The Power of a 4-Year-Old

Up until now, I seriously questioned whether my town would ever stop defecating in the woods and start using latrines. I had spoken with tons of adults about the dangers of unsafe drinking water caused by open defecation. People understood the message, but they never saw the point to change their behavior. They rarely get sick and after working in the field all day, building a latrine isn't the most appealing afternoon or weekend activity.

 

The problem is that even though THEY don't get sick from drinking the water here after years of built up immunity, THEIR CHILDREN do get sick. It is heartbreaking living here sometimes. Countless children under 5 years old have died in our area from preventable dehydration due to diarrhea most likely caused by drinking non-potable water.

 

These deaths will be much less frequent in the years to come, thanks, in part, to a very bright and inquisitive 4-year-old. My neighbor, Harina, likes to hang around and ask me "What's this?" or "What are you doing?". So, when I finished building my latrine, she was very interested.

 

"What is that?"

"It's a latrine. That's where I go to the bathroom."

"You don't go to the bathroom in the woods over there."

"No. It's so far. I'm lazy. Plus, I don't want people walking in my poop. Also, pooping on the ground makes the water around it dirty."

"Oh."

"You should use a latrine too. You're a big kid now."

 

Over the next month, she became more interested, asking me questions about how to use a latrine. I even caught her peeping in on me while I was in the latrine once. The ensuing conversation about privacy and nudity fell on deaf ears. In this culture, kids run around naked and being asked the contents of your bag is a daily occurrence. Anyways, one day, I was eating a hard candy and Harina asked me for one. I told her that I'd only give her one if she started using the latrine. She then went over later in the day, used the latrine, and asked for the candy again. After I made her wash her hands, I paid up.

 

A few more successful days of the latrine-usage incentive program (read: shamelessly bribing a child with candy), using the latrine became habit for her. Then, she got to work making fun of her friends for being like animals pooping on the ground. Of course, peer pressure is an extremely powerful motivator and her friends started using the latrine too. Ashamed of being called cows by their own children, some parents have begun to trickle in too. It's a snowball effect, led by the smallest catalyst. In related news, my friend, Jao, and I are putting the final touches on his latrine this week. After it is complete, my hope is that his family will use it regularly and that their friends will want to build latrines as well. With Jao's family and Harina as examples to the town, I think, given time, Siranana will be "open defecation free."