WHAT ?

I’m Adèle, a 21 years old student and I chose to take the opportunity of a year off to volunteer my time with an Ecuadorian foundation whose values are important to me: TECHO (« roof » in spanish). My first project is to fund the building of 5 dry toilets in the San Enrique and Sabanilla slums for 5 families who live in inadequate living conditions. I will of course be working in cooperation with TECHO, with the foundation IN TERRIS (a professional of this kind of toilets) but the person I need the most is you!

HOW DOES IT WORK ?

The ecological sanitary facilities are decentralized, in other words, they do not depend on a drainage system or water in general. The unit is installed to be used mechanically : feces are mixed with sawdust in order to not only ensure hygiene, but also to create fertilizer that is used to grow crops.

These ecological sanitary facilities have been in used in Guayaquil, another Ecuadorian city, where they have experienced great success.

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WHERE & FOR WHOM ?

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TECHO has selected two slums who will benefit from the dry toilets according to their living conditions, needs and access to water and drainage system.

San Enrique and Sabanilla slums are part of Daule canton, province of Guayas. It is…

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For instance, in Sabanilla :

- Children go to school 5,39 years on average

-99,70 % live below the poverty line

-69,10 % live below the extreme poverty line

-Overcrowding rate amounts to 32,66 %

WHY ?

DID YOU KNOW THAT 2.5 billion people in the world and 2 to 3 million in Ecuador live without access to sanitary facilities? And that it is one of the main causes of mortality in the world? Communities without proper sanitation facilities create critical health hazards such as the contamination of fresh water reservoirs and soils what provokes the pollution of agriculture. In addition, communities are exposed to diseases that are transmitted by poor hygiene, resulting in gastroduodenal disorder.

The pros:

¤No need of water infrastructures

¤Improvements in hygiene

-decrease in transmission of gastroenterological diseases

-improvement of general health and hygiene

¤environmental effects

-Water saving

-Purification of the rivers and consequently of agricultural production

-Production of a rich fertilizer with the composting of urine and feces

¤Growing awareness and education for development

-The members of the community have to work together to define their needs and must be capable of engaging in shared decision-making. This allows them to take greater responsibility in the improvements of their community.

-The volunteers--mainly students--who take part in the construction are also the indirect beneficiaries of the project. Indeed, working together with underprivileged populations raises awareness. Thus, young people will be involved in the future of their country with a broader and more humanitarian way of thinking.

WITH WHOM ?

TECHO is a youth led non-profit organization present in 19 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. Through the joint work of families living in extreme poverty with youth volunteers, this organization seeks to overcome poverty in slums. TECHO Ecuador was founded in May 2008. Ever since, it has built more than 2,000 transitional houses and has mobilized more than 20,000 volunteers.

Yet, with the dry toilets project, TECHO’s goal is give an answer to the health issues.

HOW ?

TECHO and InTerris will identify with surveys the most disadvantaged families, then TECHO volunteers and families will build the dry toilets together and the families will be informed about the use of the toilets and of the fertilizer. Eventually, TECHO and InTerris will do post-constructions visits.

WC sans frontières!

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