Rahel Tareke, a mother of four in Adama city in the Oromia Regional State, recalls the tiring challenges that she had endured due to the lack of household pit latrines. \u201cImagine having no household pit latrine while living at the heart of one of Ethiopia\u2019s major cities,\u201d Rahel shrugged, as she stressed the health and social trauma that she suffered for lacking a pit latrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven the community latrine that we relied on for years, went out of service ahead of time due to a growing number of users on the absence of latrines at household level, giving us no other option but either to use flying toilets or practice open defecation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more than two years, Rahel and her family members were using flying toilets at day time while practicing open defecation at night. \u201cIt might sound exaggerated to say this, but there was a time that I was afraid to eat food just to avoid going to the toilet before sunset,\u201d she said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Left with no other option, Rahel and others in the area had tried every possible option available at their disposal – from regularly visiting restaurants and cafes all the way to throwing faces tied with plastic bags along the street-sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aware of the serious health and social difficulties facing, Amref Health Africa in collaboration with its partners embarked on the FINISH (Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation & Health) Mondial Project that aimed to enable vulnerable households with proper sanitation facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rahel was among the first beneficiaries of the project. \u201cSince I was financially unable, I never thought that I would be able to have my own toilet constructed inside the premises of my house,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, when they briefed me about the financial opportunities available and the low budget that was needed to construct the toilet, I was convinced that it is realist that I would have one,\u201d Rahel added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FINISH Mondial Project, among other things, envisaged sustainable expansion of access to and demand for sanitation facilities through financial inclusion and thereby improve health status and socio-economic growth of communities. As the weight is off from her shoulders, Rahel now cherishes the improved sanitation system that transformed her family\u2019s health and social condition for better. \u201cThose difficult days are gone now. Besides the lifesaving health aspects, the toilet has given me a proud moment as I\u2019m no longer worried about the social exclusion for experiencing open defecation,\u201d Rahel stressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rahel Tareke, a mother of four in Adama city in the Oromia Regional State, recalls the tiring challenges that she had endured due to the lack of household pit latrines. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[125],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","tag-finish"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/amref.org\/ethiopia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/09\/From-Open-Defecation-to-Improved-Household-Latrine.png","yoast_head":"\n