22 Jul 2014

Volunteers of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in Gumare have promised to build pit latrines for residents in order to eliminate open defecation.

Addressing a kgotla meeting recently, Ms Mosipidi Ledimo, one of the volunteers told the residents that as long as a household has the materials, they will avail themselves to build the toilets free of charge. ‘If you have reeds, a drum, mud bricks and a single corrugated iron, you can approach us to help build you a toilet,” she said.

According to Ms Ledimo, they started building toilets from July 17 until September 30. The extension facilitator, Mr Isaac Aaron said the main objective is to have a clean environment more so that Gumare is located in the delta.

He said they also want to encourage people to start living healthy lives by changing their behavior, especially when it comes to human waste management.

‘The challenges that we face in our project is that the youth are not actively involved in this project ,only the Boyei ward volunteers in Gumare are taking part though we have 7 wards in all. However, that will not dampen our spirits’, explained Mr Aaron.

Mr Collen Sarefu said that latrine usage is very low in Ngamiland and those that are available are in poor condition and many are not used because many community members prefer open defecation than the privacy of a proper toilet.

‘Open defecation pollutes the water supply and environment and results in diarrhea and other diseases, thousands suffer from diseases related to open defecation and poor hygiene,’ he stated. ENDS