Typical outhouse latrine in rural Cambodia (Photo FAO)August 03 2006
AP
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - The residents of a Cambodian village will throw a party at the weekend to celebrate a sanitation milestone: a toilet in every home.
All 94 families in Sleng village in Kampong Speu province have installed a simple latrine in their homes to deal with solid human waste, making the village "a model of good hygiene" for neighbouring communities, the United Nations children's organisation said.
Hilda Winarta, a Unicef water and sanitation officer, said the latrines are simple - holes in the ground surrounded by walls made from tree leaves or plastic sheets - but can help prevent outbreaks of dangerous diseases.
The village will celebrate its achievement on Saturday with ceremonies and speeches by the village chief, government officials and Unicef.
A local comedian will also perform, and village actors will perform a short play about how the village residents will no longer have to defecate outdoors.
"Then there will be a balloon (releasing) ceremony, a village hosted lunch and singing," Winarta said.
Cambodia's sanitation infrastructure is among the worse in the world, Unicef said. Only 16 percent of Cambodia's rural population has access to a clean, private place to go to the toilet.
Last September, Unicef and Cambodia's Rural Development Ministry launched an initiative to encourage villagers to improve their sanitation.
In Sleng, families built their own latrine with nothing more than "encouragement" from the ministry and Unicef and "a sense of disgust and shame" from open defecation, the statement said.
Sleng joins just four other villages in Cambodia that latrines for every person, Unicef said.
Kampong Speu province is about 45km south-west of the capital Phnom Penh.
All 94 families in Sleng village in Kampong Speu province have installed a simple latrine in their homes to deal with solid human waste, making the village "a model of good hygiene" for neighbouring communities, the United Nations children's organisation said.
Hilda Winarta, a Unicef water and sanitation officer, said the latrines are simple - holes in the ground surrounded by walls made from tree leaves or plastic sheets - but can help prevent outbreaks of dangerous diseases.
The village will celebrate its achievement on Saturday with ceremonies and speeches by the village chief, government officials and Unicef.
A local comedian will also perform, and village actors will perform a short play about how the village residents will no longer have to defecate outdoors.
"Then there will be a balloon (releasing) ceremony, a village hosted lunch and singing," Winarta said.
Cambodia's sanitation infrastructure is among the worse in the world, Unicef said. Only 16 percent of Cambodia's rural population has access to a clean, private place to go to the toilet.
Last September, Unicef and Cambodia's Rural Development Ministry launched an initiative to encourage villagers to improve their sanitation.
In Sleng, families built their own latrine with nothing more than "encouragement" from the ministry and Unicef and "a sense of disgust and shame" from open defecation, the statement said.
Sleng joins just four other villages in Cambodia that latrines for every person, Unicef said.
Kampong Speu province is about 45km south-west of the capital Phnom Penh.
2 comments:
I thought I see that person...this picture look obscene to me. Please do not publish.
I am glad that Khmers finally joint the 21th century!!!
Very Sad.
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