Scott here. I know I've been neglectful. This blog was supposed to be for both of us, but after 10 months of being here in Zambia, I find myself posting for the first time. I hope that doesn't reflect poorly on me . . . oh
well.
Most of you probably only have a vague idea of what I am doing here in Zambia. But most of you know that for 6 years prior to
joining the PC, I worked in recycling and solid waste management. I use
to say that I wanted to get away from waste management and that I didn't want
that to be my career. Well, in moving to Zambia I did get away from recycling and
consumer waste and I now deal exclusively in human shit. Step in the right direction? I think of it as
being more grass-roots.
Shit here is a big deal. Like HIV/AIDs or Malaria kind of big deal.
And yes, ‘shit’ is the politically correct term. I’ll get into that more in a
bit, but, now, let me fill you in. Less than 40% of rural Zambians have access to
adequate sanitation. Now American ‘adequate’ to Zambian ‘adequate’ is like comparing
the Taj Mahal to a sand castle. Here we are only talking about a basic pit
latrine made of logs with a floor made of mud with some sort of walls around it
(mud bricks, plastic bags, sticks, etc.), and a place to wash your hands with
ash water. No TP, no flushing, no
sitting, no roof, no soap, and no hand dryers besides the wind. Lots of smells,
lots of flies, and lots of squatting. I hope you see my point. For you scouters out there,
think of a more primitive Philmont.
Now that most of you are disgusted, you might be thinking
that, "if that is how the 40% that do have ‘adequate sanitation’ get by, how
does the other 60% live?" Well my friends . . . let me use a Zamlish expression- "They
shit anyhow." Meaning they just use the bush close to their homes, and they do not
wash their hands. Remember, they do not have TP. This is also a culture that
uses their hands to eat. Right for eating, left for shitting. Wonder why we
shake hands with our right?
Anyways, so now you’re piecing together the problem. Open defecation
+ flies + not washing your hands = being sick A LOT. 47% of Zambians are
stunted due to having fairly constant diarrhea between 0-5 years of age due to fecal contamination of food, soil, water- basically everything.
Now you’re thinking, “Why in the world have they not done something
about this before now? I mean the Romans figured it out like 4000 years ago.” I find myself
thinking that a lot too. Two reasons: One, you don’t miss something you
have never known before. Not having a latrine and the resultant consequences are just a
part of life. They have never known differently. Two, in Zambian culture, it is taboo
to talk and almost even think about any bodily functions: sex, pregnancy, masturbation,
crying, pain, vomiting, and especially shitting. In some
Zambian languages (mind you there are 73), there isn't even a word for shitting.
OK, so now we bring in what I actually do. Enter the
Community Lead Total Sanitation program (CLTS). The whole idea is to have
trained community volunteers go around and shame
villagers into building latrines. My southern friends and family with their
refined sensibilities and my other friends with MPHs in health behavior are
thinking to themselves, “Shame? Behavior change doesn't work with making
people feel bad.” I thought that too, before Zambia, but we are all very wrong.
Shame is the only thing that does work and it works really well here. The culture is too turned off by any
mention of sanitation that if it is not put into a more confrontational light it won't gain any traction. Believe me, everything else that has been thought of has been tried and failed.
By now, I imagine
you have images playing out in your mind of me yelling at a poor Zambian
about how bad a person they are because do not have a latrine. I do not do
that. I help the people who are doing that, do it better. Actually there is no yelling.
Everything is done through village activities like "The Shit Walk," "The Shit
Calculation," and "The Shit Eating Display." Notice I used the word ‘shit’ exclusively
because that is actually the term they use. Ironically, I use to get in trouble at work
from my boss Donny for saying shit too often, but now I actually have to say it
to do my job correctly.
We are now down to the nitty-gritty of what I do. I work for
an NGO called Akros Global Health as a Sanitation Surveillance Officer.
Basically, I manage the progress and data collection for the CLTS program in 5
districts in Southern Province. Choma, Namwala, Monze, Kazungula, and
Sinazongwe specifically, if you cared. Essentially, all of the community
volunteers going around getting villages to start building latrines are using a
cell phone application to capture data on how well the program is going. And
yes, there is actually a fairly good cell network here. I analyze that data,
report it up to the powers that be, and tailor my program implementation
activities to suit. For instance, if I see through the data and get feedback
showing that there is an issues with the traditional leaders not supporting the program then I’ll plan a
meeting with the local senior chief to get them on board, or if I see the
villages are reluctant to start hand washing, then I’ll meet with my volunteers
to reinforce the programmatic elements behind hand washing adoption.
I really like the work that I’m doing. I definitely have a
positive and substantial impact, but as you can imagine, covering an area a
little larger than size of South Carolina, means that I’m traveling a lot.
Basically always. I thought bouncing around the bush of Africa (keep in mind
there are no paved roads in rural Zambia) would be romantic and adventurous. It
is adventurous, I guess, but it’s mostly really hot, dusty, and physically
jarring. And no, I never see any animals except for the very rare monkey because
they have killed them all off for food. You'd do it too, if starvation was a
real thing in America. Only on game parks do you see any animals.
The really cool thing is that in many of the places I travel, I am the
first white person that a lot of the children and even some of the adults have
ever seen. Along with that there is a whole number of weird reactions that you get, but that could the the topic for a post all on its own. I can also say nearly every day that I am the only American in these places. For anyone that has traveled, you know that is basically never
something that you can say. Americans are everywhere.
Well there it is. I know it was a diatribe, but that is what
I’m doing. For now on, I’ll keep the posts short and sweet.
Love Y’all,
Scott
Please feel free to hit me up with any questions.
