It is pouring rain. In the little village of Ka La Chaung on the peninsula of Mayu Kan in the region of Sittwe in northern Myanmar, the villagers sit at home and chat with each other. Just a normal day during rainy season. We meet Ko Wing Naing* at his house with his family and some
neighbours. He is working in the fishing industry and in paddy-farming and lives together with
eight other family-members. Until a couple of months ago, the family did not have a latrine. When they needed to go to the toilet, they either had to walk a long way to one of the community latrines in the village or help themselves around the house. Conditions with which the family wasn't really happy. But fortunately, the situation changed when the community decided to construct a latrine for each household in the village.
The whole process started with a survey that Malteser International conducted in 2006 to determine the status of hygiene and health in this region. Staff members went to every single village and talked to the people to see what exactly they needed. The villagers were included in every step of the planning - they decided how many latrines they wanted to build in which locations. Malteser International then provided the materials and technical support where needed and the villagers did the construction work. In total, 624 households on Mayu Kan already built a new latrine, 1,078 are still under construction.
Ko Wing Naing did not only build the latrine, he also expanded it, made it more stable and pretty. Malteser International provides a basic set for the construction, Ko Wing Naing exchanged
some of the materials: for example he used bamboo for the walling instead of plastic sheets and stones and cement for the pit of the latrine. He had to invest some money, but he is convinced
it's worth it: "Now, we don't have to walk far anymore to get to
the latrine when we need to. That is nice", he smiles, looking
outside at the rain. "And furthermore, the surroundings of the
house stay clean."
Malteser International also provided a mosquito net and a waterfilter to every household in the village. Ko Wing Naing runs upstairs and proudly signals to follow him: There it is, his family's
water filter. It consists of a basket with a clay filter and a lid on top. The water comes out through a tap. "Before, our drinking
water was not clean. With the filter, we have safe drinking water. And the water also stays clean, because we don't have to get it out of the bucket with cups that might be dirty, but there is a tap", he says. And it's not only clean, it also tastes better. "Now
that I know how good the filtered water tastes, I don't want to drink other water ever again", Ko Wing Naing says laughingly, having a sip.
Esther Suchanek
*Name changed
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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