Why is Lien Aid focusing on Cambodia?
Cambodia's population lacks access to clean drinking water. Open defecation is a common practice and waterborne diseases remain one of the leading causes of death for children. Clearly, providing safe water and sanitation is a big challenge for Cambodia.
But you can't take Cambodia's potential for improvement lightly. For one, the Government has put water and sanitation at the top of its agenda. Also, the country has a strong network of players engaged in this field. With strong alliances, I'm positive that we can create the right regulatory and market environment to make safe water and sanitation available to all.
What kinds of water and sanitation projects has Lien Aid undertaken in Cambodia?
Since 2007, we've done 4-Arsenic Threat Mitigation, Changing Habits through Informed Choice, WaterLoo for Community, and River of Life-and we have more lined up.
"Arsenic Threat Mitigation" introduced rainwater harvesting to areas with arsenic-contaminated groundwater. Partnering with, Rain Water Cambodia, a local NGO we built institutional rainwater harvesting units in schools and provided individual units to the poorest families. We're also training the rest of the communities to construct their own units.
The other 3 projects focus on proper sanitation, first by educating the people and then by providing alternatives to their old practice of open defecation. "Changing Habits through Informed Choice" was about educating community leaders on proper sanitation and having them echo their knowledge to their communities so that each household can make informed decisions about sanitation. In "WaterLoo for Community," we constructed an integrated hygiene and sanitation complex for a slum community.
Together with the Lien Institute for Environment, we recently launched the "River of life" project. With this, we hope to provide better sanitation options for the floating communities on the Tonle Sap. We've already heightened the communities' awareness on proper sanitation. This month, we will introduce different toilet designs that they can build on their houseboats. Simultaneously, we're providing them with a safer choice for drinking water by building a floating water treatment plant.
The floating toilets sound challenging. How confident are you that you will be giving the villagers what they need?
In September 2008, together with the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) and local authorities, we did a survey covering 10% of the populace in our target floating villages. We covered their hygiene behaviors and sanitation practices, their preferences and limitations. We reinforced our survey findings by consulting other organizations and experts working in the field. We've just spent the last 3 months developing toilet designs, incorporating our findings.
What factors did you consider when designing toilets for Tonle Sap's houseboats?
Ease of use, affordability, adaptability, and cultural acceptability were foremost in our minds. Majority of the residents defecate directly in the lake and that's what we need to prevent. That means we need toilets that would first store excreta and then manage it. Since the houseboats move around and shift as they adjust to the lake's currents and water level, conventional solutions like pit latrines are out of the running. For now, we are exploring several options including the use of especially adapted septic tanks plus ecological sanitation using the urine diversion-dissecting (UDD) toilet, which separates the liquid stream from the solid portion of excreta, making both manageable.
How have you adapted the UDD toilet for the floating villages?
Our design equation has several variables-preferences the villagers expressed during the survey (i.e. washing/wiping after excretion), willingness to handle feces at specific intervals, affordability, construction materials, availability of drying materials, and more. From these, we determined the size of the toilets, buckets to be used for storage of excreta, ecosan pans (2-hole or 3-hole), and other design considerations. We have 3 workable designs to date. (see photos)
Our next challenges are to modify existing toilets to incorporate the UDD options, ensure availability of suitable drying material for covering feces, and keep the costs manageable. Obviously, we still have a long way to go.
What people say in surveys isn't always what they do in real life. How will you ensure that villagers adopt the floating toilets after the pilot stage?
We've already explained to the villages the working principles behind the floating toilets and many are enthusiastic to try it. Most of them already know how defecating openly in the lake harms their health and the environment but they continue to do it for lack of a better alternative. We're hopeful that this will be reason enough for them to use the UDD toilets.
In addition, this program enjoys the full support of the MRD and the local authorities as an important intervention to reduce fecal contamination in the lake. Lien Aid will keep up the information drive by developing simple yet effective publications on methods of construction, use, and maintenance of the floating toilets.
Can the villagers really afford the floating toilets?
Our current estimate is between US$50-200, depending on whether the family will just upgrade their existing drop-hole toilet to accommodate the UDD technology or whether the entire toilet, including superstructure, will be constructed from scratch. The size of the toilet will also dictate the cost-toilets that can accommodate 2 tanks1; will obviously cost more.
We're still trying to lower the cost by using indigenous materials and encouraging local entrepreneurs to manufacture the UDD pans. It's going to be a long and tough process but we'll keep working to ensure that cost will not be a barrier on the uptake.
How will you ensure that the people won't just dump the contents of the tank into the lake again?
A land-based composting unit and collection system will be established to manage the semi-composted feces. We hope to promote the use of fully decomposed feces as compost.
We've already set up a community center for water-sanitation related training and advocacy activities in the Chhnok Trou commune so that we can have regular trainings, interactions, and follow-through sessions with the villagers. We will also form a water-sanitation group from among the residents and community leaders, and this group will spearhead the initiative in their villages.
What key insights can you highlight from Lien Aid's work in Cambodia?
We all desire to improve our well-being. Many, however, are limited by their circumstances and resources. With a little assistance and motivation, they can rise above their challenges.
When helping the less fortunate, hand-outs might seem like an easier solution but they're rarely sustainable in the long run. Our work is less about giving hand-outs and more about empowering people to participate and make informed choices on how they can improve their lives.
Extensive consultation with local authorities, NGOs, and communities is the backbone of our work, giving us a firm grasp of the needs and challenges of the people we're trying to help. Using this knowledge, we are able to tap into both local and global resources and adapt solutions that are affordable, appropriate, and sustainable.
1; The 2 tanks will be for families who wish to avoid handling semi-decomposed excreta every few months. Once the first vault is full, it can be sealed for a few months until the feces dries up, and the alternate second vault will be used. Toilets with only 1 vault means the family will have to dispose of semi-composted feces at monthly intervals.
About the Champion
Mr. Sahari Ani is the CEO of Lien Aid, a Singapore-based nongovernment organization dedicated to contributing solutions to Asia's water and sanitation problems. Working on the premise that safe water and sanitation are the most basic building blocks for development without which many communities cannot break the cycle of poverty, Lien Aid operates by introducing customized solutions using local resources, finding the right blend of ideas and technology, and developing alliances.
As CEO, Sahari has seen through his organization's many contributions since its establishment in 2006-from setting up a mobile water treatment system that provides safe water daily to 10,000 survivors in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake, to stamping out open defecation in many Cambodian rural villages, to introducing appropriate water management and treatment activities in hospitals in Viet Nam.
Prior to joining Lien Aid, Sahari worked with the Singapore Red Cross, leading response teams into the field following major disasters such as the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Nias Island and Pakistan, where his expertise in disaster management and medical training proved invaluable. Sahari also has extensive management experience in the healthcare industry, ranging from emergency response to mobile healthcare to clinics and hospitals. A nurse by training, he was the first recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Singapore Nurses Association to complete his MSc in Health Care Management in 1995.
Sahari has twice been recognized for his efforts in going beyond the call of duty-the Healthcare Humanity Award 2005 for his active participation in volunteerism and the Courage Star Award 2004 for his contributions in responding to the SARS Outbreak, both from Singapore's National Healthcare Group.
