awareness workshops were designed and 16 MCs were trained to conduct these, preferably in the evening times or during holidays. Each workshop had a specific theme with a set of activities and games. These were 

Workshop 1: Personal Hygiene 
Workshop II: Hand washing, making soap 
Workshop III: Water and Sanitation 
Workshop IV: Waste management and Operation and Maintenance

Relevant resource material was made available to each MC based on the activities/ games developed in the manual. The workshops were designed interactively and followed by visits to capture the impact among the children.

Review and Monitoring 

CEE monitored 105 hostels (45%) to check the impact of the awareness programmes and provision of facilities. Every month 20 to 25 hostels were visited to

• Interact with the children to understand their awareness levels and observing the best practices in sanitation and hygiene
• Interact with Kamaties/cook/watch women etc on changes in operation and maintenance
• Interact with the HWOs on overall improvement of facilities and management 


Besides this, review meetings were organized by CEE at regular intervals to check the progress, provide feedback to MCs and to understand the need to improve, include new aspects etc.

Rank cards 

A rank card system was introduced to help the hostels, MCs and departments understand the progress made in terms of infrastructure provision and sustainable use. Rank cards consisted of baseline information about different aspects like facilities available, usage, facilities maintenance and personal hygiene practices among the children etc. Against these, marks were expected to be given every month based on improvement of the situation. Based on the marks, grading was done as Green (100-80 Marks), Organe (80-60 Marks) and Red (60-10 Marks). Mostly the hotels were found to be in Orange colour.

Bio intensive vegetable gardens 

Keeping in mind the nutrition needs of 
students in welfare hostels, organic 
vegetable gardens were promoted in the 
hostels and schools where land
and other facilities were available.

Along with Water, Sanitation and hygiene management, bio intensive vegetable gardens were also promoted in the hotels to provide green, organic food and meet the micro nutrient requirements of growing children.

All 230 hostels were provided with a garden kit to facilitate farming in the hostel premises. The kit contained 13 varieties of vegetable seeds, one spray bottle, vermicompost and neem oil. Children were involved right from the garden initiation stage and they participated actively in watering, weeding, providing fencing, etc. Depending on the various factors like rented hostels, insufficient water supply, heavy rains, no guard against cattle etc gardens could be maintained in 53 hostels.

Best hostel award 

Every month marks on rank card (placed in the hostels) based on the actions taken in addressing infrastructural issues in the hostels, O&M of the facilities and best practices followed by the students (behavioral change) by the MCs and HWO. The hostel with maximum score at end of a year gets the ‘Best Hostel Award’, that includes a Trophy and certificate along with cash prize of Rs 5000/-. This cash award money is planned to be spent for repair of leaking taps, tanks, pipes, etc, purchase of bolts, doors repairs or replacement, electric wiring repairs, window mesh, etc or purchase like storage facilities, toilets cleaning material.

For more information contact: 

CEE Andhra Pradesh

Door No 6-3-348/2

Dwarakapuri Colony, Panjagutta

Hyderabad – 500082

Ph: 040 – 23352596, 65883100

Email: ceeandhrapradesh@ceeindia.org

  

Materials developed under the programme: 

A manual was developed with basic information of each topic with activities for easy understanding of the personal Hygiene, Water, Sanitation and Menstrual hygiene was developed for the mandal coordinators.

Neeru paarishyuddam vyaktigatha parisubratha: Activities based manual is developed on themes ‘personal hygiene, water and sanitation for trainers.

The following existing materials by UNICEF are distributed to hostels:

Take it easy: Hand out on hygiene habits during menstrual cycle developed for girl children and distributed to all girls.

Sharing simple facts: Myths and facts about menstrual cycle and hygiene practices developed for girl child.

Hayeega Arogyamuga: Comic book developed on personal hygiene and sanitation for both boys and girls.

1 Right to Information, sourced at http://tinyurl.com/Social-Welfare-Hostels, accessed on 20th November 2010.

All photograph Courtesy: CEE Andhra Pradesh

National School Sanitation Initiative Launched

National School Sanitation Initiative Launched

27 April 2010

On 27th April the Ministries of Urban Development and Human Resource Development in collaboration with CBSE and GTZ launched the National School Sanitation Initiative with Mr. Aamir Khan as the Brand Ambassador.

