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MALI / OPEN AIR DEFECATION
STORY: MALI / OPEN AIR DEFECATION
TRT: 3:31
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / BAMBARA / NATS
DATELINE: 16 OCTOBER 2009. FADIEDA, BAMAKO, MALI
16 OCTOBER 2009. FADIEDA, MALI
1. Tilt down, sky to village center, huts and people talking
2. Med shot, Sho Traore in green speaking with villagers
3. Med shot, sign reading “Welcome to Fadieda, clean village, where good hygiene practices are the rule”
4. Close up, sign reading “clean village”
5. Close up, children in the foreground, women crushing millet
6. Med shot, Sho Traore speaking with villagers
7. Close up, women villagers
8. Close up, chief of the village
9. Pan left, Sho Traore waking outside the village
10. Wide shot, villagers following Sho Traore
11. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Sho Traore, Community leader:
“Here is the place where we use to defecate”
12. Med shot, Sho walking in between Millet fields right outside the village
13. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Sho Traore, Community leader:
“Defecating in the open air is a problem because the areas are located very close to our houses and our families. Poo and flies are like iron and magnets. As soon as the flies smell poo, they come and end eventually on our food.”
14. Wide shot, villagers gathered under a tree
15. Med shot, woman drawing water form of a traditional well and passing it to a man who drinks it
16. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Oumou Diarra, villager
“Children and adults were having bellyaches but we didn’t know what caused them. We didn’t have latrines. And when people came and put next to each other some human excrements and food, we saw the flies coming and understood it was the cause of those diseases. Right away, men took the oath to build latrines”
17. Med shot, Sho Traore entering a newly built latrine
18. Med shot, subjective movement with the camera entering the latrines
19. SOUNDBITE (French) Diarra Diadouba, Social Development Technician:
“Villagers themselves have committed to building the latrines. It’s their own initiative and their own strengh. No external funding has been brought in.”
20. Close up, young girl in the arms of her grand mother
21. Med shot, Sho Traore speaking with the community
22. Close up, boy
23. Med shot, women crushing millet
24. Med shot, young girl washing her hands with ashes and soap
25. Close up, young girl washing her hands
26. Tilt up, from the village to the sky
16 OCTOBER 2009, BAMAKO, MALI (UNICEF BUREAU)
27. SOUNDBITE (French) Nicolas Osbert, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene manager:
“We have had a really strong impact, as in three months only, the coverage in latrines in the test villages went from 30 percent to 100 percent, and without any funding. This was a big surprise for us, and also for those who were involved. It’s very promising for the following steps in Mali.”
16 OCTOBER 2009, FADIEDA, MALI
28. Pan right, women dancing to the sound of the Balafon
29. Close up, women clapping hands
30. Med shot, women starting dancing
31. Med shot, Sho Traore smiling
32. Close up, man playing Balafon
33. Close up, Balafon
34. Close up, children clapping hands, smiling and dancing
35. SOUNDBITE, (Bambara) Group of Children:
“Poo is bad! Poo is bad! Poo is bad!”
36. Close up, young boy
In the village of Fadieda, some 100 kilometers north of Bamako, Unicef is piloting a brand new experience in West Africa.
It’s called the CLTS approach, the Community-Led Total Sanitation. It relies on the community itself to adopt major shifts in their sanitation and hygiene behaviors.
Fadieda was selected among 15 other villages in the region by Unicef and its partners in the ministry of health.
This original approach relies on community leaders, such as Mister Sho Traore. He was chosen to lead the population towards major changes in sanitation and behaviors. In this village, a few weeks ago, people were still defecating in the open air, in an area located very close to the village. For Sho, this was a problem.
SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Sho Traore, Community Leader:
“Defecating in the open air is a problem because the areas are located very close to our houses and our families. Poo and flies are like iron and magnets. As soon as the flies smell poo, they come and end eventually on our food.”
Open Air Defecation is a common practice in rural villages in Mali. More than 30 percent of the population still does it, causing many health issues.
If the villagers of Fadieda started understand the issues of open-air defecation, it’s because Unicef and its partners put together a demonstration that shattered everyone in the village. A team came to the village to demonstrate that by putting poo and food close to each other, it draws flies and diseases.
SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Oumou Diarra, Villager:
“Children and adults were having bellyaches but we didn’t know what caused them. We didn’t have latrines. And when people came and put next to each other some human excrements and food, we saw the flies coming and understood it was the cause of those diseases. Right away, men took the oath to build latrines”
The reaction came as fast as expected. In less than a month, villagers had built not less than 40 latrines. And today, Fadieda is the first village to receive the Open Air Defecation Free Status. The village now proudly displays a sign at its entrance: “Clean village, where good hygiene practices are the rule.”
SOUNDBITE (French) Diarra Diadouba, Social Development Technician:
“Villagers themselves have committed to building the latrines. It’s their own initiative and their own strength. No external funding has been brought in.”
Thanks to this original approach and since the construction of the latrines, diarrhea cases have plummeted in the village. And the method is all the more efficient that it is the community that takes responsibility of its own health and sanitation.
The CLTS approach is also a good way to promote other good behaviors, such as hand washing with soap.
Since it started in Mali, the CLTS approach has brought results that go beyond what was expected. 118 latrines have been built by villagers, and as many are in construction.
SOUNDBITE (French) Nicolas Osbert, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Manager:
“We have had a really strong impact, as in three months only, the coverage in latrines in the test villages went from 30 percent to 100 percent, and without any funding. This was a big surprise for us, and also for those who were involved. It’s very promising for the following steps in Mali.”
The next step of the CLTS approach is to share the message throughout neighboring villages. Here again, it will be the job of Sho Traore and other community leaders. In Fadieda, it seems the message has had a great impact on everyone, even children.
SOUNDBITE, (Bambara) Group of Children:
“Poo is bad! Poo is bad! Poo is bad!”
In Mali, diarrhea remains the third cause of medical consultation after malaria and respiratory infections.
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