A day in the life of

Dona Fátima (right), a Field Worker with WaterAid partner ESTAMOS talking to community members in Niassa Province.

Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull

Maria de Fátima Luisa Martinho (Dona Fátima) Field Worker, ESTAMOS, Niassa Province, Mozambique

I wake up at 6am, and go and collect our water from a family well nearby. I clean the house and sweep the yard and then get my family ready for the day.

Four of my five children go to school, but because there are so few teachers here in Lichinga they go at different times of the day when their grade is being taught.

Once the family is ready I prepare for work. I started working for WaterAid's partner ESTAMOS when they carried out a research project and needed interviewers in communities.

It helped that I speak six local languages and so can talk to people easily.

Now, on a normal day I will go out to visit communities who are in various stages of their projects. When we go to a village the first thing that we do is speak to the leaders, both the traditional chiefs, called Regulos, and the political leaders, to explain that the community has said there is a need for water and sanitation.

Then the leaders help us gain proper contacts and relationships with the villagers. In many places we also have water and sanitation activists who help facilitate talks with the communities.

The next step is to meet with the communities to identify their priorities and find out what they need in terms of water and sanitation. To ensure that everyone talks openly and honestly we separate the men and women into different groups.

We discuss their problems around specific themes and how they are linked to water and sanitation. We then help the community make decisions on how to resolve them. After this we discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of the technology options that are available, so that the communities can choose what is most appropriate for them.

EcoSan latrines provide high quality compost for the crops.

Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull

One of the sanitation options that we promote is ecological sanitation (EcoSan). I have an EcoSan latrine at home, which was the first one in Mozambique! My old traditional pit latrine was nearly full and I did not know what to do next as I had run out of space to dig latrines in my yard. I decided on EcoSan as I liked the idea of having a permanent latrine.

The principles of EcoSan are simple, and they are becoming more popular here. The latrine I use is a Fossa Alterna, which is a dry latrine with two pits which you use one at a time.

After you use the latrine you put in a mixture of dry soil and ash. People burn wood to cook with here and so they can collect the ash for use in their latrines and this saves on waste too. The soil and ash help to dry out the contents of the latrine and help it turn to compost.

When one pit is full you cover the last layer with soil and then leave it to compost. Then you start to use the other side. Then, once the second pit is full you dig out the first and use the compost.

My old latrine used to smell badly. We could never get rid of the smell and there was a big problem with flies. The pits were too deep and they would flood in the rainy season and rubbish would flow everywhere.

Before I could never grow anything as the soil in my garden was dead. But now I have this compost I can grow maize, pumpkins, potatoes and marrows to eat and I can plant flowers too. The toilet doesn't flood now because it has a roof and there are no flies and no smell.

My five children all use the latrine, they have no problems using it and because they have to put in ash and soil after using it, their hands look dirty which means that they go and wash them each time. This helps us to explain about good hygiene.

In communities I always speak about the benefits of EcoSan. I talk about my personal experiences and show them samples of the compost. ESTAMOS also has a weekly radio show talking about water, sanitation and hygiene.

We do this in three languages and also play music. I have talked about my EcoSan latrine on the radio many times. I am now known in Lichinga and people stop me in the street and ask me about my latrine!

Through our projects ESTAMOS has formed strong links with communities and the leaders. This helped us to gain confidence as an organisation, and people have gained confidence in us too. Now when we visit places we see momentum and enthusiasm - it is very positive to see people's confidence grow as their projects progress.

There is also demand for projects now, as more communities see other villages with finished working projects. They now come over and ask for help with their own water supply and sanitation.

Once the projects are complete we always keep passing by to make sure that the wells and the latrines are being used properly. We keep reinforcing the messages to make sure people understand and use them correctly.

During the civil war in Mozambique we couldn't go to school and so now, after work, I go to night school where I am studying for the tenth grade, which is the level before university.

I want to continue learning and would like to study the legal side of human rights at university. It is good to be able to study and learn. After night school I return home to see my family and then I sleep. I relax at weekends!"

Read more about ECOSAN

Find out more about our work in Mozambique