Man washing hands with ‘tippy tap’
The sound of the ‘gong gong’ can be heard in Adevukope, a village located in the Afornyaga Electoral Area of the Ketu North District in the Volta Region.
The villagers had gathered under a mango tree, eager to hear from the chief’s messenger. “Me do agoo na mi,” the messenger greets in Ewe and delivers his message.
The community members respond with cheers and excitement; their community had been recognised as one of the places proper sanitation practice is being up held in the district.
Each household in the community has its own toilet facility and a handwashing station close by to complete the proper sanitation practice.
Due to this, the community is open defecation-free and there are fewer occurrences of diarrhoea diseases.
“We were very happy when our village was recognised by the district assembly for our sanitation practices,” Anthony Adevu, the community leader says.
Mr Adevu said prior to the introduction of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programme which engages community members on the need for proper sanitation practices like handwashing with soap and water and the construction of household toilets, the community had one public toilet used by all the 52 inhabitants.
He said community members rarely washed their hands with soap and water after visiting the toilet because there was no handwashing station.
Mr Adevu indicates that the public toilet which was shared by both male and female was also left opened and unkempt, with the greatest challenge being the construction of a new toilet when the old one gets full.
“People don’t want to take part, it is left for only some devoted people, so when the CLTS programme came, in fact, it was a relief to some of us. They advised us by drawing our minds to the issue of open defecation and the regulation requiring every household to have its own toilet facility,” he adds.
“My experience is that when I go to my own toilet, the place is neat and there is no open defecation which brings files. This time, so far as I have my own toilet facility that is covered I do not have any challenge at all,” he adds.
Mr Adevu says the community was also schooled on the need to have their own handwashing with soap station (the ‘tippy tap’, an innovative, locally made tap) to break the transmission of diseases.
Mr Adevu mentions that with the introduction of the ‘tippy tap’ in addition to the household toilets, the frequent diarrhoea ailments have reduced, especially among children in the community.
HANDWASHING
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ghana, Chief WASH Officer, David Duncan, handwashing with soap is the easy, effective and affordable way to prevent disease and save lives.
He, however, discloses that only 21 percent of the populace consistently washes their hand with soap, inferring from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.
“One out of every four Ghanaians defecates in the open with one out of every five Ghanaians does not wash their hands after visiting the toilet or before eating,” he explains.
Mr Duncan, however, states that handwashing with soap impacts on health, indicating that one third of all neonatal deaths in Ghana are due to infections that can be prevented through handwashing with soap by mothers and birth attendants.
“One tenth of maternal deaths in Ghana are due to infection that can be prevented through handwashing with soap by birth attendants,” he states.
The UNICEF chief WASH officer says the simplest way to stop diarrhoea and reverse the trends of maternal deaths is to wash our hands.
“We know that washing hands with soap and water or ash could save about half the children that die from diarrhoea and about one in four that die from pneumonia. We know that risks of stunting will be much lower when we simply wash our hands,” he adds.
He states that it is important to know that handwashing with soap and water is three times more cost-effective than sanitation, fifty times more cost effective than improving water quality and hundreds of times more cost effective than immunisation.
TIPPY TAPS
Stella Kumedzro, Environmental Health and Sanitation Department of the Ho Municipal Assembly, focal person, said the ‘tippy tap’ which is a simple, economical handwashing station that can be made from commonly available materials and can serve as a handwashing tap was chosen for the programme.
The ‘tippy tap’ consists of a jerry-can or jug which releases a small amount of water each time it is ‘tipped’. When the tap is released, it swings back to its starting upright position.
Mrs Kumedzro says the ‘tippy tap’ which has many different modules invented in many developing countries is suitable for implementation in water-scarce regions as it uses only 40 to 50ml of water per hand wash on average compared to 500-600ml of water using as faucet.
She says the ‘tippy tap’ has economic, efficient, adaptable and convenient benefits to users.
“It keeps your main water source safe from germs and reduces the chance of bacteria transmission as the user touches only the soap. It also saved water, it is easy to construct with local materials and convenient. It can be placed outside the latrine, kitchen and in schools,” she adds.
She further indicates that communities are embracing the innovation which is translating to improved handwashing habits in the municipality.
SUCCESS STORIES
Clinton Weto, community leader of Aglamakpetoe, another beneficiary community, believes a toilet without a handwashing facility does not complete the proper sanitation cycle.
He adds that the introduction of the ‘tippy tap’ has completed the proper sanitation cycle.
Clinton, thus, testifies of the benefits of having a ‘tippy tap’ in addition to a household toilet facility.
“The programme has really helped us especially with the ‘tippy taps’. It has helped us to overcome challenges of diseases,” he says.
He says the ‘tippy taps’ placed close by the latrine is to remind community members to wash their hands after using the facility. That, he says, has ensured a positive behavioural change in sanitation among community members.
“Any stranger that visits your toilet knows that when you defecate you have to wash your hand that is why it is placed there to create awareness to everybody who visits the toilet facility,” Mr Weto says.
“Totally, there is change in the community. Formally, people wouldn’t wash their hands after visiting the toilets, but now everybody is used to washing their hands,” Mr Adevu adds.
Mr Adevu was full of praise for the authorities that brought the CLTS programme into the region.
“We thank government and UNICEF for bringing this programme to the villages and I wish if almost every community in the country can have this toilet facility programme as how we have embraced it, we will thank God. So that the citizens will be free from any diseases,” he articulates.
Mr Duncan says since the project started in the Neon District, there has been a tremendous increase in the handwashing practices.
“In just three years, we have seen a 20 percent increase in handwashing in the Volta Region. If we can build on this, regionally and nationally, to a point where everyone is washing their hands, we could save thousands of Ghanaian children every year.”
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri