A toilet that makes human excreta touchable

A day would start the same way for the people of Senior Group Village Head (SGVH) Chikuzankhu, in an area stuck between two hills extending from deep inside Nyika National Park near Bolero in Rumphi.

One of them would feel like relieving themselves. So they either go into the bush or a pit latrine dug just near the house.

If it were in the bush, they would go there, turn and face the direction they came from before doing the job. They would, afterwards, walk straight to where they came from, never looking back. The pattern was the same if it were the pit latrine. There was no looking at what they left behind.

Such is the case in most societies. So often every day, we visit imaginary toilets in bush or the most decent water closets within our houses. But rarely do we cast the eye on that stuff once it is dropped.

The people of SGVH Chikuzankhu, however, are gradually drifting from that group. These days, they not only look at their excreta but also heavily dilute the despicableness with which society associates touching human excreta.

“We have realised that that is the best manure one would ever think of. It is a combination of both the basal and top dressing,” said SGVH Chikuzankhu at Mkama in the area recently.

“Those of us who have used manure from human excreta have noticed how that manure even beats a combination of 23:21:0+4S and Urea. The faeces are Nitrogen and the urine is Urea. But we get that combination at no cost at all that is why I say it beats that combination.”

As a cultural custodian himself, Chikuzankhu never fathomed that the despicableness with which he associated touching his own excreta would one day go away and that easily. That day and the ease came soon enough for him.

Through their routine exercise, some people working under the Kulera Biodiversity and Water and Development Alliance (Wada) Project approached people from his village one day.

They brought two types of manure. One of them was that from human excreta harvested from a toilet promoted under the Community Water and Sanitation Programme (C-Wasp), funded through a partnership between United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation.

They were asked which of the two types of manure we would comfortably touch with their bare hands. They all pointed at that of human excreta. At that point they had not known that it was human excreta.

“They explained the process of making that manure to us. They told us the entire trick was in the ecological sanitation (eco-san) toilet which never wastes what is dropped into it,” said Chikuzankhu.

Obedi Mkandawire, Rumphi Zone Manager for Total Land Care (TLC), other implementing partners for the Kulera/Wada Project, says the eco-san toilet has two components. Each component, he says, is usually one metre deep and a square measuring 0.8m

Each component is covered with a sun plate and one of them is used at a time. When it is full, the opening on the sun plate is covered and the other component is opened for use.

“Every time someone uses that toilet, they throw in a handful each of ashes and soil. The ashes kill the germs and the smell and the soil takes away the being human excreta,” said Mkandawire.

“The manure is usually ready for use after six or eight months. At this point the manure looks like dark fertile soil which is why people say it is the one they would easily touch than that from cattle dung, for example.”

Chikuzankhu says the manure from the eco-san toilets has boosted yields in the fields whose owners cannot afford the basal and top dressing fertilisers, saying once applied, the manure shows signs that it can keep supplying the nutrients for over two years without replenishing with another lot.

He said the response to the use of the manure is currently low. However, he said the combination of its performance and how it looks is fast attracting a number of villagers in the area.

The project targets 225,000 individuals in communities within a 10 kilometre band surrounding Nyika National Park, Vwaza and Nkhotakota Game Reserves and Ntchisi and Mkuwazi Forest Reserve.

Using interventions like conservation agriculture, village savings and loans and small-scale livestock production, the project seeks to improve livelihoods of target communities around the reserves so they don’t encroach and rely on the natural resources in the protected areas.

While all the initiatives under the project seek to change people’s attitude towards their surrounding environments, it is the performance of eco-san toilets under the Wada component that has borne the most interesting fruits.

The people of SGVH Chikuzankhu have changed their attitude and can now touch their own excreta. But that is not the only miraculous performance from the eco-san toilets.

“It is the cleanest system of disposing of wastes,” says Mkandawire.

Aiding girl education

Where desks are a barrier

 

For Gift Mkandawire and Rose Kaunda, their participation in class should never be the same again. These St Mary’s Girls Primary School pupils in Karonga should now be able to do what they previously could not do.

