Toilet - Haiti Observer Blog

On Monday, April 2, 2016 the former Senator Jean Gabriel Fortuné stated that once he become mayor of the city of Cayes, he will eliminate all latrines there and replace them with flushing toilets. He wants his city to be the first in the nation that will allow separation between the people and their excreta. Jean Gabriel Fortuné currently doesn't hold any official position. He is still hoping to be heading the municipality of Les Cayes which has not happened so far. The CEP has not published the results of the municipal elections in the area yet; however if the plan to replace all latrines with flushing toilets is implemented this will revolutionize the health sector of the city.

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"Water is life", and "education is the key to the future", right? There is also cleanliness and its import to Christianity. When all three of these edicts are being railroaded in the Haitian school system, the prospects look dire for the nation's children trying to forge an education without drinking water or even the use of toilets in over 60% of the schools in the country.

About a month before the start of the Haitian school year, 2014, representatives of the Human Rights Watch visited schools along the Haitian Central Plateau, to evaluate the sanitation conditions and access to water at the various facilities. The results showed none of the visited schools were in compliance with the guidelines set out by the government for proper school hygiene. The Human Rights Watch calculated that nearly 60% of the schools have no access to toilets and that 3/4ths are without drinking water.

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The Haitian government has decided to abandon subsidization of toilet construction, in favor of more cost-effective and sustainable toilets that can be built by homeowners themselves. The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) has been directing research into social and cultural use of toilets; however they are defined within Haitian culture.

Before toilet projects can begin, an understanding of how Haitian households view urination and defecation activities must occur. In the countryside, defecating in a field is an acceptable practice. Residents in these areas hate pit latrines because they smell and despoil the land. Educating them to change their habits will not happen overnight.

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