Thanks to LWSI intervention, latrines have been constructed in two villages where people had to face terrible conditions because of the practice of open air defecation…

Before the Orissa floods, open air defecation was the usual practice in this disadvantaged village of the area. It is a common phenomenon in rural India. Poor hygienic conditions prevailed as children, women and men used the surrounding fields in Patna Jena Sahi village of Jajpur district in Orissa. The situation was particularly hard for the women. "When there was a man around we couldn't go, and it was very hard for us to find an isolated place during the day," remembers Susama Jena of Patna Jena Sahi. With the floods, greater difficulties awaited them.

Sasi Rekha Mollick from Mohakalpada Harijan Sahi of Jajpur district recalls the precarious sanitary conditions. The men benefited from a temporary latrine. They had installed bamboo sticks on the few branches of a tree that were sticking out of the water. Its use was perilous and unhygienic, adding to the spread of diseases like diarrhoea and malaria.

But yet again the women suffered the most from the drastic circumstances. They did not have access to the temporary latrine. They would hide and use newspaper sheets, throwing them away in the water. If they wanted privacy, they had to wait till the night to go outside. Even then they had to defecate in a standing position with water up to their chest.

These practices were not specific to the villages of Mohakalpada Harijan Sahi or Patna Jena Sahi. In every affected village, fulfilling these basic human needs had become a daily challenge. Thanks to LWSI intervention, latrines have been constructed on the raised homesteads of people in these two villages. The people hope never to face such conditions again!

"At the beginning it was very difficult to use the latrines as we were not habituated," confessed Susama Jena. "We had never used any before." Today, her village has almost one latrine per family. The people have become conscious of the positive impacts of such a change, and have gradually accustomed themselves. Susama adds: "We understand the hygienic benefits but we have found privacy also!"