Here is a closer look at the latrines we are building in Monte Fresco. Thank you to El Porvenir (www.elporvenir.org) for sharing these plans and supporting our project in many other ways!
The key to this design is the double
vault system. Currently, many residents of Monte Fresco lack any type of
sanitary facility. The latrines that do exist in the community are single vault
pit latrines. For the typical large
family in Nicaragua, traditional pit latrines fill quickly and families are forced to
construct new ones without the materials or expertise to do so. What results
are non functional haphazardly constructed latrines that leak, break, and
overflow. These latrines are incredibly
dangerous to the community and environment. They are subject to sudden collapse
and allow for the easy spread of pathogens by leaking into drinking water
sources and overflowing into the community streets during the rainy season. In
the double pit design, when one pit vault fills up, a concrete cover is used to
seal the hole while the housing structure and toilet seat are switched to the
other vacant side available for use. The waste in the first pit is left sitting
and in time, the pathogens are inactivated and the dangerous poop is eventually
turned into useable and valuable compost! This process can continue
indefinitely so long as people take care of their latrines! That is where our
education team, a group from the local Ministry of Health, comes in.
The people in the community are very
open to this new technology and are excited at the potential to use the compost
to grow crops and start a community garden. Monte Fresco is a peri urban area
outside of the city. It is not considered rural and there is no agricultural
sector, but there is certainly the space! Sanitation can and will transform
communities entirely. From sanitation to agriculture, Viva la revolucion!
