Anab Bulle, a 35-year-old housewife and her family of six live in Tafta-Tag IDP camp, Garbaharey District, Somalia. They have to queue for 20 to 30 minutes just to use the community latrine. The camp population has relied on a few old and dilapidated block latrines distributed across the stretch of the IDP camp.
“In recent months, the population at Tafta tag IDP camp has been rapidly growing, and new people are joining the community daily, due to the drought. This means that the few old existing block latrines are now overwhelmed, and many of us have to wait their turn or visit the nearby bush, which is 500 meters away from the IDP camp.”,” Mama Anab reports
People living in the already overcrowded Tafta Tag IDP camp are severely affected not just by the lack of access to clean and safe water for domestic use, but also poor hygiene practices and sanitation that allows waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera and typhoid to spread easily, resulting in serious illness or death, especially among the children.
Open defecation is common among young IDP children between 5 to 15 years old who sometimes do not have the patience to wait in line for their turn to use the latrine. The extent of harm of open defecation is not only on human health but also risks exposing women and children to sexual exploitation and abuse.
“Open defecation is freely accessible to everyone because there are no long queues just to use the latrines. This is why the children prefer it and which leads to them having poor health as they do not follow safe sanitation procedures.” Mama Anab recalls.
To improve hygiene and sanitation practices in Tafta tag and the nearby Hashiweer IDP camp, Nomadic Assistance for Peace and Development (NAPAD) with funding from Somali Humanitarian Funds (SHF) built 20 temporary latrines for use by the pump population.
Mama Anab and her family now have access to better sanitation facilities after the installation of 10 latrines in their camp. They no longer struggle to find a latrine, and no one in the family, even the children, practices open defecation. The latrines have provided privacy to the households, and have contributed to better health among them.
NAPAD has also conducted hygiene awareness creation campaigns in the IDP camp, emphasizing the importance of practicing appropriate hygiene and sanitation practices to end open defecation and to encourage positive attitudes towards cleanliness.
“My children no longer suffer from diarrhea since we now follow the hygienic practices such as washing hands with soap and clean water after using the latrines as we have been taught.” Mama Anab reports.
Anab Bulle appreciated NAPAD and SHF for their timely response to improve sanitation in their IDP camp.
“The sanitary condition at the camp would have remained perilous if it hadn’t been for NAPAD’s prompt response”. Anab Bulle reports