MAPPING THE WILD

Hello everyone!

My name is Rohit Kalpande. I recently joined the NGO Shelter Associates as a Junior GIS analyst. The first month at this organisation was all about understanding and adapting to the work and my responsibilities. I was elated when I was asked to join the GIS team that was to visit Kotagiri, a beautiful hill station in the Nilgiris. I was very excited as this was going to be an enriching learning experience and an opportunity to collaborate with the Keystone Foundation. 

Keystone Foundation is a not-for-profit that has been working towards improving the well-being of indigenous people, local communities and the ecosystems that sustain them for the past 30 years. The foundation is committed to addressing environmental issues that worsen climate change, promoting gender equality by empowering women, and preserving traditional livelihood opportunities while safeguarding indigenous knowledge systems. Owing to our experience in spatial data mapping, we were roped in to undertake the mapping of 4 settlements in Kotagiri taluka. 

Every day at Kotagiri was a new experience for me. Even though the area, settlements and people were different, I observed that one thing remains constant – people are facing similar problems and are in dire need of effective solutions.  Meetings were conducted in every settlement where the process and usage of spatial maps were explained to the community and the Keystone staff members. I was pleased by the curiosity and excitement of the community. Over the week we carried out the mapping, numbering of structures and surveys. Our stint in Kotagiri ended with a presentation on the various maps produced and how it can be leveraged to trace patterns of wildlife and the living conditions of the community. They recognised the power of data and how it can be utilised to save the human and wildlife population. 

As a newbie in the GIS department, this was a complete eye-opener. I was able to understand the process of spatial data mapping and how it can contribute to real life problem solving. The pleasant weather and picturesque tea plantations were the icing on the cake. I look forward to the opportunity of gaining more exposure to spatial data mapping and witnessing the impact it has on improving people’s lives. 

-Rohit Kalpande, Junior GIS Analyst

Shelter Associates

LEARNING MIXED WITH FUN AT THIS YEAR’S AVNI SPRINT IN GOA

Beautiful beaches, food, and pleasant climate are what come to our mind when we think of Goa. Recently, I got a chance to visit this amazing tourist destination to attend a Tech Sprint hosted by Avni. This annual event brings together Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from across the country to discuss their work and how the Avni platform is utilized to resolve some of the most pressing social and environmental issues.

What is Avni?

Avni is an open-source platform for doing field surveys and data collection. It also acts as a Case management system for non-profit organizations. It provides facilities to work with different sectors – like health, water, education, and sanitation & hygiene.

Avni – Bringing new technology to Non-profits

The three-day event included a wide range of activities, such as NGO tech talks, panel discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions. The first day began with a unique introduction session where all the participants got to know one another, and share delicacies brought from their respective states. This was followed by an NGO talks session, during which NGOs shared their experiences and highlighted the impetus provided by Avni to their social development work.

It was encouraging to see organizations working across sectors like health, water, education and social welfare using avni very efficiently for the betterment of the society. We at Shelter Associates, utilize the Avni platform and GIS technology to collect, organize and publish slum data.
One of the main topics for discussion at this year’s event was the Roadmap and Feature of Avni. Deep dive sessions were conducted on the Avni- Glific integration and how organizations could retrieve data from Avni.

My takeaway from the sprint
After a day loaded with tech discussions, we decided to unwind by taking in Goa’s stunning sunset at the beach. Totally refreshed and recharged by Goa’s breathtaking natural beauty, we cherished every bit of the break.
This tech conference was a huge success, providing a platform for all the attendees to learn and share the latest developments in technology. It was inspiring to learn how Non-profits across our country are using new technology to solve our society’s pressing problems. Though the conference is just over, I am already looking forward to the next Avni sprint!
 
Kuldeep Lodha,
Software Developer,
Shelter Associates

Why celebrate Toilets?

Talking about toilets is really uncomfortable but we at Shelter Associates do just that – we not only talk about Toilets but also help underprivileged people build one. According to UN-Water, 15% of people in the world don’t have access to a toilet. Every day, over 700 children in India under five year old die from diarrhea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and poor hygiene. Toilet at home means menstruating girls, elderly and disabled people do not have to face the indignity of relieving outside. Have you ever imagined yourself living without a toilet? Life without a toilet at home is dirty, inconvenient, dangerous and undignified.