Under the initiative Health and Wellness Clubs will be set up in schools, which will instill among children values of good health and sanitation.

Several programmes are already on in the country focused on school sanitation and hygiene education.

The approach include baseline surveys, participatory need assessment & visioning, textbook analysis, development of need based IEC material, capacity building, exposure visits, development of hardware designs etc. These initiatives have useful learnings to offer for the development and implementation the National School Sanitation Initiative.

Various IEC materials targeting stakeholders have been developed under the WASH Programme, these include posters, flash cards, specialised kits, wall paintings, games, charts, booklets, flip charts, guide book, manuals, labels, stickers.

AnandShala - ‘School of Joy’is being implemented in 19 schools in a cluster in Arang block of Raipur district, Chhatisgarh. Aimed at improving the infrastructure of the existing school and the quality of teaching-learning process, school improvement plan is prepared through participatory approach for each schools. The activities include capacity building of teachers, students, school management committee, Sarpanch, Mistry and Self help groups. The programme is supported by the Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission of Chhattsigarh state.

A campaign to create awareness on water and sanitation in schools was taken up in 300 schools of Andhra Pradesh to facilitate participatory assessment involving students and teachers and initiate actions involving various stakeholders like PRIs, community groups and line departments.

The Human Value Based Water Sanitation Hygiene Education classrooms is a resource centre that provides time and space to learn creatively, link curriculum with real-life situations and interactive environment for hands-on learning.

The classrooms developed, in 4 cities of Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with the UN Habitat and local Education Department and Urban Civic Authorities and CEE are equipped with panels, poster, and models. Simple equipment to carry out water quality testing, activities for value based learning’s is run by trained school teachers. The classrooms are meant for creating awareness among the community as well.

Using a participatory approach, the WASH programme in Pune looked at facilitating improvements in infrastructure in municipal schools and help evolve sustainable, appropriate operation and maintenance systems of WASH facilities in the schools. This is a collaborative programme of the Kirloskar Foundation and CEE’s Urban Programme.

School Hygiene Promotion Programme in Raipur

Satish Awate and Sarita Thakore , Centre for Environment Education
A two-year School Hygiene Promotion Programme was initiated in 2006 in twenty-one schools from urban, peri urban and rural areas of Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The programme supported by WaterAid India and implemented by Centre for Environment Education focused on creating enabling factors for school hygiene and sanitation.

School Selection
In the initial stage, an assessment of the existing water, sanitation condition of the schools was done. About 40 schools were visited; the Principals were interviewed and information collated. The schools were from the urban, peri urban and rural areas of Raipur district. The filled forms were analyzed and a profile of each school was prepared.

Based on this information, twenty-one schools were selected for the School Hygiene Promotion Programme. The selection was done on the basis of the hardware conditions, school strength, mix of primary and middle schools, and the location of the schools.

Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP) Study
To understand WatSan practices and hygiene behaviour of students before designing any activities for them, a study to assess students perceptions, aspirations, knowledge, attitude and practices (behaviour) pertaining to water, sanitation, health and hygiene issue was undertaken for students of Standard I to VIII.

Of the 7000 students, 10 per cent of the students were covered through the sample study. Groups of 7-10 students from each class from primary and middle section were formed; a set of questions to assess these aspects was prepared. The questions were framed to understand student’s general understanding on personal hygiene and sanitation, water storage and handling, food; their practices regarding these aspects. Observations, interaction with students helped in designing the content for teacher training.

Textbook Analysis
The State Board textbooks of language, Science and Social Science of Std I to VIII were analyzed to assess presence of content on water and sanitation, the treatment and depth, and teaching approaches. The analysis was shared with teachers to obtain their views on the analysis done, and their inputs on effective ways to enrich classroom learning. The teachers gave suggestions on improving the presentation of these concepts in the textbook as well as methodology to transact the same in the classroom.

Teacher Training Workshop
Orientation of teachers to Water and Sanitation to inculcate good hygiene behaviour among students was one strategy to promote hygiene education. A two-day training workshop was organized for selected teachers from these schools. These teachers were then to become Swachata Club in-charge for their respective schools and to guide students to carry out club activities. Twenty-three teachers participated in this workshop.

