Preaching About Poo: Open Defecation in Sumba

By Nick Baker, Communication and Knowledge Management Officer

Reverend Charles Detha educates villagers on an uncomfortable topic. ©UNICEF Indonesia/2015/Nick Baker

A local pastor in Kadahang village, Sumba (NTT) is about to make the most unlikely of sermons. Today, Reverend Charles Detha won’t talk to his congregation about chastity or charity. Instead, he will talk about defecating.

Indonesia is in the grips of an open defecation crisis. More than 51 million people do not use a toilet. This is the second highest number in the world after India. The effect on communities and particularly on children is severe – with the practice resulting in a raft of health problems.

The island of Sumba is greatly affected by this crisis. And an issue of such scale requires innovative solutions. So UNICEF is working directly with religious leaders in this particularly devout region to help get the message out.

“We now know that open defecation is dangerous for the health of children,” says Reverend Charles, who has been participating in programmes facilitated by UNICEF that aim to put an end to open defecation. “It can give them all sorts of diseases. So we must get involved, we must speak up.”

Sanitation in Sumba – improving day by day

- Nick Baker, Communications and Knowledge Management Officer

Sanitarian Dangga Mesa attends a village meeting in Sumba Barat Daya.
©UNICEF Indonesia/2015/Nick Baker

It’s an unusually busy morning in Matapywu village on the island of Sumba (NTT). Heads of family have been called together for an important meeting. Seats are taken, coffee is served, and the topic is announced: toilets.

Meetings on this unusual subject are now quite common around the island. Matapywu is just one of many villages that recently underwent a triggering session supported by UNICEF. These workshops aim to end open defecation practices.

Now it’s time to check progress. A sanitarian, Dangga Mesa, discusses developments since she held the triggering session a few months ago. Dangga seems pleased on the impact it had.

A better future – ending open defecation in Sumba

- By Nick Baker, Communications and Knowledge Management Officer - 

One year old Juan with his new toilet. ©UNICEF Indonesia/2015/Nick Baker

SUMBA BARAT DAYA, March 2015 – Juan Ngongo, currently just one year old, will be the first person in his family to grow up with a toilet.

Juan lives in the village of Watu Kaula on the island of Sumba (NTT). For generations, his family would defecate in or around a small river that runs just beside their house.

But not anymore. Juan’s family recently attended a triggering session in their village that was facilitated by UNICEF. During these events, health workers demonstrate how easily bacteria from faeces can enter the food chain and cause a raft of health problems.

These health problems include diarrhoea and pneumonia – which are chief contributors to more than 370 under-five deaths per day in Indonesia.

UNICEF Indonesia launches Tinju Tinja Campaign to knock out open defecation

Melanie Subono and Aidan Cronin launches the Tinju Tinja campaign in Jakarta during World Toilet Day (19/11/2014)

JAKARTA 24 November 2014 – UNICEF Indonesia, and local rock star and humanitarian activist Melanie Subono are taking the fight against open defecation to the boxing ring through a multi-media campaign called Tinju Tinja (“Punch the Poo”), launched on World Toilet Day.

Largely conducted on social media, this campaign aims to inform and raise awareness about the health implications of such practice, as well as creating a sense of urgency to end open defecation in Indonesia in a new, innovative way. 

During the launch UNICEF revealed that, based on the Joint Monitoring Program report (2014), published by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), 55 million people in Indonesia practice open defecation, making it the second highest number in the world after India.

Unilever extends support to cut down on open defecation

JAKARTA, 4th July 2014 – The Unilever Indonesia Foundation and UNICEF are further strengthening their collaboration in addressing the country’s challenges in terms of safe water and sanitation.

After a first contribution of €100,000 in 2013, the Foundation has now donated €200,000 to the UNICEF WASH programme which aims at ending open defecation and improving hygienic practices in Indonesia.