Importance of social & cultural factor in toilet construction and use.

Toilet and our relationship with them; are not as straight forward as they may seems. Every country has its own social and cultural norms dictating what constitutes a normal toilet sit down or squat, water sealing or composting, flush or long drop. Understanding what is considered acceptable is crucial in developing effective sanitation programs.

Recognizing the need to improve knowledge in this area, in 2009 thevolunteering initiative Nepal (VIN) began continuous research in “the influence of social and cultural factor on toilet construction and use” in JITPURPHEDI (VDC). The research was undertaken in rural areas of JITPURPHEDI (VDC) KATHMANDU over the 6 years as the Nepal government is implementing a strategy of moving away from subsidies construction of toilet towards more sustainable home owner – driven project, the VIN research proved to be an important initial step towards understanding the best way of fitting household sanitation activities within this strategy.

Seeking to identify the most important factor about building and user household in JITPURPHEDI (Kathmandu). The research discovered a number of interesting points. In many rural areas open defection  is considered a normal part of life, many jitpur people dislike port-hole viewing them as being smelly & dirty, and many people in jitpur are lacking awareness about toilets to use it. The main issues is changing people mentality “explained one VIN staff laxmi pd ghimire said traditionally people are used to going to the field, there is a need to change this behavior but its take time’’. While fear of diseases affect and other water – borne disease was the most common reason given for installing a toilet in their homes, the social status that came with having a modern household toilet for guest also helped. As many research participants in panchmane people said to a toilet at home is an indication that you are ready to receive guests.

Social pressure around toilet construction are often overlooked for example, many families without a household toilet can feel embaraced if they do not have one, and some people can be jealous of those who do. The research also found VIN has built more than 204 toilets in JITPURPHEDI . As there was a clear understanding in many communities that the health benefits, empowering personal growth, constructing and using a toilet could be fell only if the whole community owned and used their own toilet. Due to the success of this program in December (2015) the VIN began development of social and cultural assignment tool for all water sanitation and hygiene program . From all VIN international volunteer and local volunteer to support program design and implementation and to ensure toilet usage behavior, changing communication in communities program efficiently address the social and cultural factor influencing decision made about toilet construction and use.

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