Weel 2- Talks on Crap [human waste] and it's association with gender issues

Question: Have you every poohed on bare ground? When you had a conscious mind of course. If yes, did it have any coverage? Grass? Did you wash your hands afterwards?

As odd as these questions may be, in 2008, 2.6 billion people which is 40% of world's population had no access to improved sanitation facilities. (World Bank, 2010) Within that 2.6 billion, 17% of them practiced open defecation that is pretty much poohing onto the ground. Open defecation is  the riskiest sanitation practice of all.   Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest percentage of people with access to improved facilities, only 31% of its population. (World Bank, 2010)


(Picture from wide information, 2014. Access date: 2015-10-28)

As intellectual civilized human being, it is rather common to avoid talking about poos in public that is very understandable. However, inadequate sewage systems or treatment of human waste will not only cause a high level of water-borne diseases but also possibly contaminate drinking water. Pooh carries bacteria and germs, and can be easily carried by the person if he practiced unhygienic act, which might cause water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid(Wide information, 2014). These diseases are the greatest cause of deaths for children under five years old and can be significantly reduced with the implementation of adequate sanitation.

How are these issues related to gender?
Sanitation especially a troubling issue for girls in education. Without access to toilets in schools, girls often hold until they leave school. Once they hit puberty and starts menstruating, the stress and fear will create barriers to girl's schooling (Sommer's, 2010). Difficulties for girls will occur if there is a lack of access to private toilets and sanitary products. Long school days will increase the possibilities of having leakages. If coupled with frequent harassment by boys in the school, menstruation can easily create stress on to girls. Many Kenya girls view 'menstruation as the most significant social stressor and barrier to schooling (McMahon et al, 2011).

How to tackle the issue of gender and sanitation?
It is necessary to understand that this problem is multi-dimensional and that improved sanitary towels, disposal bins/bags and safe toilet spaces along with efforts to deal with sexual harassment will improve girls’ overall education experience greatly.(Jewitt and Ryley, 2014) World Toilet Organisation is currently improving awareness amongst the public to consider gender issues in developing sanitation programs and policies. (Jewitt and Ryley, 2014)

In the end, I would like to post a Ted video on the importance of sanitation. Although this video talks specifically on sanitation issues in India, I think reflections can be made on Africa as well.

Reference:
Data.worldbank.org, (2010). 40 percent of world population do not use improved sanitation facilities | Data. [online] Available at: http://data.worldbank.org/news/40prct-wrld-pop-dont-use-imprvd-sanitation [Accessed 28 Oct. 2015].

Jewitt, S. and Ryley, H. (2014). It’s a girl thing: Menstruation, school attendance, spatial mobility and wider gender inequalities in Kenya. Geoforum, 56, pp.137-147.

McMahon, S., Winch, P., Caruso, B., Obure, A., Ogutu, E., Ochari, I. and Rheingans, R. (2011). 'The girl with her period is the one to hang her head' Reflections on menstrual management among schoolgirls in rural Kenya. BMC Int Health Hum Rights, 11(1), p.7.

Sommer, M. (2010). Where the education system and women's bodies collide: The social and health impact of girls' experiences of menstruation and schooling in Tanzania. Journal of Adolescence, 33(4), pp.521-529.

Wide Information, (2014). One Billion People Still Practise Open Defecation, Endangering Public Health: UN. [online] Available at: http://wideinformation.com/one-billion-people-still-practise-open-defecation-endangering-public-health-un/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2015].   

Week1- A general introduction to women and water supplies

'Water is a real problem. If I want more water, I will have to wake up at 5 am. To collect four buckets will take me about eleven hours (from 5 am to 4 pm). We queue, especially on Fridays if the livestock is being watered because then I must fill my bucket and empty it into the cattle trough before I can collect one for myself. We also queue when the dip cattle are queuing. I do my laundry after every two weeks.’----Mrs. M., Nkubini Dip  (Cleaver, 1998)

 The interview quoted above expresses how time and labour consuming is for rural women in Africa to fetch and purify water.  Indeed, water collection can be very laborious as some water sources are located far away from the household. If queuing is needed, a single collection of water can take up to hours or even an entire day.

Women in African communities are often responsible for domestic activities which include water collection for domestic usage. This was the result of the traditions of African communities. Today, women are left with more responsibilities within the households as men leave to search for high pay jobs in urban cities. (Sangodoyin, 1993)

The time and labour consuming is a particular issue for poor households as this poses labour constraints onto the households, limiting women's ability, in particular, to use their time on other more productive work. While wealthier families can hire labour or use cattle (A donkey cart for example) to transport water, families with low income rely greatly on adult women. Typical poor household constitutes of a family with large numbers of small children and few abled adults. The structure of such family puts pressure on the adult women of the household to fetch water.

Hence, setting up pumps for easy access of water can be essential in freeing women from the time-consuming strenuous activity of collecting water for domestic use. This also explains why in regions of Africa, women are more active than men in water development projects. In Kenya, Getechah concluded that women are active participants of 'digging trenches, laying pipes and the movement of construction materials' (Getechah, 1980).In Nigeria, women's association are active in installing pumps for the delivery of water and have expressed more eagerness in the maintenance of rural water systems as compared to their male counterparts. Although, water development projects are not the savior of household poverty since poverty is a complex situation involving the lack of multiple resources, the enforcement of these projects can effectively improve the labour division structure within the household and reduce the pressure on adult women.

Note: the issue around gender and water supply is much more complex, revolving around education, awareness of good water sources and how to purify water, economic constraints, labour availability and labour structure within households, methods of acquiring and preserving water, etc. These issues will be discussed later on.

Reference:

 Cleaver, F. (1998). Incentives and informal institutions: Gender and the management of water. Agriculture and Human Values, 15, pp.347-360.

Getechah, W. (1980). The role of women in rural water development in Kenya. Proceedings of a Workshop on Training, Zomba, Malawi, 5th-12th August, pp.85-88.

Sangodoyin, A. (1993). Women's role in rural water supply and development: Trends and expectations in Nigeria. The Environmentalist, 13(4), pp.255-261.