The Grand Unveiling
Official opening of the facilities – a big step for the community in Ndirande.
Since January 2012, CCODE, in alliance with the Malawi Federation of the Rural and Urban Poor (Alliance), has been implementing the SHARE-funded City-Wide Sanitation project in Blantyre, Malawi. It is testing a community-driven and public authority-supported approach to pro-poor citywide sanitation strategies.
One of the challenges that communities identified during the community-driven research stage of the project was the problem of public sanitation in the informal settlements.
Finding solutions
Against this backdrop, and as part of its wider slum upgrading strategy, the Alliance has facilitated the construction of five public paid toilets at market places in four settlements in Blantyre. These toilets have two main features that make them unique:
- They use EcoSan technology – this means they require little water for their maintenance, (something that is often scarce in high density areas) and the waste can be harvested as humanure (a safe, nutrient-rich compost manure that can e utilised as crop fertilizer);
- They are paid toilets – this helps ensure they are sustainable in the long term. Users pay a small fee, which funds the maintenance and cleaning of the toilets. A percentage of the profits obtained from the toilets goes towards the repayment of the facilities, and the majority remains in the community for other community-led projects. Local and City-Wide Sanitation Committees have been created to oversee the management of the system, which include members of the City Council, Traditional Authorities, community leaders and Federation members.
The grand unveiling
At the end of May 2015, local authorities, Councillors, Traditional Authorities, community leaders and community members came together in Ndirande to officially launch these new toilets.
The toilets will benefit the communities in many ways. Not only will they provide a safe and comfortable sanitation option in these crowded areas, but they will also give the community a sense of pride and will produce resources that can be used to address the most pressing needs of the community.
Furthermore, the involvement and commitment of the City Council in a community-led process of improving the living conditions in slums sets an important precedent for the future.