Clean and decorated toilet at Shramik Nagar, Pune.

Tackling the global sanitation crisis and achieving sustainable development goal #6, we need to provide water and sanitation for all by 2030. Despite the fact that sanitation is a recognized human right by the United Nations, there is an urgent need for a massive investment and innovation to quadruple progress all along the sanitation chain, from toilets to the transportation, collection, and treatment of human waste. The main theme of U.N-Water this year is valuing toilets. The main aim is to focus on the underfunded, poorly managed parts of the world, mostly with disastrous repercussions for health, economy, and the environment, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable families. Shelter Associates started working on sanitation  in Maharashtra even before sanitation started drawing the attention of the Government of India. In 2013 Shelter Associates started the landmark project, “One Home One Toilet”, to deliver household toilets to the families at informal settlements on a cost-sharing basis.

Blessed to have a toilet at home.

According to the Government Of India, India is the largest open defecating nation in the world, where almost 15 percent of the total population have no access to sanitation which has a detrimental impact on the health, education, financial security, and safety of people living in informal communities. SA facilitates access to sanitation in informal settlements by: (1) setting up a very robust spatial data platform to pinpoint families who lack access to basic sanitation, (2) facilitating the construction of household toilets, (3) conducting various behavioral change activities to increase awareness within the community and (4) providing a forum for discussing sanitation issues.

On the occasion of World Toilet Day on 19th November 2021, Shelter Associates celebrated the milestone of completion of 24000+ individual toilets in various informal settlements of Pune, Thane, Kolhapur and Navi Mumbai along with the completion of the 100th individual toilet in Shramik Vasahat community in the Vishrantwadi ward of Pune. Present at the event were different dignitaries from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and local leaders from the area. 

Drawings made by children.

Often neglected are the ones who keep our community toilets safe and sanitized, such caretakers of community toilets from the 4 cities were felicitated as ‘Sanitation Warriors’ by the esteemed guests. Their efforts and years of hard work were appreciated by all. The day was marked with events to increase awareness of sanitation issues. Members from various informal settlements of Pune, Thane, Kolhapur and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporations participated in the Toilet decoration competition, drawing competition, musical chairs, ‘Majhi galli, Swachh galli’ initiative and other events related to sanitation. 

Felicitation of “Sanitation Warriors”.

These joint efforts of community members, Government officials of the 4 Municipal Corporations, and Shelter Associates team were lauded by all guests as a model worth emulating for other communities. Sustained dedication and commitment by all stakeholders alone can help us achieve our Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of clean water and adequate sanitation for all by 2030. 

SUSTAINABLE SANITATION FOR THE FUTURE: Allocation of CTB Seats

Over the years, the slum population in India has soared along with its growing urban population. Regarded as an area unsuitable for human habitation with deplorable sanitation conditions, slums in India often fight over concerns of good health and hygiene.

Traditionally, slum dwellers had to depend on Community sanitation as home toilets were not even considered as a possibility by the urban local bodies. As per the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), it is estimated that families residing in slum settlements are most likely to use community sanitation facilities as a solution to open defecation due to space and financial constraints in constructing a home toilet. However, for the first time with the launch of SBM, there was immense thrust given to providing household toilets in slums wherever possible.

Shelter Associates, an NGO working in seven cities of Maharashtra, have been focusing on improving the sanitation situation in the informal settlements through facilitation of household toilets. With SA’s focused efforts on the facilitation of home toilets, many slums have become ODF and ODF+ in these cities. However, there is always a small percentage of families who can get left out due to various constraints and continue to be dependent on Community toilets.

Beneficiary of an individual household toilet facilitated by Shelter Associates

Hence the moot question is how to create sustainable sanitation practices in the use of community toilets? This is especially important in the context of COVID19 with its concerns of community hygiene.