Various approaches like games, demonstration, audio-video, creative writing and art/craft were tried focusing on key WatSan messages to bring in desired changes among student behaviour as well as to create demand for improvement, and maintenance of WatSan facilities in the school. Each approach tried during the workshop was concluded with a discussion on the teaching approach, for the teachers to give their feedback and their understanding about the utility and practicality of the approach tried. At the workshop, the teachers found the games, audio-video, folk songs and poem in Chhattisgarhi as an effective way of communicating WatSan messages to students.

Stakeholders Meeting
One part of the project was actual improvement of the WatSan facilities and constructing model units, with a view to reach out to the community through students and enhance the demand for WatSan facilities.

A day-long meeting was organized in order to provide a platform for stakeholders to share their understanding and experiences about water and sanitation. The meeting was attended by respective School Principals, Janbhagidari Samiti Adhyaksh (PTA head), Sarpanch of the village, Parshads (Corporator in case of Nagar Nigam schools), officials from Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission (State Mission, SSA) and PHED. The facilities for drinking water and sanitation of these schools were presented and discussed.

A role play exercise was done to help each stakeholder understand their roles and responsibilities in improving facilities in the schools. The participants were divided into groups of ‘Sarpanch’, ‘Principals’, ‘Parents’ and ‘Janbhagidari Samiti’. The exercise was effective; though there were differences of viewpoints, but collectively all agreed that it is a shared responsibility and each one has a role to play.

Hygiene Classes in Schools and Formation of Swachata Clubs
To reinforce the message of health, hygiene and sanitation, permission to conduct one-hour session in each class by CEE was obtained from District Education Officer. A time table was worked out in consultation with principal and teacher-in-charge of Swachata Club for each school. The main messages of the activities were related to safe water handling, personal hygiene, food hygiene, safe disposal of human and animal, solid waste and waste water, safe treatment behavior in case of diarrhea and formation of Swachata Clubs in these schools.

Swachta Clubs
It was decided in the workshop that students of Std. 4 and 5 be taken as club members. The younger students could be involved in classroom activities etc. Thus, it was decided to select 10 students from Std. 4th and 5th and 15 students from 6th, 7th and 8th as club members and the clubs were formed. The selection of students was based on their activeness, interest as well parents consent. The teachers-in-charge guided club members for its overall functioning. The club has four sub committees vis a vis their roles are as below:

1. Water Committee looked after drinking water facilities like cleanliness near hand pump, drum/tank, ladles, glasses etc. and also to spread the messages for cleanliness of talab (pond) and hand pump at community places.
2. Health Committee was responsible to look after cleanliness during mid-day meal, that students wash hands before eating and after using toilet, nails are cut and overall personal hygiene of students is maintained.
3. Swachata Committee was responsible to look after sanitation facility, the cleanliness of urinals, toilets, water facility for hand-washing available near toilet/urinals.
4. Monitoring Committee was responsible to look after overall cleanliness of school campus, classroom cleanliness, etc.

It was easy to form the Swachata club in primary and middle schools. But school that have high school and higher secondary and the number of students is much larger, it was difficult for the monitors from middle school to manage their work as older students were also users.

Training of Swachata Club Members
A training programme for members of these clubs was organized in each school. The focus of the training programme was hygiene practices to be followed under various samitis of swachata club, how to involve other students in the samiti work, rotation of members under various samitis to share the responsibilities with other students. The training included:

• Introduction and ice-breaking activity of club members, what is Swachata Club, the role of the club and the tasks to be done
• Discussion of seven messages of hygiene and sanitation,
• Activities – Hand wash, F-chart {practice with turmeric powder}, proper way of hand washing, game of rope & ladder for good and bad practices.
• Distribution of I cards
• How to check cases of diarrhea and ways of curing it and precautions
• Water quality testing
• Fieldwork {Cleaning of school premises and check up of personal hygiene} of club members with other students
• Revision of role and responsibilities of club members

Activities conducted during hygiene classes
Discussion on hygiene and sanitation messages through participatory methods
Discussion on roles and responsibilities (members along with all students of the class)
Using various demonstrations, creative art, films to understand hygiene and sanitation messages
Field work and cleaning activities

