Mobilising partners for community participation in Angola: A question of attitude?
By Björn Brandberg
Background
The following information comes from a pilot latrine
building programme in Angola. The project covers two cities only, Lobito and Benguela,
with a total population of around 1 million people. Last year they built 11,000 dome
shaped SanPlat latrines, an increase of close to three times as much as the year before.
The "trick" was to make a partnership between the project and the churches, NGOs
and local leaders. The churches especially have played an active role. For next year they
plan to build 40,000 latrines. At first I did not take the proposal seriously, but after
having gone through the conditions I believe they can make it.
What We Did:
After a reasonably good start of the project in 1990, war and
administrative problems caused the latrine building activities to drop to zero in 1993.
Increased subsidies for slabs made implementation increase slightly, but there was no
enthusiasm.
When, during one of my visits, I suggested cooperation with the
traditional leaders (something impossible earlier, because of politics), my colleagues
answered that they had already started working with them –– "But if you
want we can call a meeting". About 50 leaders came. We presented the problem and they
answered: "Why don't you go to the churches, that is what we do, when we have a
problem".
We called for a meeting with church leaders. This was new. The relation
between the Marxist Government and the Churches had been very tense. We visited some 30
church leaders and invited them to the meeting. Almost all came, often with two more
people. Again we presented the situation. We asked for help, explaining our difficulties,
but at the same time making a point of our belief that we, Project and churches, had a
common mission: to help people in need.
We talked about hygiene, diseases and death, and the Bible's view on
Sanitation; about Love for your Neighbour and the Good Samaritan; about Christians being
the Light and the Salt. We talked about Faith and Works. We prepared and distributed
papers where we tried to see sanitation in a Christian perspective.
The project has extension staff organising latrine building. Now they
linked up with the churches and more and more of the work was done through the churches.
Today we have five casting yards, two run by the project, two run by churches and one run
by a local NGO, but almost all the community mobilisation is made through the churches.
There are more churches interested in making latrine slabs, but the
uncertain funding of more cement has made the project staff reluctant to increase the
number of casting yards. Instead we have asked the churches to concentrate on hygiene
education, which we have tried to simplify as far as possible. Three generic messages with
explanations are now advocated for discussion as the churches :
- Always use the latrine
- Wash your hands
- Be cautious with baby's faeces
Supplementary texts were provided for church leaders and
other interested participants.
Slabs of high quality were a motivating factor
Dome shaped SanPlats were used for family latrines.
The small SanPlat was used for school latrines and public places integrated in
conventional concrete slabs and pour flush pans
Why it worked:
The mobilisation was easy, but it is difficult to describe what actually
made it work. The following factors were important:
- We had a technology that was simple, understandable, attractive and adaptable to
felt needs
• You can only mobilise a community for something they like.
- Community contribution was already high. Only the slab was subsidised. On the
other hand, many of the materials and labour could be arranged locally with no cash input
(important as the vast majority of families involved are below the poverty line).
• You cannot mobilise people to contribute with something they are critically
short of.
- Much depended on the people in the project, and their relation with the churches
and NGOs. Important was:
• We had a problem –– We asked for help
• We listened and took advise
• We referred to a shared interest and responsibility.
• Attitudes were important
- We did not tell the churches or the local leaders how to mobilise the people.
• We asked for specialist assistance, so we did not tell them how to do what
we believed they were good at.
- Churches and traditional leaders obviously had a high creditability among the
population.
Prepared by Bjorn Brandberg, Sanitation Management Adviser, SBI Consulting,
Swaziland 1998
Tel/Fax +268-404 0067, Home tel: 268-404 3243, e-mail: bjorn@brandberg.org
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