In settlements where SA has facilitated OHOT, the direct impact was the reduction of pressure on community toilets as more and more families opted for a home toilet. In some slums the Community toilet seat to family ratio is reduced between 1:2 to 1:4. Shelter Associates have therefore strategized on distributing the CTB toilet seats to individual families who do not own a home toilet. Every toilet seat within the CTB will be allocated to two or three resident families who would be responsible for its upkeep.

This will provide multiple benefits to the families; Firstly, it would eliminate waiting time. Secondly, since the seats would be used only by 2-3 families who would also undertake the cleanliness and upkeep of the toilets and keep it locked when not in use, they are likely to be well maintained. This will ease the maintenance burden on the ULB’s. This is a very well strategized solution that has been initiated in the city of Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Shelter Associates has collaborated with HT Parekh Foundation and Kolhapur Municipal Corporation for the Urban WASH project in 8 slum settlements of Kolhapur. These settlements house over 1200 families, out of which over 680 families use 19 Community Toilets. Shelter Associates have therefore initiated facilitation of household toilets wherever possible followed by advocacy with the ULB to repair/refurbish toilet seats where necessary, installation of hand wash stations and the CTB Seat Distribution in all these project slums as part of providing holistic sanitation solutions in the slums.

Analysing the CTB situation along with KMC Deputy Commissioner and other officials
Visiting families who are unable to opt for a home toilet due to space constraint

In one of the project slum settlements of Phulewadi in Kolhapur where the model is adopted, there are a total of 4 Community Toilet Blocks. After SA’s intervention in the slum through the household toilet facilitation, only 31 families comprising 132 individuals now use the CTB. With the reduced CTB seat to person ratio, it was decided to distribute the seats among families who were still dependent on the CTB. The Male and Female CTB toilet seats have been  distributed to families of that settlement after a series of consultation with the community.  Through this initiative, only the allocated families can use the toilet seat as they will be provided locks and keys for the same. They have also undertaken the responsibility of maintenance and upkeep of their allocated toilet.

Public event with the KMC officials and Phulewadi residents to announce the allocation of CTB seats
Map of Phulewadi (Kolhapur) showing gender-wise distribution of CTB seats to families

This model illustrates a win-win situation for all the stakeholders since it allows equal distribution of sanitation facilities to the communities while also lowering the maintenance burden on the Government bodies. This model has the potential to be scaled across 24 informal settlements of Kolhapur where the toilet seat to family ratio has reduced drastically. Scaling the project further, wherever possible, individual household toilets can be facilitated to create additional scope for allocating CTB seats to households who are unable to get a home toilet constructed.

This is a step in the direction of safe community sanitation. In this model there is a move to shift responsibility of maintenance from the ULB to the community by converting the status of the CTB from public to semi private toilets.

BRINGING LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITY THROUGH THE ‘OHOT’ INITIATIVE

The last few months witnessed a major setback in the Indian Economy and the overall work space, especially the informal sector bearing the brunt. The COVID19 pandemic hit hard on the daily wage earners and the migrant labour. Work opportunities coming to a standstill, has constricted the livelihood of the labour class of people belonging to the construction industry working as masons, plumbers, ground diggers, tile fitting workers, painters, etc. who on an average, earn Rs.400 – Rs.500 per day.

Even while this adverse scenario continues to stay, a considerable contribution towards the livelihood of the people from this segment comes from Shelter Associates’ ‘One Home One Toilet’ initiative. This cost sharing sanitation model of facilitating household toilets to the families of urban slum settlements came into existence in the year 2013 and has now impacted the lives of over 1 lakh individuals directly through the facilitation of over 22000 home toilets. Not only has it led to healthier families through an improved sanitation facility, but also proved to be a livelihood opportunity for the skilled and unskilled labour mostly residing within the communities who are a part of the toilet construction process.

Cost of toilet  construction

Cost of toilet construction

While the pandemic led to unemployment and a halt in the construction projects, having a home toilet gained greater prominence considering the safety & hygiene threats involved with community sanitation. During such a crisis when the daily wage labour had to face financial miseries, the OHOT model of Shelter Associates provided livelihood to many skilled and unskilled labour who could see a source of income through the toilet construction work. The toilet construction further incentivised renovations and reconstruction of houses as a step towards an elevated standard of living, adding to the income of masons and other casual labour involved.

