53 villages gain sanitary and bathing facilities with USAID help

Men from Chulundrian village in Konch Valley, altitude 7,000 feet, unload USAID-provided supplies for building sanitation and bathing facilities near their homes. Chulundrian residents did not have access to such facilities even before the quake.

"We have seen our health and cleanliness improve."

-- Mohammed Yusuf of Jagori village in Konch Valley

Most houses and sanitation facilities in Konch Valley in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province were destroyed in a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 8. After the quake, which damaged reservoirs and pipes bringing fresh spring water to villages, valley residents desperately needed winter shelter and access to sanitary amenities. Even when previous sanitary structures were left standing, residents were too afraid to use them. Villagers often walked long distances to streams and rivers for drinking water and personal hygiene. Men began to use open fields and river banks for their sanitation needs while women went to areas around their houses. This created considerable risk for the spread of disease through the contamination of existing water sources and the surrounding environment.

To rebuild shelter, water and sanitation systems and to improve hygiene awareness, USAID funded a program by implementing partner Catholic Relief Services to provide shelter and sanitary facilities for communities in Mansehra District. Nearly 30,000 people in 53 villages in the Konch Valley who received winterized shelter kits from USAID are now building - some for the first time - sanitary and bathing facilities next to their homes. The program identifies the number of facilities required by each community and local carpenters to help build them. A demonstration helps residents understand how to use USAID-supplied materials and to keep facilities 90 feet away from water sources. Supplies for separate sanitary and bathing facilities include tarpaulins, wooden frames and corrugated iron sheets. Sanitation facility kits also include a ventilation pipe and a concrete floor slab, while bathing facility kits include a drainage pipe and 10 kgs of cement to lay the floor. Local carpenters receive 350 rupees ($5.83) to construct each cubicle, a job that takes about two hours and injects cash into the local economy.

"We had no such facilities even before the earthquake," said Abdul Waris of Chulundrian, a village perched 7,000 feet above sea level in Konch Valley which only became accessible by dirt road a few years ago. "The biggest advantage is the privacy they provide. This will help our ability to stay clean." USAID supplemented this sanitation program with community-based campaign that has educated more than 22,000 people about disease prevention, waste management and cleanliness. Next, USAID plans to rehabilitate water systems in these villages.