Environment, Water and Sanitation Program

Since 2001, local men study construction and build comprehensive household water and sanitation units consisting of ecological dry toilets, greywater recycling, a laundry sink and bathing area, and harvesting and storing of rainwater in an adjacent 7800L tank.  Family education and ownership, local training, and follow-up monitoring and repair have resulted in a 95% usage rate of the units.  Personnel closely monitor water quality, and use an innovative family water calendar technique to determine household water quantity, effort and cost.  Conducted in response to villager health complaints over the past seven years, investigations revealed low but persistent levels of arsenic and lead in water and in soil as well as toxins in the palm dyes (cadmium, lead, mercury), hair and nail samples (lead and arsenic), and in glazed, low fire clay cooking pots (lead). Ongoing studies indicate a human non-pylori Helicobacter infection with serious health consequences. Among malnourished and vulnerable people, these harmful toxins interact synergistically, producing a silent crisis of slow poisoning.