Toilet construction work in progress

Toilet construction work in progress

For the construction of 22000 household toilets, nearly 13,53,000 manhours were utilized. This meant more employment opportunities and a reduction in the transport cost as most of the masons and other labour involved in the toilet construction stayed in the immediate vicinity. Shelter Associates could thus leverage nearly 15.6 crores towards labours charges for drainage led toilets and close to Rs. 2.75 crores towards the labour for construction of septic tank toilets. Overall, Rs. 18.3 crores have been a revenue for the skilled and unskilled labour involved in the construction of 22000 individual household toilets, which is still counting.

“I have been working as a mason for several years. The situation of COVID19 and Lockdown impacted my work greatly as I had no job for almost 6 months. Shelter Associates’ intervention of donating toilet construction materials to the families was a major source of livelihood for me. I started getting regular income as the families approached me for their toilet construction work.”
– Kapanna Laxman Pathrut, Mason (Kanan Nagar, Kolhapur)

The ‘One Home One Model’ has proved to play a dual role in community development. One being the assurance of safety, hygiene and well-being to the toilet owners and the other to provide income opportunities to the labour community involved in getting a beautiful home toilet available to the needy families.

Completed beneficiary toilets

Completed beneficiary toilets

FELICITATING SHELTER ASSOCIATES SWACHHTA CHAMPIONS

As part of the “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, the Government of India conducts ‘Swachh Sarvekshan’ which is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India. Through interactions with States and ULBs, every city felicitates individuals and organizations who have played an active role in creating cleaner cities.

Swachh Survekshan 2021

Swachh Survekshan 2021

Recognizing the contribution of Shelter Associates towards facilitating safe sanitation in the urban slum settlements, creating awareness & relief campaigns during COVID19 and impacting the lives of many through various WASH projects, GIS experts and Community Workers from the organization were honored during a felicitation ceremony organized by Pune Municipal Corporation on 9th February 2021.

Felicitating team Shelter Associates

Felicitating team Shelter Associates

The dignitaries present at the ceremony were Madhav Jagtap (Head of Solid Waste Department and Deputy Commissioner, PMC), Kunal Khemnar (Additional Deputy Commissioner, PMC), Asha Raut (Ghole Road Regional Officer and Assistant Commissioner, PMC), Avanti Kadam (Head CSR, Cummins Corporation) among others.

PMC Dignitaries, Corporate CSR representatives and team Shelter Associates

PMC Dignitaries, Corporate CSR representatives and team Shelter Associates

GIS experts Pradeep Waje and Tanaji Raut and Community Workers Dilip Kamble, Birudev Changire, Sanjay More, Sunita Gurav, Soni Chavan and Subodhini Dhavare were honored with certificates and bouquets by the dignitaries.

www.shelter-associates.org

OUR JOURNEY OF REMOULDING DATA COLLECTION – FROM PAPER TO KOBO TOOLBOX TO AVNI

By Smita Kale

Lokmanya Nagar

Lokmanya Nagar

Shelter Associates (SA), a Civil Society Organization founded in 1993, comprising architects, GIS experts, social workers, community workers and volunteers have carried extensive work in areas of cost-effective housing, basic infrastructural facilities, health, hygiene and sanitation while inspiring behavioural change in the slum dwellers. We work towards empowering communities living in informal settlements to pursue their right to dignity and sustainable life.

In this article, we talk about our approach of moving from Paper based field data collection to Kobo Toolbox, and then finally to Avni. We share some lessons learnt and explain the advantages we see of an offline-based Android app for form data capture.

Data-Driven Approach

One of the organisation’s core competencies lies in its data-driven approach. We follow a rigorous process of collecting data through surveys and mapping efforts. The slum data collected by the team is spatially organised using GIS software and presented as an overlay on Google Earth remote sensing imagery. The collated data is used for inclusive urban planning and implementing affordable housing and sanitation schemes across the slums in Maharashtra. You can see live dashboards on our website. Our data-driven approach using technology to plan citywide strategies for social housing has impacted the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) policy of GOI.