Every school day, just like the many other pupils at their school, these girls spread themselves on the floor each time they entered a classroom in readiness for classes. And they remained like that until that day’s class session ended.

However, unlike their boy classmates, the girls struggled to participate in tackling questions their teacher would throw at the class in the course of a lesson. It is not that this withdrawal was a result of dullness.

While the boys would just spring up within seconds and attempt what the teacher asked, the girls would spend some more time to do so.

If the teacher pointed at one of them, she would sweep her dress tight to her body before fully standing up. Then she would attempt the question. And whether she gives a correct answer or not, she would also hold her dress tight to her body before gradually resuming her seat.

“It is a huge task for girls who sit on the floor to stand up and attempt a question posed in class in the course of a lesson,” says Joseph Nyondo, Desk Officer at the Karonga District Education Manager’s (Dem) office.

“They always have to do this so that they do not expose themselves to male class mates and teachers. And because of the nature of doing this so often, most of the girls have chosen not to participate in class exercises that would require them to stand. They sometimes feel shy.”

Nyondo says the development affects the girls’ quest to achieve their dreams as they lack opportunities to test their confidence in public. He adds that such cases would continue unless unavailability of desks in schools in the district is addressed.

If this unavailability of desks were a piece of cake for primary schools in each of the country’s districts to share, those in Karonga would certainly celebrate the most as they would get the biggest share.

Nyondo says the problem is so huge in the district that the population of desks goes into that of pupils 12 times. This means that if all pupils were to sit on desks, 12 pupils would cram one desk. Nyondo said there are about 159 primary schools in the district.

Unfortunately, each desk accommodates just two to three pupils. This means that for every desk allocated to a school, nine or 10 pupils will not feel it. And, unfortunately, it is the girl child that is pinched the most each time such a situation occurs.

The situation is evenly spread across the district such that there are schools that have existed for years without desks. One such school is Mubisi primary school which is so mired in such problems that the first consignment of desks since its inauguration in 1968 was a donation in December last year.

But while the situation remains for pupils in some schools in the district, those at St Mary’s Girls and Karonga CCAP Primary Schools should be singing a reasonably different story.

This change in fortunes for the girl children in the two schools is all because of the desks Standard Bank donated recently.

The donation was the coming to realisation of a promise made some time ago. Managing Director Charles Mudiwa promised when the bank inaugurated its Karonga branch in February last year that it would contribute K1million towards a school.

Communities were tasked to identify the beneficiary school, and they identified St Mary’s Girls and Karonga CCAP Primary Schools.

“Basic education, particularly for the girl child, and maternal health are quite so dear to Standard Bank that we will try our best and render our assistance in those areas,” says the bank’s Head of Corporate Banking Issa Edward.

“We reckon that it is one of the ways we would like to move Malawi forward. As a bank, we are operating in a society and not a vacuum. It is in this society that customers and future employees for the bank live and will come from.”

Edward said overall, the bank has dedicated one percent of its after tax annual profit towards social responsibility drives. He, however, said while the bank has a number of areas to spend this allocation on, the girl child education and maternal health are priorities.

He added that the donation of the desks was one of the bank’s contributions to girl child education. But it is not the only one. He said Mulunguzi secondary school benefitted through the renovation of some girls hostels.

The bank has also spent K14million to paint Chintheche rural hospital in Nkhata Bay and stock it with two brand new oxygen concentrators, a computer, a refrigerator and additional beds and mattresses. It also set up a telephone system at the refurbished facility besides installing two electric cooking pots.

But while the gesture at Chintheche has no direct benefit to the girl child, that of desks has. Gift and Rose will now stand without difficulties and attempt the questions. This should allow them to test their confidence in public and evenly participate in class.

Setting communities on course for self-reliance

Not a long time ago, Matilda Gondwe did not fathom of where to get quick cash. Her only stable source of income was tobacco but that income came after almost a year of toiling.

