CHF-Haiti Helping Improve Sanitation for Earthquake-affected Households

CHF-Haiti Helping Improve Sanitation for Earthquake-affected Households
“I like my new toilet because it is close to my house and I like the color of the plastic that is around it,” says 7-year old Linsky Diderot Plaisir, one of the beneficiaries of the latrine-building program that CHF International is implementing with USAID funds in earthquake affected areas.
Linsky’s family lost their house and latrine structure during the earthquake and had been sharing a communal latrine with three other families that was situated far from the house.
CHF with USAID funds has built 2,668 latrines up to now out of the total of 2,800 it will complete. The latrines are being built in the earthquake affected areas of Port-au-Prince in the same communes where CHF has built transitional shelters through the USAID funded program. CHF employs a group of cash-for-work laborers and also six carpenters for the actual construction of the latrines.
“It is much better that we now have a latrine that is used only by our family,” says Roselande St-Fleur, 25, who is the one in charge of cleaning the latrine for her family. “It is easier to protect against certain diseases,” explains Roselande.
The latrine is what is referred to as a Ventilated Improved Pit latrine or VIP latrine. CHF provides the structure, digs the pit and puts in place the cement slabs for the floors.
Roselande’s family decided to improve their latrine and so have installed a porcelain toilet and put a brass handle on the door. “We love much better modern comfort so we changed it thus,” she says showing us proudly the new shinning toilet.