Screenshot of a live dashboard from SA website

Screenshot of a live dashboard from SA website

In 2013 we undertook a landmark project ‘One Home One Toilet’ to deliver household toilets on a cost-sharing basis. The data-driven initiative follows a community-centric and an inclusive approach wherein it works closely with the municipal corporations right from validating data to toilet delivery. As of September 2020, SA has surveyed around 2,93,000 households for successful implementation of OHOT. It has impacted over 3,70,000 people directly & indirectly with a home toilet.

From Paper-based system to a digital system using KoboToolbox

In the early years of implementing various schemes, be it affordable housing or delivery of sanitation, data was collected through pen-paper surveys. Over the years we have shifted to other, more technological driven means of data collection. In 2016, we shifted our collection system to the Android-based open-source platform of KoBoToolbox. Kobo is one of the most popular data collection tools in development sector. It provides an offline mobile app for data collection, a web app for designing forms and an option to extract collected data for further analysis.

Moving to Kobo certainly was a good step forward but we soon started facing limitations with it.

Limitations with KoboToolbox

1. Lack of ability to view and update records from the mobile app

KoboCollect does not support offline editing of records once submitted. It requires internet and is too complex as described in this link. Lack of any alternative for modifications forced us to survey the households repeatedly where data needed to be updated. With the increasing scale of interventions in different slums across cities, this was not a viable solution for long.

2. Form-based data model as against Case-based

If we have to submit 50 responses for a slum, same slum name is to be entered 50 times. This slows down the work. Moreover, there was no way to validate to ensure the name entered is correct. Ideally, we would want a way to be able to pick from an available list or a dropdown. There are workarounds but no native case management support in KoboToolbox.

3. RedEployment required to change form design

We could not add a question to the existing form and if we do, we have to redeploy it and redeployment means losing existing data.

From Kobo Toolbox to Avni

While exploring solutions for these problems we came across the Avni application in a workshop organised by Tech4Dev platform in Pune. This open-source platform, with a rich data modelling approach, an offline app for data recording, web app for admin & form designing and different options to extract data, promised to solve the problems we were facing.

Initially, we started with the city of Kolhapur as a pilot. We first migrated our data from Kobo to Avni which turned out to be simple. Kobo provides a way to export data in excel and Avni provides a way to upload/import using CSV files. After importing the existing data, we soon initiated the data collection using Avni. To carry out the modifications accurately we trained our surveyors to use the application, fill in different types of forms and update any filled in data as per the required changes. The users found it easy and the pilot worked out really well. Thus we decided to adopt Avni for all our work and started using it for the Pune region as well.

SA surveyors using android technology for data collection

SA surveyors using android technology for data collection

Benefits of moving to Avni from Kobo Collect

Below are the key differences and benefits we are noticing of using Avni over Kobo. We are listing these down for the benefit of those considering both these options for field work.

1. Ability to design a custom app using locations, subject, programs and forms from Avni data model

The most important difference between the two softwares is that Avni provided us with the ability to create app as per our data model and data collection process. We created our location hierarchy of City, Ward and Slums using locations; households are created as subjects and separate forms for different vertical services like property tax, solid waste management, metered water connection, etc.

SA Avni app data model

SA Avni app data model

This provided us with 2 benefits

a. Avoid repetitive data collection

We register the household once and whenever a new service is provided, we record a new form by choosing an already registered household. This was not possible in Kobo and saves time and is very convenient to get real-time data.

b. Well modelled and segregated data enabling easy access to a subset of the entire data of a particular house

In the near future, household-level data collected can be shared and accessed with various departments of the Municipal Corporation to ensure work is carried out effectively. Data for sanitation, property tax, solid waste management, metered water connection, etc. once shared to the Municipal Corporation can be accessed for service delivery. For example, once a particular service like a metered water connection is provided to a household, the filled-in data can be retrieved and updated from a shared water connection to a metered water connection. As we collect and share data on different sectors, we can disintegrate it as per requirement and send it across various departments of the Municipal Corporation to link and use the collected data simultaneously. Once services are delivered the household data will be updated by our surveyors or the Municipal Corporation (if shared/access provided) and used further for monitoring tax collection, solid waste management, etc.

