•A GIRL shows the inside of a pit latrine.

IT is almost evident that the country has made significant progress in achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number seven, part C, of reducing by half the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water, but it is also a fact that it is far from achieving the same target on basic sanitation.
Goal number seven talks about ‘environmental sustainability’. Part C reads “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation.”
But current statics indicates that sanitation is one area which has been neglected over the years and now stands at below 30 per cent.
It is for this reason that Government has shifted its attention on goal number seven, Part C, to sanitation.
And working with other stakeholders like the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), it has introduced a programme called the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) which is aimed at taking the fight towards improved sanitation in communities around the country.
CLTS is an initiative which is encouraging the use of toilet facilities and discouraging open defecation.
The programme has recorded success in most parts of the country, Choma in particular, where most villages in Chief Macha’s area has been recognised by the world for achieving an Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, meaning that people in this part of the country are not only using the toilet but they are following other basic requirements in hygiene and sanitation like providing hand washing facilities and soap, covering their latrines with lid among other requirements.
This project has also been duplicated in other parts of country and Kaputa District of Northern Province is one such district where the programme has been received positively.
During the commemoration of the World Toilet Day last year on November 19, 2013, a CLTS National Trainer came to the district to conduct training on sanitation and also access the progress the district has made regarding CLTS.
The CLTS national coach, Moses Mutyoka was recently impressed with the progress the district is making in sanitation issues and towards achieving the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
Mr Mutyoka who also conducted a field and verification visit to Senga Village in Chipili ward of Kaputa, was happy that people have received the idea positively and are making strides to ensure that they not only build toilets but also observe other basic rules of hygiene.
Among the things which can make a village or compound to be declared ODF is the use of lavatory facilities. Every household should have its own lavatory. It should also provide the necessary facilities like hand washing facilities with water and soap or ash to ensure that they wash the hand after using the toilet. Soap or ashes from brazier in this case acts as bacterial disinfectant.
Health experts say ‘the use of soap alone can reduce diseases by 47 per cent.’ The lavatory should have privacy, it should be secure such that one cannot be seen when inside, it should also be roofed and the hole should be covered with a lid to ensure that no flies go to and from the toilet.
Out of the more than 20 household visited, it was discovered that all except one claimed to have newly built lavatories with the majority observing basic hygiene standards and the requirements mentioned. A few who did not meet the requirements expressed willingness to implement.
According to information obtained, over 78 out of the 300 villages in Kaputa have attained the ODF status while others have made steady progress to achieve the status, news that delighted Mr Mutyoka who declared that the district might soon be an ODF zone if it took these issues seriously and worked on the identified gaps.
Kaputa District Water Coordinator, William Chikalipa said the success has been recorded in the last one year the programme has been implemented.
He explained that the programme was launched in October last year but suggested that a lot could have been achieved with concerted efforts.
He explained that district Joint Monitoring Programme Team (JMPT) which is expected to be monitoring these house holds, villages is facing challenges in transportation and experts to be monitoring every village that claim ODF.
And a community chairperson in Senga Village, Richard Kasongole added that the lack of monitoring was slowing the progress to verify and achieve ODF status.
Mr Kasongole said even where people have done a lot; they tend to be complacent because of lack of inspection and verification visit from the health experts and JMPT.
Already, the communities are appreciative of the initiative. Headman of Senga Village who is member of the Sanitation Action Group (SAG) in the village said from the time the programme started, diarrhea has reduced, especially among children.
He said people were at first reluctant to implement the programme until the councillor who joined hands with the traditional leadership moved in.
He narrated that the chief used to threaten punishment for people that would not comply and did take some disciplinary measures on some occasions.
The headman said the fear of punishment from the chief and intensive campaigns from the local champions prompted many to dig pit latrines.
“At first it was just like they dig the latrine and it stopped there until the champions continued with their sensitisation campaigns to ensure that they also observed other hygiene requirements,” he said.
“What we are seeing now is that everyone in the village has constructed lavatories and they are trying their best to observe basic hygiene standards. We have continued to encourage them to ensure that they follow the rules,” he said.
And a resident also testified that the coming of the programme has seen mothers spending less time nursing their children from diarrhea diseases.
The woman explained that the village used to witness a number of children suffering from diarrhea diseases especially during the rain season and at the beginning of the mango season but this has now minimised.
“Our children used to frequently suffer from diarrhea but we have seen that this has reduced, from last year when we started the programme, we have recorded fewer cases of children getting sick with diarrhea and other diseases,” she narrated.
And Chieftaines Kaputa who is also in the forefront of spearheading the programme, is very happy with the development in the villages.
The traditional leader who is also chairperson of the JMPT said she conducts regular visits to the villages to ensure that they are complying with the programme.
She expressed satisfaction with the achievement so far and called for more support to her team to enable them reach out to many villages within the stipulated time.
While villages are making progress in observing sanitation issues, the town centre is facing serious challenges with guest houses, bars, and restaurant very far from observing these basic rules.
This has infuriated the chieftainess who calls the situation as worrying. She noted that while villages were making steady progress, the business community was far from meeting basic standards.
The chieftainess explained that she had visited some guest houses and was upset that they are failing to keep up.
The council through the health department who should be carrying out inspections on guesthouses, bars, restaurants and shops, however, blamed the lack of environmental health technicians (EHTs) to carryout the works.
The council said it has no EHT to carryout inspection hence relies on staffs from Kaputa District Hospital who in most cases are busy with other duties.
The CLTS national coach has also commended the efforts of the traditional leader in the promotion of hygiene.
Mr Mutyoka observed that in places where the programme has worked, traditional leaders are in the forefront and has encouraged the chieftainess to continue with the hard works.
The combined promotion for use of lavatories, water soap and others will surely go a long way in combating diarrhea in the country.
And it is only through such efforts of educating people in rural areas on the importance of hygiene that the country will be able to attain MDG goal on sanitation, after all, it is the rural population that makes up over 50 per cent of the total population.–ZANIS