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The Solana Beach ECO Rotary Club (ECO) is supporting a Sanitation Project designed to build six latrines, which includes the Tippy-tap soap hand washing station (see phot to the right below) (also a sample design brochure is attached in the project photos folder). The recipient families live in the poor rural area of Kos Khel in Cambodia, where decent toilet facilities are big issues. In addition, each family will receive a ceramic water filter to provide clean drinking water. The project will be managed through a local non-profit organization, Latrines for Life, and its partner NGO in Cambodia; Solidarity Fund for Rural Development (SFRD), which to date has constructed 165 latrines (photos of some of their previously completed latrines are included in this application). The project will be funded with $725 from the ECO Rotary and $725 from a District 5340 matching grant. The latrines are a "double-pit" system with an attached ceramic squatting base surrounded by a simple enclosure. The latrines will be constructed over a period of three months with the help of the families receiving the latrine. Education materials will be provided on proper hygiene and the importance of hand washing (see left photo bottom sign). Also, group training seminars will be conducted to give instructions to families on the use and maintenance of the ceramic water filter provided.
Promoting good health in Cambodia is an important undertaking. Good sanitation is essential for health and well being, but it's not the norm in rural Cambodia, where old habits of poor hygiene are still wide spread. Open fields are still used for elimination of body waste, and hand washing (mostly not done at all) would be with a basin of water, which tends to spread germs from one person to another. The result is the contamination of streams and soils, the spread of disease, high rates of infant and young child mortality, and heavy caseloads of diarrhea and other infections. According to the World Bank's Sanitation program (2008) and by other studies, only about 17% of Cambodian rural poor have access to improved facilities, and among the very poor, fewer than 5% have access to a decent toilet facility.
In the photos we see one of the recipient families of the latrine/tippy-tap project - built in previous years with funds from Rotary clubs (the SFRD director is in white shirt in the center photo). The Ath Ratha family is shown receiving a commemorative poster recognizing Rotary (see center photo).
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