2. Ability to search, view and update records anytime in the mobile app

As described earlier, in Kobo Collect once the data is submitted it is not possible to view and edit them. In Avni, the records always stay in the device even after submitting to the server. They can be modified and synchronized again with the server. This is really helpful in the field!

Screenshots from SA Avni App

Screenshots from SA Avni App

 

3. Ability to control access of data to surveyors based on their work areas

Another useful feature is the assignment of the catchment. The administrator can give access or remove access of any particular catchment to any surveyor. This has enabled us to maintain the privacy of the information as well.

4. Hassle free modification of forms

Avni supported easy modification of app design including forms without having to redeploy or losing data. This customized, editable solution for data collection has made our work effective and greatly reduced the efforts to maintain updated household-level data.

Smita Kale, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at Shelter Associates, shares about their journey of moving from Paper based data collection to digital systems, first using Kobo Toolbox and then to Avni.
Article published at https://avniproject.org/blog/shelter-journey-remoulding-data-collection-paper-kobotoolbox-avni/

A UNITED NATIONS HONOUR

According to UNICEF, 2 billion people across the world still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines. Of these, 673 million defecate in the open. Open defecation is a problem because it allows for high-potential of bacteria being transferred through feces leading to large-scale health problems. Moreover, open defecation also inflicts safety concerns on women, causes distress to the elderly and disabled and poses environmental risks.*

Despite several parts of India being declared as open defecation free, hygienic sanitation continues to be a problem in the country.  A study conducted in 2018 showed that residents of between 30-70% of urban slums in India in fact did not have access to safe and convenient toilets**

Recognizing the problems posed by open defecation as well as community toilets that have their own set of disadvantages; Shelter Associates (SA), a Pune based NGO providing safe sanitation and affordable housing to the urban poor focuses on facilitating individual household toilets through its data driven, replicable, scalable and multi-stakeholder inclusive ‘One Home One Toilet’ (OHOT) model.

The Local Project Challenge, a collaboration between academic and social organizations, has honored Shelter Associate’s ‘One Home One Toilet’ initiative with the LPC Honour Award 2020 at the U.N.-Habitat World Urban Forum 10 in Abu Dhabi.

The World Urban Forum, organized by UN-Habitat, “is the foremost international gathering for exchanging views and experiences on sustainable urbanization. The inclusive nature of the Forum, combined with high-level participation, makes it a unique United Nations conference and the premier international gathering on urban issues”.

Local Project Challenge_Honor Award

The project was presented for the Civil Society category, announced as part of the “Accelerating the SDGs through the Local Project Challenge” seminar. The Local Project Challenge is a partnership between the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at The Earth Institute, Columbia University and the Faculty of Architecture, Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, and builds on the Global Studio and People Building Better Cities programs.

Coming straight from the director of the Local Project Challenge, Dr. Anna Rubbo says “Congratulations on your Local Project Challenge Honor Award. We hope the award helps support your excellent work”

An international panel of judges reviewed the 110 organisations under the categories of Civil Society, Education and Professional and honored Shelter Associates under the Civil Society category. The list of awardees can be viewed here: https://localprojectchallenge.org/awards/

The “One Home One Toilet” project fits in perfectly with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 – “Ensure access to water and sanitation for all”. OHOT facilitates toilets that are not only well-designed but have also proven to be long-term solutions to the problem of open defecation, thus actively contributing to SDG Goal6.

 The Local Project Challenge featuring ‘One Home One Toilet’ model is available here:
https://localprojectchallenge.org/one-home-one-toilet-tacking-defecation-with-data/

w

References:

* https://data.unicef.org/topic/water-and-sanitation/sanitation/
** https://www.fsg.org/publications-and-tools

 

Women Power Acknowledged!