Balmela
In order to share experiences and learnings of students and teachers, a one-day Balmela in all project schools was conducted near the year end, with many activities, as follows:

Games
Ropes and ladder focusing on health and sanitation was played with the kids.
The game is developed in a way that it covers all the messages of hygiene practices. This
game was one of the favorite of all the activities conducted during the mela.
Best out of Waste
Dustbin painting is an innovative way to inculcate message of ‘Best out of Waste’ and concept of reusing was tried out in mela. Old used oil tin dabbas were bought and painted with turpentine and red oxide paint to prevent rust. These rust proof dabbas were painted green by students during the mela of their respective schools. Each school started to use these painted dustbins for each of their classrooms.
Rangoli
The theme for Rangoli was Hamari Pathshala, Swachcha Pathshala; Hamara Gaon, Swachcha Gaon
Painting
Themes for painting were Hamari Pathshala, Swachha Pathshala; Hamara Paryavaran; Pani ka Rakh Rakhav; and Vaiyaktik Swachchata
Slogan writing
Students wrote Health and Sanitation related slogans which were later used during the rally
Voice of children
Students were asked to write down what in their opinion forms ‘good health and sanitation facility and practice’. Initially they thought it is exam since piece of paper with their name and school name etc. was given to them to write down. CEE Hygiene Educators cleared their doubts. They voiced their opinion on the following theme:
1. Hum Apne Aaspaas Swachtta Kaise Rakh Sakte hai
2. Jal Stroton Ko Saf Kaise Rakh saktein hain
3. Bimario Se Swayam Ko Kaise Bachayen
4. Shala Mai Peyjal Va Shauchalaya Ki Suvdha Kaisi Ho
5. Shauchalaya Ka Upyog Kyon Karana Chahiye

Health checkup
Health check up counter was set during mela. Volunteers were identified
from the Swachhta Club members and were oriented to what are the aspects that need to be
checked during check-up activity. They were given a format also to fill while checking.

Hand washing and nail cutting
Students whose hands were not clean and nails not cut were assisted by volunteers to wash their hands properly using soap and helped in cutting their nails.

Achievements
Water
During the project period two new bore well hand pumps were installed in two Government School. The selection of schools was done based on drinking water availability and the physical condition and location in the school. Government school at Jora village was provided with new bore well hand pump. This school was selected as the school had no drinking water facility and students have to go to a road side community hand-pump.

One new bore well hand-pump was installed at Bhatagaon Government School. Though the school had a bore-well hand-pump, this was near a nullah and therefore it was not being used for drinking purpose.

Fundhar Government School had a bore-well without hand-pump. A pipe connection was given instead of hand pump to collect the water. This was operated through a motor pump. This wasted lot of water during break when motor was switched on and if no one collected water. The school was given option to install a new hand-pump to this bore-well, but they insisted to have water tank to collect the water. Thus this school was given with a water tank with taps. A separate connection from this tank to newly constructed urinal was given so that there was water in urinals also. All the water sources of the schools have been tested, water quality was found to be potable/ drinkable. None of the sources were found to be contaminated.

Sanitation
Due to lack of basic sanitation facility there was a big hindrance in the proper and conducive learning environment, the surrounding of the school was becoming dirty and girls hesitated to come to the school. Thus, prioritizing the sanitation facilities on various criteria like availability, condition, location, separate sanitation blocks for girls and boys were constructed in three (Manabasti, Dharampura, Temri) Government Schools. Each sanitation block was fitted with force-lift hand pump, ensuring water supply facility without depending on electricity.

Separate urinals for girls and boys were constructed in Fundhar School. This was the first experience for CEE Chhattisgarh State Office to construct hardware in schools. The School Sanitation Block constructed is not just a sanitation facility but a model to demonstrate participation of School authority and Gram Panchayat in the construction process as well showcase a model of regular supply of water to sanitation facility without depending on electricity.

The unique feature of this model was that a force-lift has been installed to the hand pump from which water supply connection is given to sanitary block. Assuming that water released on using hand pump is not entirely used and gets wasted, this water could be diverted through a pipe to the sanitary block and overhead tank is filled. With this installation whenever the hand pump is used apart from students drinking the water the water which gets wasted is lifted to fill the overhead tank. Thus water is efficiently used without any electricity.

