Invincibles 111Mayank - Kanahiya - Shikha

Sustainable Development by creation of ECOLOGICAL Toilets in Rural India

Project Name AAROGYAM

Aarogyam is a sanskrit word which means free from illness or a healthy life

Problems So Far…

77% of Rural Indian population doesn’t have access to toilets.

Women have no other choice but to defecate in the open between 2 am to 6 am when no one is watching. Their dignity and safety is at stake always.

Open defecation is a major cause of diseases since it provides perfect atmosphere for flies and parasites to thrive.

Problems So Far…

Modern toilets aren’t well accepted in rural India due to lack of water throughout the year.

Maintenance of modern ‘flush and water’ toilets is a problem in rural Indian areas.

There is a lot of wastage of ‘fresh water’ in case toilets are to be maintained, which in itself is a problem.

A Brief about ‘Aarogyam’

Proposed ‘mobile toilet’ called Aarogyam to help people in rural India defecate in a private closed place.

A four sided structure with a mosquito net on top to ensure cover from all sides.

It will have wheels at the bottom to ensure mobility.

It will have a door which can be locked/closed.

A Brief about ‘Aarogyam’

Will have two chambers, one each for collection of urine and faeces.

With the help of a lever, the faeces and urine will go to their respective containers and get collected for biogas and urine farming.

Unique Selling Proposition – It is portable, and the wooden structure can be moved wherever the pit is dug.

Objectives

What is to be achieved?

Objectives

Main objective is to follow the basic rules of AIDA A – Attention (catching attention of the masses) I – Interest (Creating their interest in this subject) D – Desire (Making them feel that the service will

benefit them) A – Action (Compelling them to take action)

A - Attention

In order to catch their attention, following steps will be taken:

1. A Folk theatre can be organized consisting of skits. Folk Theatres are the most popular forms of theatres in rural India.

2. Wall Paintings are very effective for spreading message in Rural India.

3. Educating rural school children.

I - Interest

The various techniques mentioned for getting attention will aim to create an interest in the subject of sanitation, toilets and sustainable development by using a ‘fear appeal’.

Fear Appeal will be used by mentioning about the millions of child deaths that happen due to lack of hygiene and sanitation which causes diarrhea*

Mentioning USP – Portability.

*According to WHO, almost 50,000 children die every year in India due to diarrhea.

D - Desire

Apart from fear appeals and awareness measures, incentives can be offered to create a desire among them to use ‘Aarogyam’ - the sustainable toilet.

Incentives like ‘fuel for use in their farming machinery and household work’ and ‘selling their faeces for biogas in return for a sum of money’ can be given.

A - Action

The process will be complete only once the rural population takes action, i.e. actually goes and starts using the toilet regularly.

This completes the AIDA process.

Target Audience

Rural Indian audience starting from the age group of 14.

How it will work?

Step 1: This is a wooden structure covered on all four sides. On the top, a mosquito net ensures total coverage.

It has wheels for mobility, to take the structure wherever required.

How it will work?

How it will work?

How to dispose off the waste material?

The urine collected can be diluted with water, to be sprinkled over crops since it acts as a good fertilizer.

The faeces will get collected in a biogas digester.

The bio gas digester will be made by constructing a concrete square shaped hole covered with concrete slab with a hole at the centre covered by an iron lid.

Impacts and Benefits

Save water and prevent contamination of water sources and increases soil fertility, thus improving food crop yields.

Simple in design and can be built using local labour and materials. They use appropriate, sustainable technology and are operational at home and village level.

Great benefit to the whole family, particularly women and girls.

The method and concept is simple and yet retains the basic elements of ecological sanitation, it can be thought of as a good first step along a route of increasing sophistication within the realm of ecological sanitation.

Implementation This is the real life execution of the

‘Aarogyam’ structure

• For actual implementation of this project, we installed this structure in Karanpur village in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, India.

• A head of family of farmers, Mr. Ram Kumar was asked to use this for a minimum of 15 days with his family.

• Our social program started with informing and educating Mr. Ram Kumar’s family to ensure that they understand the new facility.

Implementation

It’s very good that we don’t have to go far away to

defecate in the open. We have our own toilet now. Also, we

don’t have to spend much on maintenance. We will continue

using this.- Mr. Ram Kumar, Farmer in Rajasthan

Now I don’t have to walk one mile to a vegetable patch outside the village to find a secluded place in order to defecate. - Bhagwati Devi (Ram Kumar’s wife)

Implementation

Wheels at the bottom of our structure for movement

This structure has helped me tremendously. I don’t need to

worry about spending money to use public urinals which most

often are badly maintained and stinking.

Mr. Amar Singh, Construction Site Worker

Challenges Faced

• Budget Constraints – The most basic constraint was budget. We created a single structure, which along with the cost of the carpenter cost us Rs. 2500 (Indian Currency), which amounts to $50 per structure. Cost of making up to 100 structures for a single district would cost $5000.

• Cultural Sensitivity – educating the rural population by changing their present beliefs of defecating in the open posed as a challenge initially, but could be overcome.

• Population Constraints – The rural population is enormous. A large population ensures making better preparations for educating a large audience, informing them. This further translates into higher costs.

Post-Campaign Evaluation

When are trying to implement on a full fledged scale on mass level, following measures will be evaluated:

To evaluate the impact and receptiveness to a campaign

To test whether the campaign transmits the intended message

To test a campaign’s call to action To evaluate which options for a campaign would

be potentially more effective

References World Health Organization’s annual report on India

http://cee45q.stanford.edu/2003/briefing_book/india.html

The CIA World Fact Book: India. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html

Personal Interviews: Mr. Ram Kumar – Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan, India. Mrs. Bhagwati Devi - Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan, India.

Mr. Amar Singh - Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan, India

Local User Demographics by World Bank, WHO and The Hindu newspaper.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Challenge Future for making us seek such avenues which have resulted in our overall development and has helped us grow as human beings.

We would like to thank our parents for their constant support.

Mr. Ram Kumar and his family for their cordial support by using this structure.

Ms. Khyati Busa for sketches and pictorial representations.

A special thanks to Mr. Akshat Shukla for his continuous support and keeping us motivated.