CHE Tree-loo Latrines

On Facebook I posted a summary of a recent CHE training we did and I want to expand it a little here for better chances to share it with you.  We did this in conjunction with one of our co-workers who specializes in WaSH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene).  He helped us "dig deep" into the economic ways to motivate people to use latrines, which in turn helps the health of the community and can give the pastors a positive influence with their neighbors.  

In focusing on healthy homes with the pastors we're working with, we held a two-day CHE training on how to make simple latrines.  In their villages most people go "behind the town" in the fields, finding a convenient tree for cover or waiting til night time.  What we trained on are termed "tree-loos" for a different reason.  The added financial motive to making one is the faster you fill it, the faster you can plant a fruit tree on top that will quickly produce sell-able resources from your daily "composting" routine!

The picture at the left is an almost completed latrine in the foreground, as we put in the poles that will hold up the grass-woven barrier for privacy. It will be similar to the "shower-area" in the background although longer so it wraps around with an entrance passageway.

These are pastors we are training to make simple latrines for their homes and communities. In front is the circle of blocks used for a mold for the concrete slab that covers the pit. This is a simple way of doing it that doesn't require extra tools- a big step to getting people to try it!  A wood template helps to get the hole and feet grips in the right place, but is not necessary.  A tin can can be inserted in the middle to get the basic function just fine.

Below we're digging a 1 m. pit, which can be filled by a family in 6-12 months. Then you move to another spot in the yard and dig another, while planting a tree over the first one. The encouragement is a fruit tree will grow fast in the great compost you've created and then you have nutritional or financial benefit from using your latrine! An old, broken, 20-year old latrine in the background.

We started the training with skits, problems, and questions about why people don't have latrines. The rest of the time was talking about ways to overcome those problems practically!

At the end is another view with a handy dandy hole mold helps to get one of the most important parts of the latrine to come out right!

-- El Padre