Latrine Project Progress

As many of you know, I recently worked on a project to increase the amount of latrines in my village. Latrines were obviously lacking in my village, with a total of 4 for a population over 350. Many of you donated to my project and I raised over  $ 1,774 for the completion of the latrines. Thank you everyone for donating, or even discussing my project back in America. It means a lot and has really changed the face of my village. The entire project went amazingly smoothly, and was completed in a matter of weeks! After the village was all informed at a town meeting about the project, each family was responsible for the digging of a one meter by one meter pit. The pits would then be "capped" in order they were finished. A local mason, Kali, came to my village and trained six men in the process and skills of constructing a latrine, over the course of an entire day. Then, they divided into teams of three- Bubakar Soiree, Al-Juma Diallo, and Souleyman Ba for the west side of my village  and Saka Sisikoh, Jelliba Diallo, and Abduliah Seck on the east. Each group constructed 13 latrines in the course of five days. Now, over 80% of the villagers have access to a latrine. Here's some smiling recipients:

This is Hasana Diallo, a great friend of mine! And his beautiful new latrine, complete with ventilation tube and locally made bamboo fencing.

This is Jeneba Diallo, and her son Samba Seck.

The project was a great success, and 28 latrines were constructed by March. The six trained masons have since gotten other masonry work and are honing their trade. About a week ago, an NGO (La Lumiere) came to my village, with the invitation of the President of the Rural Community. They conducted a lengthy training on village hygiene, including the health benefits of latrine use and the unhealthy aspects of going "behind the fence," as we say in Pulaar. They convinced the remaining 14 compounds without a latrine to dig as well, basically through publicly shaming them and explaining the process of the spread of germs. Now they are saying they are "forced" to dig,  because otherwise the flies will bring waste onto their food. The rainy season is coming though, so they all started digging immediately.  I decided to increase funding for my project with a grant from Appropriate Projects though Water Relief. With the left-over materials from the first latrines, this 500$ grant will be enough to bring my village to 100% latrine availability! And "open air defecation" can be ended, a phrase my friend Hasana now can't stop saying. 

I just wanted to sincerely thank everyone for all the support for this project. Within a few weeks, my village  will have gone from less than 10% latrine availability to 100%. At the initial meeting, at which the project was announced, we were sitting around the storage shed for the village grain. People were weighing their various grains-- corn, rice, sorghum, and fonio. After I explained the project, and the way the latrines would be constructed and maintained, one ornery old man, Cellou Kante, asked me "Souleyman [my Senegalese name,] aren't you here to work with farming? What does [expletive deleted]ing have to do with farming?" Another elder, Thierno Mamadou Diam, replied "Old man, latrines bring health. Health is a foundation for everything we do. A young man or and old coot like you can't work if their body is not well. A sick man does not farm. These latrines will bring us the health to work hard." I really can't say it better than that. Thank you all, and thank you sincerely from the 350 residents of Thianguey. My dad, Samba Sisiko, wanted me to tell you to thank all the donators. He said "America is far away, but it is sweet."