Burma: Kampen for ordentlige latriner føres landsby for landsby

“This is a major step forward. It proves that communities can discard (opgive) the practice of open defecation (forrette nødtørften i det fri) and build latrines on their own initiative,” Ramesh Shrestha, the UNICEF country representative in Burma, told IRIN.

The three villages declared ODF on 4 May were Kywe Ta Paung; Myauk Let Gyi; and Hnget Pyaw Taw.

UNICEF and the government have been working in 20 villages in three townships – Thae Kone, Pyay and Puak Khaung – to mobilize community action against open defecation.

And there are plans to scale up to 15 townships over the next year, using hands-on visual training and demonstrations. Community awareness is an important part of the programme.

Yae Oo, a tiny agricultural community of 300 residents, is also making progress. Until recently, nearly one-third of the residents defecated in the open, using banana groves around the village to relieve themselves.

Ensuring that his community is ODF has not been easy, says Thet Naing, a father of two:

“Even if a single household does not use a toilet, our village is still at risk of diarrhoea (diarre)”, he notes. Only two of the 92 homes have yet to build toilets.

Flies used to be a common pest and residents regularly complained of excrement being trampled back into their homes. Bouts (udbrud) of diarrhoea, a major killer of children aged under five, were common, Thet Naing said.

Community-led approach