This work brought various learning to CEE Chhattisgarh team including coordinating with various stakeholders; building trust among each other; following norms, procedures laid internally as well as by funding agency; quality and procurement of material; timing of construction.

The villagers had not heard about the force lift system before. When the WaterAid trained mistri from Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh came and installed and demonstrated its use, he shared his experience as well as showed an efficient way of using water. The construction work not only provided the school children with a toilet but it also created awareness in the Panchayat and village community about requirement of water-sanitation facility in the school and finding low cost technology solutions. School Education department has also shown its willingness to install force lift hand pumps in each school.

The Future
Over two years of implementing ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Schools’ programme, through various interactions with teachers, education department as well as PHED, it is felt to link the programme with SSHE programme in the State. Considering the district as a unit, a baseline survey of about 2000 schools of Raipur district has been carried out to understand the water and sanitation condition of these schools. The key strategy for scaling up the programme is to demonstrate SSHE model for Government System at Block and District units and targeting all ‘actors/stakeholders’ with their respective role.

For more information contact:
Chhattisgarh State Office
HIG-C/3, Shailendra Nagar
Raipur 492 001
Chhattisgarh
Ph: 0771 4051391
E-mail: ceechhattisgarh@ceeindia.org

Education for a New Concept in Sanitation - EcoSan

Reema Banerjee and Dr Shyamala Mani
Waste & Resource Management Group, CEE

In developing countries the estimated mortality rate as a result of illnesses caused by contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation and hygiene is approximately 2.2 million people per year, with approximately 6,000 children per day (WHO/UNICEF JMP 2000). In India, where less than 50% of the urban population and less than 10% of the rural population has sanitary excreta disposal systems, the development of adaptable, practical sanitation systems is critical. One approach—developed, implemented and supported by the Waste & Resource Management Group of CEE and UNICEF Lucknow—is the use of Ecological Sanitation System or EcoSan.

EcoSan is technology that seperates dry and wet portion of human waste so that what would normally be pure waste becomes usable compost, fertilizer and even energy. Two models have been used in a CEE pilot project implemented in villages around Lucknow. The first EcoSan model seperates the dry and wet portion of human waste. The wholeEcoSan structure is contained in an above ground model, preventing any chances of contamination of ground water. The black water is diverted to a undrground earthern pot with holes for drip irrigation purpose These pots release water and nutrients that can be utlized by nitrogen rich crops, such as bananas. The grey water find its way to a filter bed, where plants like canna etc can be grown. Meanwhile, dry waste falls into a chamber which is turned into rich compost with the regular addition of ash and a rest period of three months. Each model consists of two such chambers so that when the first fills, it may be kept on rest of the required three months while the other container is in use.

However, what is truly remarkable about the pilot project in Lucknow is not the technology, which is adaptable to the needs and resources of the community, but the development of a community support system for managing and addressing human waste sanitation issues. Before the EcoSan technology could be actually used, CEE undertook extensive work to understand and address community concerns regarding the system as well to create a sense of ownership for the system in individuals and the community. Ownership was fostered in three ways: by working out price-sharing; by arranging meetings and discussions; and by capacity building to understand and use the technology.

After asking for beneficiaries interested in benefiting from the EcoSan system, CEE evaluated applicants based on their level of demonstrated interest, their income (with preference given for those with lower incomes), whether they have farmland and cultivate it themselves, their willingness to share the cost of the toilet, and their willingness to use urine and feces as manure for their crops. Beneficiaries who ranked highest were selected to receive one of the eight EcoSan systems piloted in the project.

Ownership did not end on the individual level. In order to create social acceptance regarding the reuse of human waste, CEE held various motivational and awareness meetings for different focus groups that targeted and addressed specific concerns. These groups included mahila mandal, farmers, the whole community, Swacchata Samiti, and owners/users. The benefits of EcoSan were explained using approaches and concepts most relevant to the group. For example, the Mahila mandal meetings discussed the interconnection of concepts such as water source, open defecation, pollution, diseases, education, and cleanliness to name just a few. Likewise, farmer groups examined the agricultural benefits of using self-produced, nutrient rich compost from EcoSan and the similarity to the existing use of cow manure.