Today, Gondwe, who is treasurer of the Takondwa Dairy Club of Rumphi, sings a different song. She is able to make quick cash through the sale of milk from the dairy cows her group tames.

This change of fortunes is not something Gondwe and seven other members of the group worked easily.

“In 2008, we heard that officials from Find Your Feet were going from village to village through chiefs looking for people who would come up with projects that they would assist with funding,” said Gondwe.

“We wrote a proposal for dairy cattle farming. We were interviewed and later taught a number of issues regarding dairy cattle farming including construction of the kraal and preparation of feed.”

They contributed money towards the building and roofing of the kraal. Find Your Feet gave them three dairy cows and a bull in 2010. The cows were of different ages so the milk production is sustained over a longer period of time.

The group was also taught how to detect when a cow is on heat so they could easily move into its pen the bull which stays in a different pen, just like the rest of the cows, for mating.

They once did it and the oldest cow gave birth to a female calf. This is the cow that they started milking. They sold the milk and shared part of the money they realised.

“The cattle are ours and the only requirement for us is to pay three cows to the Village Development Committee (VDC). These cows will later be passed on to another group,” added Gondwe.

She said the milk they got from the first cow earned them K18,000 a month. She added that they used part of the money to supplement the cattle’s feed and shared the remainder.

While the Takondwa Club got cattle, other groups got goats and pigs, among others. However, the operation of the scheme is the same.

The livestock pass on programme is one of a number of thematic lines along which Find Your Feet provided funding with the view of helping group members to establish themselves on the way to self reliance.

These activities fell under the Rumphi Food Security Programme which Find Your Feet implemented with a K280 million joint funding from the European Union (EU) which contributed 90 percent and Development Fund (DF).

Find Your Feet Projects Manager Chimwemwe Soko said several groups drawn from Chiweta, Mhuju, Bolero and Katowo Agricultural Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) were also supported to establish themselves in agroforestry and a number of modern agricultural practices.

“These people’s lives are determined by a diverse range of issues which is why we did not just focus on one thematic area,” said Soko.

“For instance, there are people who grow tobacco and processing tobacco requires a lot of timber. So we went into afforestation as well because without that a number of areas would be left barren which would not be good for agriculture generally.”

Joyce Kumwenda, who coordinates agroforestry projects in the Chikwawa-Jandang’ombe Zone in the district, said since 2008 people have planted a number of fertility replenishing trees in her area.

She said over 3,000 trees have also been planted on areas that were deforested because of the tobacco industry.

Soko added that through a concept branded lead farmer, in which an individual farmer is taught modern farming techniques and later teaches others, a number of farmers have boosted their crop yields regardless of the devastating effects of climate change.

He said over the period of four years, Find Your Feet has trained 200 lead farmers who in turn have trained 11,000 follow up farmers. The follow up farmers are also training scores of others each.

“The idea is to achieve a multiplier effect and the learning process is easy because the farmers learn through observing what their colleagues are able to do. They actually do what they see,” added Soko.

This diversified approach involved livestock feed production as well. And the Chirambo Community Based Organisation (CBO) is a success story in the area.

The group, which helps mitigate the effects of HIV and Aids on orphaned children, widows and widowers, got support for the livestock feed making project. It also runs a maize mill at Chirambo Trading Centre.

Communities around the CBO contributed sand and bricks toward the building of the two facilities. Find Your Feet funded the rest.

“The Food Security Project saw the establishment of a number of livestock clubs, among others, and without the production of livestock feed anywhere around this area, members had to travel long distances to get the feed,” said Principal Group Village Head Kawazamawe.

“But now we are producing that feed right here which means we are keeping the money here and at the same time we are attracting another lot from other areas because people from other areas come to buy feed from here as well.”

He said part of the money generated from the maize mill and feed funds operations of the CBO. The rest is used to run operations for the two. So, be it through cattle or goats, people in the catchment area have discovered their feet in these hard economic times, thanks to Find Your Feet.

Agonies of an isolated primary school

*One qualified teacher for eight classes

For as long as it is a school day, hoping from one class room to another is an everyday task for one Danny Kayinga.

