This project will build approximately 24 composting latrines in the heritage site of historic Fianarantsoa where many of the 5000 inhabitants currently live with substandard, polluting latrines.

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The goal of this project is to provide a sustainable system of sewage disposable (composting eco-san latrines) to 300-400 users in Fianarantsoa’s historic Old City where it is impossible (because of underlying granite) to build pit latrines. Demand is already high for these latrines and there is a long waiting list.

Most toilets built under this program will be multi-family facilities in order to reduce the cost per user. They are not, however, community or public toilets and “ownership” is clear so as to promote proper maintenance and use. The hardware financed under this intervention is complemented by a “software” intervention each summer when we host a British volunteer program in July/August/September. These medical students run a camp program for children of the Old City around the themes of sanitation, hygiene and nutrition. The need for toilet use and handwashing are key themes covered in the camps which are attended by more than 300 children a year. The children, in turn, share their knowledge through skits and other activities designed to inform their families and the larger community. We also conduct annual workshops on these themes at the local elementary school and give individual training on use and maintenance to each family who benefits from a latrine.

We have trained a team of residents to change the footplates and remove the compost at the end of the cycle. These people formally had the unenviable task of removing toxic wastes from “hot” toilets under the old system. The composting toilet arrangement allows them to continue practicing their profession in dignity and under healthy conditions.

The technology used is a “sustainable” technology in which footplates and pits are interchanged as one pit becomes full. The contents are then allowed to compost for a minimum of a year. At the end of the year the compost is removed, the footplates again interchanged and the cycle continues.

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