By Nida An Khafiyya

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 to be the International Year of Sanitation. It seeks to fulfill one of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)- to halve the number of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015. This goal seeks to improve the condition of over 1.3 billion people. Believe it or not, not everyone has access to clean porcelain toilets.

In line with this spirit, a group of 31 youths from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines started Project Sanitation Campaign and Social Research – or in short Project SaCH – in partnership with the World Toilet Organization (WTO) in Aceh, the area worst hit by the earthquake and Tsunami in December 2004. This project was created under Nusantara Development Initiatives (NDI), an Independent Committee under the wings of PPI Singapura, much like our Diaspora Magazine.

The project aims to help raise the importance of basic sanitation to the community, as well as conducting social research to gain insight into the local sanitation practices.

Project SaCH had been very privileged to work with Suak Pandan Village and Desa Keub School. As part of their Sanitation campaign, they conducted Mother’s Workshop, engaged children in their Hygiene Camp, conducted Social Research and distributed Hygiene Kits over the 10 days that they were there.

Sanitation Campaign

Mothers’ Workshop

The two-hour workshop kicked off the campaign with demonstrations on the correct way to wash hands and brush teeth to the mothers of Suak Pandan village. They played games and enjoyed plenty of sing-along sessions. Recipes were also shared in between brief lectures on the food pyramid.

The mothers’ culinary skills were tested during the cooking competition. They were not only judged on taste but were also evaluated on the cleanliness of their cooking preparations. Extra points were given for a healthy balanced meal worthy of “Empat Sehat, Lima Sempurna”. The winning teams were awarded with sembako, the nine essential staple food items. Everyone was also given a UNICEF family hygiene kit.

Hygiene Camp

In Desa Keub School, the Project SaCH participants organized a week-long sanitation camp for 56 students from primary 4 to 6.  Tips on good hygene and sanitation practices were imparted between fun games with the children. For example, after a sweaty game of Captain’s Ball the children were required to wash their hands with soap and clean water before they can enjoy their bowl of cereal.

They also taught some basic English lessons to the children. Hokey Pokey was a hot favourite. The funky dance moves were very popular with the kids.

At the end of the day, they became big brothers and sisters to the children. The students were invited to create handmade cards for someone special. Some were addressed to the Project SaCH participants themselves, who reciprocated with personalized cards for their adik-adik. It was a touching moment.

More hygiene kits were distributed along with stationeries from the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Arts (MICA) of Singapore to each of the children. Health campaign posters, provided by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) of Singapore were left on the classroom walls as a reminder of their fun-filled day.

Social Research

There were two key aspect of the research component of the project: household surveys and water testing in the village of Suak Pandan. Throughout the trip, they managed to survey 102 households. They found that sanitation practices of the community were insufficient and that the quality of water sources could be better improved. The research team hopes to come out with a more comprehensive research paper by the first quarter of 2010.

This year, NDI second project focuses on the introduction of solar powered lamps to a rural village in Indonesia. In places where electricity is scarce, expensive and inconsistent, ‘free lighting’ has been proven to aid economic development and contribute to a better quality of life. Thus, a small, one off investment of a solar-powered lamp can generate a longer term benefit.

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