GiveLove began working with WaterAID in Colombia in February 2017. Alisa Keesey and Samuel Autran spent three weeks working with indigenous Wayuu communities learning about previous efforts to introduce container-based sanitation systems in the La Guarjira region.
A Fossa Alterna toilet was installed at primary school CEIR # 9 – Wayuuma’ana to pilot this dry toilet technology in this ecological and cultural context.
WaterAID and GiveLove conducted meetings with leaders and household interviews to select families to participate in the re-introduction the compost toilets. GiveLove will return to the area in September 2017 to start Phase Two of the project.
Open defecation is the norm in this region, and the area is prone to drought and extreme water scarcity. Women and children explained that defecating outside in the bush is dangerous, inconvenient and shame-producing because animals eat their feces, they lack privacy, and fear going out at night. Young children, teenage girls, pregnant women, and elderly and handicapped people are impacted by the lack of sanitation in different ways. GiveLove hopes to prevent environmental pollution and provide people with safe and dignified sanitation with the compost toilet program.