Developments in on-site sanitation

Q. Where can I find information on recent developments in on-site sanitation?

A. The topics related to on-site sanitation that have received most attention over the past few years are ecological sanitation (ecosan), Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and school sanitation.

Below are a number of key web sites and recent publications on the above topics and on-site sanitation in general.

Web sites

• IRC – Thematic page on Sanitation
• Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) (members are all the key organisations dealing with sanitation in development)
• WEDC – International Year of Sanitation
• WSSCC – Hurry up campaign
• WHO – International Year of Sanitation 2008
• EcoSanRes: Ecological Sanitation Research
• International Year of Sanitation 2008 – Sanitary Facilities
• Duncan Mara’s home page – International Year of Sanitation 2008
• Livelihoods Connect: Community Led Total Sanitation
• WSP – Sanitation & Hygiene
• WASH in Schools

Publications

By IRC

• IRC/WaterAid (2008). Beyond construction. See especially the summary paper.
• NWP et al. (2006). Smart sanitation solutions
• Bruijne, G. de et al. (2007). Sanitation for All ?
• Borba, M.L. et al (2007). Enhancing livelihoods through sanitation
• IRC and UNICEF (2007). Towards effective programming for WASH in schools : a manual on scaling up programmes for water, sanitation and hygiene in schools.

By others

• Kar, K. and Chamber, R. (2008). Handbook on community-led total sanitation
• Deak, A. (2008). Taking community-led total sanitation to scale : movement, spread and adaptation
• Pedi, D. (ed.) (2008). Sharing experiences : sustainable sanitation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
• Black, M. and Fawcett, B. (2008). The last taboo : opening the door on the global sanitation crisis. London, UK, Earthscan and UNICEF.
• Webster, L. (2007). The sanitation scandal : identifying and responding to the barriers to improved sanitation and hygiene in developing countries.
• Fewtrell, L.et al. (2007). Water, sanitation and hygiene : quantifying the health impact at national and local levels in countries with incomplete water supply and sanitation coverage
• Morgan, P. (2007). Toilets that make compost : low-cost, sanitary toilets that produce valuable compost for crops in an African context.
• Harvey, P.A. (2007). Excreta disposal in emergencies : a field manual

News

Sanitation Updates

Training guideline for sanitation clubs in schools

Q: We are about to develop a training guideline on water, sanitation and
hygiene for environmental clubs in schools . We are wondering where to
get a copy for reference that we could use.
Sector professional, The GambiaAnswer: (by Annemarieke Mooijman)
For information on sanitation clubs, the following case studies might be of interest:

 

• Children’s health clubs in schools; opportunities and risks. Many school programs for water, sanitation and hygiene have organized special children’s groups. This paper discusses some of the benefits and risks of these school groups. (2006).
• India – The School Health Clubs Project in Kerala, by Snel, Marielle and Kochurani, Mathew (2004).
• Kenya – School Health Clubs: Can they change hygiene behaviours? By Snel, Marielle and Rop, Rosemary (2004).

For hygiene education materials, there are several methodologies depending on where and how you want to use it.

A document which I recently purchased and which I would recommend is: Children for Health: children as partners in health promotion. See:
It is fairly cheap and can be purchased through TALC (Teaching-aids At Low Cost), a charity based in the UK.

Another option would be to use the materials used for CHAST in Somalia, see http://www.schools.watsan.net/page/326

More case studies and other information can be found on the WASH in schools website: http://www.schools.watsan.net

Hygiene education materials to teach in schools

Q: I am working on water and sanitation projects in rural schools in Uganda. I am looking for information on hygiene education to teach in the schools. Do you have information packs to use as aides in teaching or can you advise me where I can get some?

(Sector professional, NGO, Australia)

Answer: The following materials will be useful for your situation:

Khamal, S.; Mendoza, R.; Phiri, C.; Rop, R.; Snel, M. and Sijbesma, C. (2005). The joy of learning : participatory lesson plans on hygiene, sanitation, water, health and the environment. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

The Joy of Learning guide is meant for teachers and others who want to design participatory learning activities on hygiene and sanitation. It is divided into two parts: theory and lesson plans. The lesson plans are organised into three sections: hygiene (including personal and food hygiene), sanitation and water. Each section contains a series of information sheets for planning, implementing and evaluating participatory learning activities on a specific subject. Examples include personal hygiene, the safe transport and handling of water, protecting local water sources, and locally prevailing disease transmission routes.

 

Postma, L.; Getkate, R. and Wijk-Sijbesma, C.A. van (2004). Life skills-based hygiene education : a guidance document on concepts, development and experiences with life skills-based hygiene education in school sanitation and hygiene education programmes. (Technical paper series / IRC; 42). Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

The paper is divided into three sections: section 1 gives a general introduction to life skills-based hygiene education; section 2 gives a general overview of the content of life skills-based hygiene education; and section 3 provides a set of examples of lesson plans for life skills-bases hygiene education. Focus is on primary school children.

Mooijman, A. and Zomerplaag, J. (2004). Child-friendly hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools : indispensible to effective hygiene education. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

This document covers all the stages of a design project, from needs assessment to operation and maintenance. It stresses the importance of active involvement of children, teachers, parents and the community during all of these stages so that they themselves will be able to find solutions for their own problems and needs.

 

Shordt, K.; Snel, M. and Ganguly, S. (2002). School sanitation and hygiene education – India. Handbook for teachers. (Technical paper series / IRC; no. 39). Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

The complete package consists of two manuals. The Resource Book and the Handbook are practical manuals meant for managers, trainers and teachers involved in SSHE programmes. The handbook is meant specifically for teachers working in pre-schol and primary school. It will help them in the classroom to teach children about hygiene and sanitation by using the child-to-child teaching approach.

The books were developed in the context of the School Water and Sanitation Towards Health and Hygiene (SWASTHH) programme in India. However, they provide many useful guidelines and activities that apply to similar programmes elsewhere.

 

Finally, many successful examples from programmes around the world could be downloaded in the resource section of the World Bank, WSP, UNICEF Toolkit on Hygiene, Sanitation and Water in Schools:

http://www.schoolsanitation.org/Resources/ReadingsSchoolHealth.html and http://www.schoolsanitation.org/Resources/ReadingsLifeSkills.html

 

I hope this will help you further.

If you have any additional questions or if the above does not provide the information you are looking for, let me know.

How to start evaluating projects on health and hygiene

Q: We want to start a project with a Fijian village looking at introducing sustainable sewage treatment into the village. We are also addressing the issue of water supply and will also cover health and hygiene. What we would like to do is to evaluate the project success based on several factors including health. I.e. looking at health and hygiene before and after the project. But where and how to start?
Researcher, New Zealand.

Answer:
(by Marielle Snel, IRC). It would be logical to start of with an overall baseline survey to get an idea regarding the health and hygiene. My own area of expertise is in the area of school sanitation and hygiene education (WASH in schools). An example for an overall baseline survey for schools to determine the success of the overall health situation in schools can be found in box 6.1 of the publication `School sanitation and hygiene education – India´.

I would also like to refer to a selection of methods and tools related to WASH in schools assessments. These lists, see especially the four star list under monitoring tools, can be used in the context of WASH in schools.

I would strongly suggest that you contact Val Curtis, PhD, senior lecturer in hygiene promotion at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, for more information. She studied hygiene behaviour in developing countries for many years. She is currently researching the health impacts of handwashing, and the effectiveness of different approaches.