Dahoshri village of Sahrasti upazila of Chandpur district, where the picture of daily life and struggle is different. Most of the men in this village are expatriates. Many have turned their fortunes around and become economically self-reliant due to expatriation. Since many houses are buildings, they don’t have to think about safe sanitation separately. A strong mother named Parveen Begum (38) lives in this village. As no one in her family is an expatriate, her economic condition is not very good. Their days were going by somehow on her husband’s income only.
They have a dilapidated tin shed house to live in and a shop in the local market. Parveen Begum was in dire straits due to the illness of her family members with her husband’s low income. Today the boy is sick and tomorrow the girl, sometimes she or her husband gets sick. Her family was trapped in the cycle of sickness, as if sickness had always surrounded them. By discussing the causes of illness with various people, she realized that their family’s illness was rooted in their open toilets. Although she could diagnose the problem, she did not have the opportunity to
think about safe sanitation due to the financial crisis. But Parveen Begum knew that “health is the root of all happiness” and she never gave up, her main goal was to provide safe sanitation for her family anyway.
Parveen Begum kept thinking about safe sanitation. But thinking about her husband’s low income, she did not have the courage. She used to think that a sanitary toilet meant a paved toilet and a lot of expenses. In these thoughts, she came to know through the local beneficiaries that Ambala Foundation provides loans for the construction of sanitary latrines and also provides technical support during and after the construction of sanitary latrines. Parveen Begum breathed a sigh of relief. With a heart full of hope and thinking about the good health of the family, she contacted the Shahrasti Branch of Mudaffarganj.
There she knew the concept of “Two-Pit Toilets”. She found out that a “Two-Pit Toilets” is much more hygienic, environment-friendly, and can be constructed at a lower cost than other toilets, and one of the advantages of a two-pit toilet is that its maintenance cost is very low like other toilets. Like other toilets when they get full, it costs money and labor to clean them and the environment is seriously damaged if the feces are cleaned and dumped elsewhere in the open. But since “Two-Pit Toilets” have 2 tanks at a distance of 3 feet, when one tank is full, closing it and opening the other can avoid this cleaning problem. As the 2nd tank is used, the dirt from the 1st tank automatically dries and mixes with the soil, eliminating the need for cleaning and saving money.
She said, after seeing the positive comments of the local beneficiaries and the effectiveness of the “Two-Pit Toilets”, I took a loan of taka 22,000 for making eco-friendly “Two-Pit Toilets”. She also said that when the use of “Two-Pit Toilets” started, health and peace of mind returned to my family. My family members are no longer suffering from diseases like cholera, and diarrhea like before, so their studies are not hampered. Where Parveen Begum used to spend a lot of money on illness, now she can spend that money on other needs of the family. So, with physical health comes financial improvement, Parveen Begum now has a happy smile on her face. Smiling, Parveen Begum did not forget to thank the Ambala Foundation. Ambala Foundation stood by me in my distress so I am thankful to them. Ambala Foundation is a major contributor to my family’s physical well-being and mental peace.
Ambala International FNGO is a subsidiary of Ambala Foundation of Bangladesh.
Registration: CG05870770723
