We’ve known what causes cholera, a deadly water borne disease, and how to avoid it for almost 130 years, yet people are still dying of this disease in poor areas around the world today. The reason is simple: when the water is dirty, your health is in danger. Zimbabwe suffered a cholera epidemic between 2008 and 2009 because of poor sanitation in its most crowded suburbs. The lack of clean, private, and safe toilets has been a problem in developing countries for ages, and the solution lies mainly in improving the infrastructure of the state. Easier said than done of course- especially in Zimbabwe where democracy can seem like a lofty goal. However, with the help of NGOs, new sanitation systems were installed in high-risk areas that have helped to fend off further outbreaks.

Epworth is a crowded suburb just outside the capital city Harare which is highly susceptible to cholera outbreaks because of the sewage which flows freely and untreated into public drinking water sources and through neighborhoods where children play, thus causing the spread of water borne diseases. Practical Action, a charity organization based out of the UK, installed several hundred EcoSan toilets in the area starting in 2007. EcoSan stands for ecological sanitation and refers to a low-cost and easy to install system of waste management that reuses human excreta and water for practical purposes instead of discharging it into the surrounding environment. A wide-spread and organized integration of EcoSan toilets would “protect human health and the environment while reducing the use of water in sanitation systems and recycling nutrients to help reduce the need for artificial fertilizers in agriculture,” according to one charity group.

In fact, Epworth, the area where Practical Action installed 795 EcoSan toilets, did not experience a cholera outbreak between 2008 and 2009 despite the government’s breakdown and subsequent unrest during that time. This is due, in large part, to the construction of EcoSan latrines and health education carried out there.

Cholera is best cured by nipping the problems that cause it in the bud. EcoSan toilets do just that by diverting human waste before it pollutes waterways and reusing it as fertilizer or biogas. Selling these two bi-products can provide methods of income generating activity for Zimbabweans. Also, the waste that becomes fertilizer improves agricultural production and improves food security.

Zimbabwe has a long way to go before it can effectively protect its citizens against curable diseases. However, with the help of simple technology like EcoSan waste management systems and other tools like it, good sanitation is underway.

Related posts:

1. Cholera in Haiti and what you can do about it
2. The Great Green Wall of Africa