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John Robert Anguira, Hygiene Educator, Ogwete village, Uganda "I am John Robert, a hygiene educator from Ogwete Village in North East Uganda. In the morning I get up and clean my own compound. I look after my animals and give them water. "When WaterAid's partner WEDA came to this community, this village was identified as one that had a big sanitation problem. There were a lot of diseases and diarrhoea. People could not wash and there was nowhere to clean utensils. The whole area was always dirty; the paths were very bushy with snakes. There were faeces along the side of the roads. No longer… "WEDA offered to train hygiene educators to sensitise the community to good sanitation practices. The community nominated me to be one of the educators. "I have an interest in this work; I like to live in a clean environment. Before WEDA came here I could see how the roads and households were dirty with no place to clean cooking utensils. I wanted to help change this. "I was given a bicycle by WEDA which makes it easy for me to travel around the community. I visit 40 households a week. "I use a cluster system to get people together so I can educate them about good sanitation. There are 10 households per cluster. Each cluster has a cluster head who I liaise with to arrange sanitation meetings. I work with them to organise community sanitation workshops where we promote hygiene and sanitation to community members. "I convince stubborn people to build latrines. I come to their place and actually start to dig their pit. I start the pit and hope they feel shame to continue with it. Some people have completed their pits. I show people examples of homes with clean facilities. I show them how clean everything is.
"There are barriers to my work in this community. Mainly households run by men who drink. They do not listen to sensitisation. Sometimes the old do not have the strength to construct pit latrines and drying racks in their compounds. Where this is the case I organise days where community members can help the elderly construct facilities in their compounds. WEDA and the community encourage these activities here and help to mobilise people. "I am not happy that only 50% of households in this community have a latrine. I want it to be 100%. I think we will have 75% of households with a latrine by the time WEDA install a borehole here. I am going to work hard to make sure the remaining 25% without a latrine set them up or are involved in setting them up. "During my lunch break I ride back home to have a meal with my family - and then have a nap before heading back to talk to villagers. "We have enforced bylaws to keep the paths and communal areas clean. They have been a big success. We are trying to agree further bylaws and get them approved by the cluster heads and the district authorities. These will stipulate that each household should have a latrine and a drying rack for utensils. "Since these changes have been made here my children are not getting sick. Before I would have to take them to hospital regularly to get medication. This was an 8km walk there and back on foot. "In the old days when sickness came we may not have had a cent in our pocket to pay for medication. We would have to borrow money from very many people. "I would have to spend an average of £19 a month on medication. I do not need to borrow money any more but we are still paying back our debts from the old days. "After work I meet friends, listen to the radio and sit with my family - talking to them and attending to family matters. After this we have supper and then go to bed." Interview by Vincent Casey In Uganda:
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