Finally, CEE placed a special emphasis on the training of local individuals in order to increase the sustainability of the EcoSan toilets. While obviously the group meetings were a large part of the training, CEE also trained a group of “mobilizers and motivators” as educators and taught the construction and maintenance of EcoSan to a group of local masons. Thus a cadre of masons was developed in both the villages to use skill and knowledge of local villagers.

Educational materials that could be used by the trained local leaders were developed, including guidance notes for the mobilizers and motivators. Two pamphlets, “Ecological Sanitation” and “Application and Significance of Human Waste in Agriculture” were also distributed. The necessary knowledge for training and education regarding EcoSan was integrated into the community. While in other instances, sanitation system in the region are not utilized and are instead used for cow dung cake and animal feed storage room, CEE’s emphasis on ownership improves the potential for sustaining the use of EcoSan systems.

An example of the usefulness of teaching the skills to communities was found beneficial in a recent flood case at Barabanki. The Waste and Resource Management (WaRM) group of CEE was contacted by UNICEF Lucknow to help address the sanitation problem at Barabanki district of UP, which was facing floods. CEE staff along with the trained cadre of masons helped UNICEF Lucknow construct a model EcoSan toilet in Ibrahimpur Village, Barabanki District.

Using the skills and knowledge of cadre of local masons (developed under the EcoSan project) rather than hiring outside experts, the effort proved to be cost effective and more practical, thereby partially alleviating the sanitation issue in such minor disaster case. It also helped the local mason to earn extra livelihood. In this way, the project also showed that knowledge and skills can become a part of the community values, changing both community knowledge and attitudes towards sanitation issues.

With this initiative of integrating EcoSan into a community, CEE aimed to bring not just new technology to communities, but a new, more sustainable way of thinking about sanitation.

For more information contact:

Dr Shyamala Mani
Sr Programme Director, WaRM
Centre for Environment Education
C-40, Ground Floor, South Extension Part 2
New Delhi - 110 049
Ph: 011 - 26262878 / 26262881
Email: shyamala.mani@ceeindia.org

Participatory Assessment of Water and Sanitation Facilities in Schools
Ushodayan Thampy and Vanitha Kommu, CEE Andhra Pradesh

In April 2006 the School Sanitation programme of the Dept of Education Govt of Andhra Pradesh commissioned CEE, to conduct a study of the water and sanitation facilities in schools in consultation with UNICEF. The objectives were

1. To undertake a participatory assessment of water and sanitation facilities in schools involving students, teachers and parents.
2. To identify and present a set of recommendations for improving the design (hard ware and soft ware) of school water and sanitation facilities based on the participatory assessment.
   The study involved interaction with students, teachers and parents to understand their preferences regarding the design of the water and sanitation infrastructure and the practices with respect to its usage and maintenance both at home and schools. A set of innovative participatory methods were used to capture the interest of students and teachers and to elicit their inputs. These are described below.

Guided Tour: The teachers (including the Head Master) and the students were asked to separately take the study team on a tour of the facilities and to point out those aspects (both good and otherwise) which they felt were important to note with respect to the design of the facilities and their use

Flash cards were used to initiate discussions with students
Flash Cards: The students were shown a set of photographs of water and sanitation facilities taken in schools and were asked to point out the positive and negative aspects concerning the facility in each photograph.

Design the Best Toilet: The students were asked to work in groups and design the ‘best toilet’ (draw it) and to list out the important features of their toilet
Photo Documentation: The teachers were asked to take photographs of 5 positive aspects and 5 negative aspects for each of the facilities (urinals, latrines, drinking water, hand wash) using digital still cameras (which gave them immediate visual feedback on the photographs taken).
Score Card: The teachers were asked to discuss as a group and arrive at a set of criteria for evaluating the water and sanitation infrastructure in schools, and to give scores to their own school against those criteria. The study was undertaken between 12 and 22 April 2006, covered 30 schools in three districts of Medak, Anantapur and Visakhapatnam (10 schools in each district).

Infrastructure and Design

The participants made the following recommendations to improve the infrastructure and design aspects.

