The photo on the left is a toilet at the base. You might just make out the absence of soap.
The people working at the base here must be among the most aware in the local population of the importance of proper hygiene. Yet this knowledge has not led to the necessary action.
This observation strikes a chord with my work on the DRR programme since, in common with many development interventions, we aim to achieve some key changes in behaviour within the communities.
It might be that a short-term, limited intervention struggles to compete with conflicting aspects of traditions, habits and culture that exist much deeper.
Or perhaps the immediate and real inconvenience of the change might not seem worth the reward, which, though larger, might be distant and speculative.
In the developed world, the knowledge that poor diet and lack of exercise increase risk of heart disease is common. The follow-through with action is less so. Awareness is necessary but not sufficient.
One of America’s most celebrated soldiers was fond of saying ‘knowing is half the battle’. Maybe so. But without winning the other half, the battle is often lost.
Hi nigel
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough at the same time I came across this IFRC news story from a similar part of the world ...
www.ifrc.org/Docs/News/09/09073001/index.asp
best
ian
Hi Ian,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out this article, I had not seen it.
The article is positive about the achievements in the construction and use of latrines (in addition to improved water sources). I very much agree that this is a major improvement on the previous practice of open defecation.
The article only tells us that hygiene education was conducted and we have no information on changes in hygiene practices or incidence of diarrhoeal disease. It would be unfair to speculate on this.
I am not a pessimist and I do believe that hygiene interventions can achieve lasting impact. I would point to this paper by WELL (part of WEDC) who are clearly much more expert than me in this area.
It states that "it is not inevitable that behaviours will fade or that as years go by people will revert to earlier, less hygienic practices."
But it goes on to state that "two lessons appear frequently in research from various disciplines", the first of which is: "knowledge is not enough".
Best,
Nige