It was a significant moment when 3 women from the Sanjay Park vasahat (colony) from Pune city were felicitated by the Vimaan Nagar Residents Association (VNRA) on this year’ International Women’ day for the extra-ordinary feat of showcasing their presence in a dynamic environment wherein they had contributed immensely in the social sector in the Nagar road ward. VNRA is an organization which takes the note of contribution of women in the society and motivates them by providing them a platform whereupon they can further develop their abilities. It was a wonderful experience for Mrs. Surekha Borkar, Mrs. Nisha Sasane, and Mrs. Yashoda Manjalkar who bagged the prestigious award from their neighborhood community as a token of appreciation.

It was understood that the water supply to the Sanjay Park colony was disconnected in the last week. It took no more than few minutes for Mrs. Borkar to get hold of the stock and then march to the ward office for lodging a formal complaint. Based on her proactive steps, the authorities were forced to appreciate the complaint and restore the water supply within few hours. The quintessential part of this moment was the display of raw but well-controlled courage by the women of Sanjay Park, and hence such actions give justice to the recognition which they received on the special occasion of Women’ day.

It is widely acknowledged that the International Women’ day marks the occasion on which women, all over the world,  are respected, appreciated, and loved for their political, economic, and social achievements. However, not limiting to just one day (8th March), it should be held, i.e. celebrated and lived for all 365 days and the invisible patriarchal attitude behind any “unjust felicitations” should be unanimously resisted and such individuals or groups should be immediately dis-empowered.

Blog written by Gaurav, Senior Social worker with Shelter Associates

“One Home, One Toilet” and thousand possibilities to built it!

toilets

As a volunteer architect at Shelter Associates, I was interested in observing how the urban poor live in Pune. As part of the “One Home, One Toilet” project, I also wanted to see what impacts the construction of an individual toilet had on small spaces and what percentage of space in a house was dedicated to daily personal hygiene.
In order to determine this impact, I began to measure randomly selected houses: 61 houses from 4 slums in which Shelter Associates is/ has been active – Prem Nagar and Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in Pune, Rajendra Nagar in Kolhapur and Idgah Nagar in Sangli/Miraj – were included in this sample. While taking these measurements, I gathered information about how space in the house was used before the construction of the toilet and how much money the family spent on the construction of the toilet and on other improvements to the house.

From then on, I didn’t go into the field without my tape measure and I always insisted on understanding how space within the home was utilized before and after the construction of the individual toilet.

The houses included in my sample measure, by average, 212 sq ft (19.7 m2) and are occupied by an average of approximately 4.6 people; this means that one person has only 46 sq ft (4.3 m2) at his or her disposal.

Due to limited interior space, I noticed that slum dwellers use the space in front of their doors as the extension of their homes. Indeed, lots of activities take place in the streets, from clothes washing to grain sorting. It is also a place to chat with family members or neighbors and a playground for children.

Most of the households for which Shelter Associates provided material to build an individual toilet had a bathroom in their home prior to construction of their toilet. These bathrooms were used purely as washrooms, while defecation took place in community toilet blocks.

From my investigations, I discovered that before Shelter Associates’ intervention, the bath area measured an average of 15 sq ft (1.4 m2) and occupied 7% of the house; after intervention, the newly-built toilet and bathroom area measured 29 sq ft (2.7 m2) and took up 13.5 % of the house area. Despite the small size of their houses, Shelter beneficiaries were willing to devote more space within their home for an individual toilet.

Moreover, I found that, while the average monthly income of the selected households is Rs. 10,600, the beneficiaries spent an average of Rs. 29,000 on toilet construction and home renovations. This amount of money includes labor charges and extra material needed, like tiles, bricks and cement.

In the settlements I visited, the bathroom was usually a space inside the house defined by a half-length or full-length brick wall. In order to provide additional privacy, metal containers were sometimes stacked on top of half-length walls or a curtain was hung over the door opening. In most cases, the new toilet was an enclosed space – Shelter Associates considers the toilet complete only if it has a door – built at the location of the former bathroom and combining a bath area and a toilet. However, the bathroom space and the toilet could also be located in separate spaces. In fact, toilets have different dimensions and are equipped differently according to each house’s size and layout as well as household’s needs and financial means. That is what makes visiting so many houses in different settlements so fun!