He is not the District Inspector of Schools (DIS) whom, as a pupil, you used to see surprise teachers in classes or catch them pants down chatting during working hours in those days.

Kayinga is a head teacher at Mubisi primary school located about 60 kilometres north-west of Songwe border post in Karonga.

Yet his hoping from one class to another has nothing to do with the luxury many a head teacher, with so many teachers at their schools, have. It is not a question of spending time to supervise teachers because the head teacher is not allocated any.

Kayinga is the only qualified teacher at this school, which sits near the edge of Songwe River and at 15 kilometres from Ngana, the furthest you can go by road from Songwe border post on this stretch.

Access to the school from this point is by a footpath. Anyone who wants to get there has to walk from Ngana. No wonder, it is the people of Mubisi who regularly come to Ngana for activities though meant for their school.

Lone soldier

Being the only qualified teacher at the school – which started operating in 1968 – Kayinga forfeits the luxury most head teachers have. He does the teaching. Unfortunately, he does that to as many as 280 pupils spread over eight classes.

“On the ground there are four of us. One is still training under the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programme and the community engaged two volunteers to assist with teaching,” says Kayinga.

“But such teachers are not fully recognised which is why I say I am the only teacher here. This is why I have to jump from one class to another to ensure that at least pupils learn something.”

Shortage of teachers in the country is an unfortunate fixture. The 2009 Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) says each qualified teacher is assigned 90 pupils (1:90) in most parts of the country.

Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST) officials say this ratio is unacceptable and the ministry is fighting to bring it down. At 1:280, Mubisi’s situation is more agonising, more so considering that the recommended ratio for rural areas is 1:40.

While Mubisi primary school staggers with just Kayinga, every year the MoEST trains 3,700 primary school teachers under conventional programmes and 4,000 others under the ODL.

Misfiring policy

“These teachers are posted anywhere across the country after graduating from the Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs). We are told teachers are posted to Mubisi primary school but they do not stay long there,” said MoEST spokesperson Lindiwe Chide.

“Maybe the nature of that place is what scares these teachers.”

If ever what MoEST suggests is what really forces teachers out of schools in rural settings like Mubisi, such action is done against a policy designed to ensure that they stay there.

Those selected for teacher training sign an agreement before they are fully enrolled in the TTCs binding them to teach in rural areas for a minimum of five years. Thus, with thousands of teachers graduating every year, Mubisi should not have been starving.

Executive Director for Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) Benedicto Kondowe says the situation at Mubisi primary school throws spanners in any effort to achieve quality education.

“Definitely, efforts to achieve quality education are under serious threat at this school. And I should suspect that with just one teacher, this school is the worst performing in the district,” said Kondowe.

“Education is not just about access. It is also about achievement. But education cannot be achieved in cases where one qualified teacher mans a full primary school. Definitely, pupils are not taught as per requirement.”

No success

True to Kondowe’s fears, Kayinga talks about a pupil who was selected to Mzuzu Government Secondary School from there in 1991 as the only beacon of success at the school.

He says latest generations of pupils see standard eight as the limit. Though eager to learn, he says, the pupils do not see anywhere else to go after standard eight.

“The nearest community day secondary school (CDSS) where some of these pupils could be selected to is Iponga. But that is 45 kilometres from Mubisi which means most of those selected there would be travelling more than 90km daily,” he says.

“Most pupils walk more than 10km from their homes to the school, some of them with stools on their heads because there is nothing to sit on at the school. It has had no desks since inception in 1968.”

The shortage of teachers and long distance from homes and to the next secondary school still do not complete Mubisi primary school’s list of problems. Once at the school, pupils are juggled between learning under trees and learning shifts.

Kayinga says the school has six classrooms instead of eight. He says the remaining classes learn under trees during the dry season. When it rains the pupils are split into two with one group learning in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

“Are we living to reality when it comes to quality education?” asks Kondowe.

“We need to move away from political rhetoric and start acting with realism. It is important to prioritise such schools when posting teachers.”