More than 2 billion people do not have access to a basic toilet.
As a result, people regularly face preventable diseases that all too often lead to death, particularly for children. Sanitation is a prerequisite for clean water, and vital to a child’s survival, development, and growth.
WATERisLIFE is committed to our integrated WASH approach, of which sanitation is fundamental. We work hard to eliminate open defecation by inspiring collective community decisions and local action.
The CLTS Approach
Our sanitation plan employs the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, pioneered by Dr. Kamal Kar. This approach centers on empowerment, helping communities analyze their own sanitation and waste situations without depending on subsidies. Gradually, communities move themselves up the sanitation ladder and create sustainable behavior change.
- Pre-triggering: WATERisLIFE visits the community to build rapport and relationships.
- Triggering: A WiL Field Team trained by CLTS leaders visit the community with materials. Together, the team and community identify areas of poor sanitation and hygiene behaviors. The community takes ownership of their challenges.
- Post-triggering: WiL monitors and supports the community until they achieve Basic Open Defecation Free (ODF) status for one year.
- Community Self-Assessment: The community creates an action plan that will help them obtain basic ODF certification.
- Open Defecation Free Status: Once the community achieves certification, they can create their Community Action Plan for a sustainable sanitation solution. Natural leaders emerge, training and digging of pit latrines/soak aways begins, “dig and bury” and proper hand washing become ritual, latrines are installed in every household.
Sanitation Market Training
WiL also provides a unique approach to latrine building through latrine artisan training. This program teaches individuals to start their own latrine-building businesses, and includes all necessary start-up materials. WiL encourages and supports a sanitation credit system that allows individual households to borrow and invest in a revolving fund for the construction of private latrines.
End goal: Full community latrine coverage.