The Children of Nepal

He is 24 years old. His wife is 20. His first child is just past the age of 2.  He lives in a 3 story house. The first floor is where the cow lives, the second floor is a bedroom where the big brother lives, the third floor landing is the kitchen, and the third floor bedroom sleeps 3. The bedroom is stuffed with a bed, piled up bins which I am guessing hold household treasures, a couch, a small television and probably 200 flies.

This is the family whose latrine I was helping to build. Not that I can say I helped a whole lot, every time I tried to do something someone would jump up and do it.  So between trying to be helpful, taking pictures, asking questions and documenting the process I got to know the family and a few special members of the community.  Families here are large and close.  I got to meet many of them during that day. Mom, who had a particular liking to my nose and then tried to pressure me into indulging in some afternoon local spirits… Grandpa, an ancient and quiet man just checking in to make sure everything was being done right.  The 26 year old brother, who is part of the army, has a wife and two kids (this was particularly interesting as I reflected on the differences between us at the exact same age).  Best of all though I got to meet all the local children. 

Sometimes with the work that I do I get wrapped up in the technical parts, the institutions I am working with and the educated people that I am collaborating with. On this day however, I got to step down, step back and play with the people we are really doing this work for – the next generation. When talking to people in workshops, presentations, airplanes or restaurants about what I do, I talk about children and the effects of poor water and sanitation on their health.

Here are a few of the facts:

• Unsafe water affects children’s ability to absorb nutrients which does not allow them to develop into healthy adults.
• Every single day 4500 children die because they don’t have access to safe water.

I sometimes say these things without conscious connection to those children and you probably hear them without conscious connection.  So lets connect.

Meet some of the beautiful children of Nepal. They want to practice their English and hear stories about where you live, they want to see pictures of themselves, they want to do exactly what dad does, they want to squish mud through their toes and then put it into buckets for no apparent reason, they want to dig holes and move dirt into piles, they want to pick flowers, they want to ride bikes and they want to chase cats.  They were exactly as you were as a child, they are exactly as your children are and like every child in the world they should have a bright and healthy future.

PS. Sorry if there are too many pictures, I just couldn't choose!

Namaste

Taryn

Giving Back to Nature What Nature Gave to You

If you could save money, increase crop yields, and do something positive for the environment by using one technology, would you?  Well, a lot of people in Nepal said they will and are doing exactly that. Its called ecological sanitation (ecosan) and that is why I am here.

I am here to build a new workshop for CAWST on ecosan, an area that has been garnering more interest in the last few years from the WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) sector. It will be a 4-5 day workshop teaching people how to implement ecosan projects. It will take lots of research, creativity and hundreds of hours of writing, reviewing and piloting.  The workshop will then be shared in countries around the world. 

Before,going any further let me get you up to speed.

Urine Diverson Pan (this is for squatting, you can make  seated ones too)

Quick Ecosan Tutorial

• Ecological sanitation is taking urine and feces and using it as a resource rather than waste.
• Urine and feces contain Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK – the same 3 nutrients you find in fertilizer).
• Urine is a particularly rich source of Nitrogen and Phosphorous for plants (the world’s phosphorous reserves are quickly being depleted and some believe that it could be depleted in the next 50-100 years or so).
• One of the most popular ecosan technologies is called urine diversion – the toilet is set up so that urine is separated from the feces.  Urine is used directly as fertilizer on the plants and feces is composted into soil and then applied as a soil conditioner.
• Urine is sterile which is why it can be used right away and not affect your health in any way.

So far, the experience of creating this workshop has been amazing. I have had the opportunity to do and see incredible things. I have been out to a place called Gundu, where a project has been recently completed and I interviewed families who are using ecosan technologies.

He uses a biogas digester - you put human and animal waste in and  it generates liquid fertilizer and gas

I have been out to a place called Sidhipur to a farm where they have been using ecosanitation for 7 years and do experiments showing the superiority of urine to traditional fertilizer.

Planted at the same time - plant on the left fertilized with urea (chemicals)  plant on the right fertilized with urine

These are pumpkin plants, you guess which one was fertilized by urine.

I am spending this week building a latrine with a family from the ground up. 

But probably my favourite part of all this is when I got to meet the father of ecosan in Nepal. It was an impromptu stop and he was very generous to take the time to see me.  I walked into the office to find a joyful man in a jaunty hat.

He is often credited as the man who brought ecosanitation to Nepal, but he quickly points out that ecosan has been in Nepal for generations. He attended a conference in 2000 where they talked about ecosan, since then he has been applying urine to his rooftop pot garden with incredible results. He only wants it to become more widespread.

He is one of those people you could sit and listen to for hours and hours not wanting to interrupt him. His passion for ecosan is fathoms deep. His enthusiasm is infectious and his fervent belief that ecosanitation can transform the people is astounding.  I wish I could bundle him up and share him around the world to spread the word of ecovalue (giving back to nature what nature gave to you). However, in lieu, I shall endeavor to capture his learnings and his passion and incorporate it into my workshop.

Anyone gardening this summer???  You could get 4x yield on your tomatoes.

With love,

Taryn