Daniel Truneh, the Team Leader for SNV Awassa, holding the award certificate.
On 5th May 2010, the community of Galeto held an Open Defecation Free Zone celebration following successful verification of villages that had been implementing Community Led Total Sanitation. The celebration was the culmination of the good work that had been carried out by the community of Galeto, following the Community Led Total Sanitation trigger that was done by SNV Ethiopia water and sanitation advisers in collaboration with local authorities. SNV Ethiopia advisers trained officers from the local bureau of health and sanitation and local capacity builders, who have been working in the area.
There was pomp and colour during the celebration presided over by the Head of the Regional Health Bureau, Ato Karre Chawicha, and senior officials from Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Region, officials from UNICEF and other organisations. The community turned out in large numbers to celebrate their accomplishment. There was entertainment that kept the audience mesmerised as they marked an important occasion in their locality. There were different kinds of poems, songs and plays advocating for proper sanitation practices and appreciating the good work done by SNV. One community member said, “I have gained from reduced health expenditure, less time spent seeking treatment for my family and myself, more days worked and more strength for work”.
Prior to triggering the Community Led Total Sanitation, rampant open defecation was the order of the day. Previous attempts to stop this practice through government decrees did not yield any sustained positive results. People constructed latrines mainly to please the authorities and to escape punishment by the authorities. Other than the dignity and privacy offered by using a latrine, members of the community also mentioned the health benefits that accompany the use of latrines. Neighbouring villages have felt positively challenged by the example set by Galeto. Some have embarked on latrine construction even without going through the Community Led Total Sanitation trigger. The Galeto story has become a source of inspiration to many!
Many partners that were initially skeptical about the Community Led Total Sanitation approach have started to embrace the initiative as they are now convinced of its potential and feel that Community Led Total Sanitation holds the key to sanitation improvement, scaling up at the community level and attaining the MDG on sanitation. There is now a growing movement amongst NGOs and development agencies such as UNICEF, government line Ministries of Health and Ministry of Water Resources, local authorities and leaders (including school children) forming open defecation free communities to advocate for and scale-up Community Led Total Sanitation.
The lead Ministry, Ministry of Health has already shown commitment to scale up sanitation using the Community Led Total Sanitation approach, in line with the Ethiopian government policy on environmental sanitation and hygiene that was launched recently in which SNV Ethiopia water, sanitation and hygiene advisors played a major role in harmonising the various Community Led Total Sanitation approaches in the country.
During the celebration, SNV Ethiopia was awarded a certificate of recognition for introducing a creative and innovation approach to change entrenched institutional, professional and personal behaviour, attitudes and mindsets. The changes resonate with shifts from a paradigm of top-down control associated with things and set procedures to a paradigm of bottom-up empowerment associated with people and social processes. The depth and scale of such transformations of personal and professional conviction are one of the strongest indicators of the power and effectiveness of Community Led Total Sanitation.