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At the end of April and beginning of May this year, I conducted CLTS training in Darfur at the invitation of DMT Tearfund UK and Oxfam America. The training took place in Kass town in South Darfur. This was the first CLTS training to take place in this part of Darfur.
I was recently in Darfur to conduct CLTS training. I had been invited by Tearfund UK in conjunction with Oxfam America. During this workshop one of the participants raised a question for which I was not able to provide an answer immediately.
There has been an interesting debate going on about the elements of shame, fear and disgust used during CLTS triggering session. The debate has been between those who believe that the element of shame as applied during a CLTS trigger is unethical as it amounts to degrading and embarrassing the community, and those who believe that the element of shame is actually positive, and that it indeed awakens the community to the realities of open defecation.
South Sudan is a country that has suffered the effects of a devastating civil war that lasted about 25 years. It is just in the last 6 years that the country has enjoyed relative peace. But even then, there are still sporadic and intermittent episodes of inter ethnic and political rivalry that many times results in loss of life and property. The prolonged civil war immensely contributed to the stifling of development in the country. The road network has been virtually non existent in most parts of the country, the health and education systems have been at rudimentary level for a long time. Access to basic commodities like food, blankets, medicines and so on was a nightmare for majority of the population. Many were forced by circumstances to either flee the country or live in the internally displaced persons camps due to the hostile security situation that prevailed in the country at the time.
From the 27th February to the 1st March, I was attending the Pan Africa CLTS workshop in Accra Ghana. The workshop was sponsored by Plan Netherlands and was facilitated by Prof. Robert Chambers and Petra Bongartz of IDS. 8 countries namely, Ghana, Niger, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Zambia participated in the workshop.
One of the challenges that I often experience when conducting trainings is the fear that CLTS is not an ideal approach for post emergency countries like South Sudan. This fear is commonly expressed by participants attending a training for the first time.
Handwashing is a vital part of good sanitation and hygiene and the issue is always raised during triggering. If the community (and the facilitator) understands CLTS and its true meaning of cutting all faecal-oral contamination routes, there is no way handwashing will be left out.
Enthusiastic teenagers digging a pit