 The former bathroom and the new combined toilet and bathroom.

     The former bathroom and the new combined toilet and bathroom.

During my field visits, I was struck by how every informal settlement is different depending on its surroundings and its location within the city. Prem Nagar, for instance, is a settlement located in the city center of Pune, squeezed between the Market Yard and housing complexes, and is organized lengthways along access roads. All houses in the settlement are pucca or semi-pucca – houses built of hard material like bricks – and the house improvements resulting from the construction of the toilet were in most cases only inside of the house to be seen.

 

Rajiv Gandhi Nagar – a settlement located in a peri-urban area alongside the Mula Mutha river – was composed exclusively of kutcha houses – houses built of impermanent material like tin sheets – before Shelter Associates’ intervention. Construction of individual toilets brought major changes to people’s lives, as it provided the impetus for households to rebuild homes using bricks and concrete (pucca) material. These improvements bring additional comfort in everyday life, not only because the household now has access to their own toilet, but also because pucca walls provide greater protection from rain, wind and heat. In some houses, meals were prepared on the floor as the household wasn’t equipped with a kitchen platform. These households took advantage of the construction work to build a kitchen platform. You’ll probably be surprised as well at the outstanding creativity some of the inhabitants showed in the building process!

nice toilets

While most households in Prem Nagar and in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar constructed a single space for both the bathroom and the toilet, in Rajendra Nagar and Idgah Nagar, some households constructed separate spaces. To my surprise, while the bathroom was accessible from the inside of the house, many residents chose to construct access to the toilet exclusively from the outside of the house. It is a choice that might not make sense for some of us, especially considering the pouring rain the area gets during rainy season. Slum dwellers, however, often have hygienic concerns about constructing a toilet inside their homes. Some of them, for example, fear the bad smell that could result in the use of the toilet. In Prem Nagar, some inhabitants told me they were afraid that rodents might crawl out of the toilet pan or that the drainage line might get choked. Some residents also thought that it was unhygienic to eat and cook next to the toilet. The households that were already using their toilet didn’t report any problems, however, and they were happy with the new facility.

In Idgah Nagar, a middle-aged woman said that even though she had constructed a toilet in her house two months earlier, which her children use, she had yet to use the toilet. After defecating in the open for 40 years – the settlement doesn’t have any community toilet blocks – , she had not yet adapted to having a toilet in her home. However, she said that she used the toilet at her work place without problems.

It has been observed that slum dwellers – especially adults – who are used to defecating in the open or using the community toilet blocks, will need up to two months to start using the toilet. That’s why Shelter Associates tries to encourage people to use the toilet by talking about the issue in focused group discussion with the community and by organizing street plays on the topic.

In Idgah Nagar, I heard several other interesting stories. One family explained that construction of the toilet had brought the wife and children back to the house. The wife didn’t want to live with her husband because his house didn’t have a toilet. She came back to her husband’s house with their two children immediately after completion of the toilet. Another family decided to build a brick house equipped with a toilet in place of the bamboo house they had been living in: their son was able to get married because of the nice house they now lived in.

Providing the urban poor with the opportunity to construct an individual toilet isn’t only about improving sanitary conditions in slums; it is also about inspiring residents to make other positive improvements to their lives and their homes! It is about fostering creativity and empowering the urban poor.

If you would like to know more about the “One Home, One Toilet” project, please check out our flyers on the website for more interesting stories.

It only remains for me to thank Reshma, Aishwarya, Pradeep, Dhananjay, Mohan, Noorjahan and Shubah from Shelter Associates for accompanying me in the field and for translating from Marathi to English. Thanks to Moira for proofreading my texts. Finally, I also would like to express my gratitude to the whole Shelter Associates team for their kindness and for giving me the opportunity to do these very interesting investigations.

Blog written by guest blogger, Laurence Beuchat.

Laurence