Ayibu village is one of the 103 villages in Jangokoro Sub County and was among the worst villages in terms of sanitation before the intervention. There was low latrine coverage with no hand washing facilities, homes were also in a mess which resulted to high number of registered people suffering from WASH-related diseases like diarrhea, stomachache and cholera.

People did not realize that the cause of all this was due poor sanitation and hygiene in their homes until the trainings were conducted by Water School Uganda in partnership with SNV-Uganda in June 2016. After the intervention, a lot a lot of changes have been realized in this community.

Venansio Oaikani, a 60 years old married man is a resident of this village was among those trained on the need to have a well-constructed pit. He shared an experience of how his latrine roof got burnt when he was trying to smoke it to kill the flies that had invaded it. The latrine did not have a squat hole cover, poorly maintained and lacked a hand washing facility. He said his family used to suffer a lot from diarrhea and typhoid before. Currently, Venansio has a well-constructed pit latrine with all the qualities needed and a well cleaned home.

“No man is a bank of knowledge, so we need to be open minded and ready to learn new things especially on matters of health and sanitation as a whole. My family now no longer suffers from diarrhea and we enjoy using out latrine without disturbance of flies.” says Venansio. Mrs. Oaikani said she has taken it up on her to ensure that every after three weeks the latrine is smeared well and teaches other women too to do the same.

Oaikani’s experience has taught many of the village members the technique of reducing flies in the latrine and the trick of reducing number of hospital visits by maintaining proper sanitation and hygiene at their various homes. He said he will be an ambassador and advocate for good sanitation and hygiene in his village.