Waste not, want not

Buddhi and Gyani work in the field where they grow crops using compost from their latrine.

Credit: WaterAid / Marco Betti

When the women's group of Lyaku in Thimee, Kathmandu, negotiated to have their area connected to the city's sewerage system, 12 houses at the edge of the village remained without sanitation.

Because the people of Lyaku are farmers, an engineer from WaterAid's local partner organisation, Lumanti, suggested they should be the first to try composting latrines in Nepal.

"As these were the first composting latrines many people were interested in them and we had to explain what they were and justify the reasons for using them," explains Kumari Shobha Tamduka, Lumanti's health and Hygiene Coordinator.

"They are more complicated than other latrines. Sometimes people just used to laugh and ask what sort of toilet are you building?"

But after a series of meetings the community were convinced, masons were trained and within one month the latrines were built.

Gyani Maya Sipai's family was one of the 12 to build a latrine. "I was upset that we didn't have a latrine and when we couldn't get connected to the sewer but heard about composting latrines and thought, what is this?" she says. "We were surprised and a bit worried. Even when it was built we saw it and we wondered how it would work!"

"The first time was a bit difficult because we weren't used to using a latrine but I also felt a hidden kind of happiness as I had always felt guilty about defecating in the open - we had to be careful about people seeing us or walking past. Now we are relaxed as it is private and we are now used to it. It is useful too as we use the compost for farming and it is very beneficial. Our health is better as we used to get diarrhoea but this is now reduced."

But while Gyani was convinced, her grandfather Buddhi wasn't. "I was so scared to use the toilet for the first six months that I wouldn't use it at all," he says. "I used to go and defecate in the river. Then I'd wash in the same river! I washed my face there. I was doing this all the time!"

Buddhi stands outside his composting latrine.

Credit: WaterAid / Marco Betti

"Then one day I fell down and I had a minor fracture in my left leg. I couldn't walk to the river to defecate and so I was compelled to use the latrine. I was so scared and confused about using the latrine - unknown things are difficult in life. Now it is like God's place - it is heaven. Now I enjoy it, I love it. Everything is utilised; everything is used - I am so happy."

"As I am a farmer; I have always worked with earth and we can now use everything. We mix up our household waste with compost from the toilet and use it for our plants. I use it to grow onion, coriander, carrots and radish - everything grows now! It all grows well and the taste is even better. Fertiliser helps makes them grow a lot but it has no taste, using this compost takes more time but is healthier and tastier."

"I don't want to urinate or go to the toilet anywhere else! I don't even like to use other latrines - I only like to use my own. Now I can't do without it at all! When I go to the river I worry as some people still go to the loo there. I hate that place now."

It is not only Buddhi who has been convinced. "When the compost was used people saw the quality," Kumari explains. "They put it into the field and then saw the importance of the latrines. Now the people who don't have a composting latrine are really fascinated by them and want to build them too."