ETHOS Technical Reports
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
8-28-2016
Abstract
This summer the group travelled to Sabana Grande, Nicaragua. The group worked with Grupo Fenix to start a new project that dealt with implementing composting latrines into the community. Sabana Grande is a very rural community that is located in northern Nicaragua near the Honduran border. The community is primarily agricultural and has little access to electricity and running water. Grupo Fenix is a non-profit organization that has been working in Sabana Grande for over ten years. Their main focus is to promote sustainable practices in the community. They have been very successful thus far. Many homes in the community have solar cookers, improved ovens and solar panels. The community is very progressive and many members are very interested in improving their standard of living. Grupo Fenix had several projects in progress while the group was there but the main project that they worked on dealt with sanitation specifically composting latrines. The focus of this project was to evaluate the potential for use of this sanitation technology in the community. This technology was analysed using WASHTech (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Technologies) framework. To get a sense of the community’s thoughts on this technology several community meetings were conducted where the latrines were introduced. Everyone who attended the meetings had a very positive reaction to the latrines. Another way the group assessed the community’s thoughts on this technology was through home surveys. The group also conducted home visits to over 400 homes in the community to collect data and teach the locals about the latrines. The group was very pleased with the results of the home surveys; almost all of the residents were very interested in the latrines. The data collected will be compiled into a GIS map that will be very useful for the future implementation of the latrines.
eCommons Citation
Boyajian, Molly and Joern, Colin, "Nicaragua: Pit Latrine Needs Assessment" (2016). ETHOS Technical Reports. 68.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/ethos_reports/68
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