1. Dysfunctional water connections must be revived as even a temporary discontinuation in the water facility can lead to disuse of the toilet.
2. Medak followed by Anantapur report the least number of schools with design problems with the urinals. The facilities in these two districts can be the basis on which design can be further developed.
3. Even if a school has a functional hand pump or running water from the public water supply, if the water facility is not located at the toilet (inside the toilet block or right outside it), it is considered a problem.
4. Considering that the usage of the WC by students is very less, especially when teachers use the sole WC available, it may be worthwhile to make one WC a teachers’ toilet and make the other WC a common one for use by students in primary and upper primary schools.
5. Provide urinal spaces to service needs of all students in the school during a common recess break or of 3 classes at a time in a staggered interval system. A ratio of 1: 100 (WC: student) seems adequate in view of the current usage.
6. Cement concrete flooring of the WC is preferable to that made of ceramic tiles (as these are slippery). Dadooing with red oxide is also adequate, expensive ceramic tiles may not yield additional benefits.
7. Roofs must be provided over urinals to prevent accumulation of dry leaves and to provide privacy.
8. Pre-moulded urinals for girls’ urinals may help to avoid problems with poor construction. However, the moulded urinal must be child-friendly. Shallow, small pans are preferred by students of primary and upper primary classes. Large, deeper pans (that are more like WC pans) may only be suitable for high school classes.
9. Cross ventilation in WCs with two ventilators — one on the door and one on the back side wall are needed.
10. In primary schools the toilets need to be clearly visible from the main school building. They need to be no further than 10 meters from the main school building. The path to the toilets needs to be kept clear and should preferably be paved. In high schools the location of the toilets needs to be decided keeping in view the need for privacy. Toilet entrances must not be easily visible from the main school building.
11. The provision of a tap and basin for hand washing is necessary. Hand washing basin just outside the toilet block will serve the purpose of hand washing after toilet use. This facility must also serve for washing feet. A separate water point is needed for hand washing before and after meals. In primary schools, wash basins at a height of about 2 feet will be useful. In high schools, varying heights will be useful to accommodate the range of student age groups in the school. The space between the tap and the basin also needs to allow for filling of water bottles and needs to be deep enough too prevent splashing of water onto the user.
12. Hand pumps are to be provided to all schools as they are reliable and provide back-up water supply when the PWS supply becomes dysfunctional.
13. The design of the hand pump needs to be re-looked at and suitable modifications made in the design to make it safer for children.
14. A facility to store water is as important as having a water connection. The capacity of the storage tank must be such that it meets the water needs of the school for two to three days to avoid temporary disruptions in water facility due to power failure.
15. One tap for every 30 students seems to be appropriate. Regular testing of drinking water and more importantly provision of safe water if the tested water is found unsafe is important.

Primary schools toilets need to be clearly visible from the main school building. In high schools, the location of the toilets needs to be decided keeping in view the need for privacy.

Maintenance and Management
From the point of view of use, maintenance and management, of WatSan facilities, the participants suggested:

1. 75% of the students interacted with in the study had no WCs at home. They are first-generation toilet users and need active encouragement to use the facilities.
2. Orientation to masons and quality control during construction is necessary.
3. Student involvement in maintenance of toilets for example through systems such as the school committees needs to be encouraged.
4. The head masters and teachers should have clear directions on what funds could be utilized for the toilet maintenance, what responsibilities students can be given for upkeep of the facilities, etc.
5. Teachers must be made fully aware of the value of hygiene behaviours and must be equipped with innovative ways to encourage them in students. Thus training to teachers on sanitation and hygiene education with a focus on enhancing the awareness, skills and attitudes of the teachers on sanitation and hygiene education is necessary.
6. The mandal and district level functionaries of the education department must feel that monitoring of use and maintenance of the school water and sanitation infrastructure is their responsibility.
7. Wall paintings giving pictorial instructions on toilet use are useful to both students and teachers and must be provided at the toilet, water and hand wash facilities.

For more information contact:
Centre for Environment Education

Andhra Pradesh State Cell
Door No. 10-1-847 to 850, 1st floor,
A.C.Guards, Khairatabad,
Hyderabad 500004
Telefax: 040-23312992
E-mail: ceeandhrapradesh@ceeindia.org

A facility to store water is as important as having a water connection.

First generation toilet users need active encouragement to use the facilities.

The design of the hand pump needs to be re-looked at and suitable modifications made in the design to make it safer for children.