BALDIA SOAKPIT PROJECT

UNICEF PAKISTAN1983

Ilii ii min ium

BALDIA SOAKPIT PROJECTCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATION TOWARDSIMPROVED HEALTH AND SANITATION

BackgroundKarachi is the largest sea-port in Pakistan,

capital of Sind province and largest city in thecountry. It has a population of over six million.

like any large city, particularly those indeveloping countries, it faces the combined prob-lems of rural-urban drift and natural populationincrease, as well as the attendant problems ofslums, poverty, lack of education and inadequatefacilities. Two million of Karachi's residentsinhabit the peri-urban settlements known as

Katchi Abadis or temporary dwellings.

Baldia: The PastAs one of the larger Katchi Abadis, Baldia is no

exception to the rule. Its 200,000 population istightly packed into an area of about a thou-sand acres, living in closely knit communities calledmohallas, of which Baldia has 39. They are a kaleido-scope of ethnic groups with one common factor —their lack of skills and education and a resultinginability and inertia to extract themselves from therut of poverty and sub-standard conditions.

Baldia: In Transition

from a desire for recreation. A cricket teamlooking for a place to play found itself hamperedby the unsanitary conditions, streets with house-

Ironically, one impetus for change emerged hold water, human waste and garbage.

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UNICEF, at the suggestion of the Netherlands'advisers, undertook the construction of low cost,long-life soakpit latrinesf as the initial entry intothe community for the expansion of communitydevelopment activities.

A collaborative programme was developed withtwo local institutions. Initially, the Jaycees (theJunior Chamber of Commerce) had hired a cons-truction team on a contract basis and provided 70latrines free of cost to householders. The otherinstitution — the Social Work Department ofthe University of Karachi — was committed to thecommunity participation approach. The social

University Social Workers discuss soakpits with Baldia residents

*A ground pit with permeable sides through which liquidwastes can seep to be neutralised by natural soil process.The soakpit is connected to a water seal pan which can beflushed with a minimum of water. For a family of 9—10members a pit will last 10 — 15 years. Latrine and household wastes flow to the streets from this exit

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For UNICEF, the Jaycees and the socialworkers it was also a time for realization that threefactors — seed finance, proper technology and so-cial organization — could be meshed together toproduce community awareness and action.

Community participationgathers momentum

A larger, more extensive second phase was theninitiated with financing provided by the Nether-lands Government. In outline, the project wasconceived and implemented as follows:

Aims

— To reduce water-related infant and childmorbidity and mortality.

— To stimulate widescale community cons-truction of soakpits and initiate other socialimprovements for children.

Personnel

— Local participants: The community nucleuswas the cricket team and other young enthu-siasts who formed the Turk Welfare Society(TWS).

— A second local body — an existing, conservative,older group, the Turk Jamat — had little incommon and therefore hardly collaborated

with the newly forrred younger TWS group.

— External participants: two full-time com-munity workers, a community organizer fromthe university and a technical adviser (engineer)from the Jaycees.

Preparatory activities

— Baseline data gathering: children's health,incidence of illness, mortality, school attend-ance rates, income-earning activities forwomen, other social indicators.

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1350 for a double pit, of which the communitypays approximately a third in labour and UNICEFthe remainder.

Other innovations

Slowly the streets became free from excretaand the sweepers went elsewhere. A new pipe wasinstalled that boosted the water supply for thecommunity: four more taps were added, bringingthe number to 12. Drains were begun in the narrowstreets to take off waste water and rainwater.

SECTION: B.B(T«=UC TK scwrr)These boys really like the new, dry cleanliness of their yard

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Roads and alleys were paved. Street-lightsbegan to appear. A water storage tank was built. Asthe settlers' housing plots were regularised, theKarachi Metropolitan Corporation provided animproved physical infrastructure.

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Ail smiles about this improvement in their home. These boys posebeside the new latrine

The main achievement of the whole newfeeling in Turk colony was the rapid expansion andnew strength of the Turk Welfare Society. Todayit has over a hundred members and several dozenactive workers. And the TWS has started to look toother aspects of the life of the community — itschildren in particular.

A moribund welfare centre has been taken overby the members and become alive again. With the

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help of some official subsidy, primary medicaladvice is available for Rs. 2-3 a patient to thosefamilies that can show cards testifying that theyhave built a soakpit in their home.

The lady health visitor registers a new patient

The Society now has some meeting roomswhich it has rented from a local leader. A women'sclub has been set up. And there are plans for amaternity centre. Now the Turk Jamat and theTurk Welfare Society have been convinced that aunited front is better for achieving common goals,and they have amalgamated.

EducationBut perhaps the most significant new initiative

that the people of Turk Colony have taken is inhome schools. The traditional concept of poorer

Home school teachers during training

children attending an informal school — the homeschool — has been taken up and systematicallydeveloped since 1980, when ten schools wereestablished in five mohallas, including Turk colony.

Community schools are self-supporting and asensible attractive way of education for children

Home tchool teaching material*

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(especially girls) who might not be allowed toattend the local government primary school or whomight be needed most of the day for supplementingthe family income.

These schools have certain advantages overformal primary schools — they are inexpensive(fees are minimal and not fixed), they are relati-vely simple to establish (no building, little equip-ment, no overheads), they are run by people thatthe community knows about (and has trust in),they are local (allowing girls to attend) and,because of their short duration (about a couple ofhours daily) often make better use of the teachingtime.

Today there are 42 home schools with 1333students. Of the 45 teachers originally trainedunder the programme, only three have so fardropped out.

Now I can read and all doors are open

Home school teacher makes her own poster and students learn atthe same time

An added benefit of the mohallah school isthat its children constitute fertile ground forinformation dissemination about soakpits andrelated activities; many parents influenced by theirchildren have approached teachers about theproject. Regular monthly mothers' meetings inmohallah schools provide a further forum fordiscussion and information on soakpits, as well asgeneral information and education on sanitation,maternal health, nutrition, adult literacy, guidelinesfor on-going and future projects.

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together in a common cause with the soakpitcampaign, and while an all-women health com-mittee might have been in danger of stirring up areaction among the men, all the committees havewomen representatives among their most activemembers.

Interests go beyond soakpits to associatedhealth matters, not just curative services butpreventive health too.

Baldia: The FutureThe challenge of the experience in Baldia is to

build upon the process of the local community'sinvolvement as well as to develop links withappropriate government agencies. The Commis-sioner of Karachi and the Karachi MetropolitanCorporation have provided support in the develop-ments which have occurred. Regular meetingsbetween the Jaycees, University personnel andUNICEF have provided an effective institutionalframework for the planning and supervision of theproject.

Local community groups will continue toactively combine their efforts towards achievingmore environmentally acceptable conditions. Thiswill materially affect the well-being of vulunerablegroups.

The project has already gathered momentum:from the original two colonies participating insoakpit construction and related activities, todaythe number has risen to 14 communities — anatural and beneficial spillover effect which shouldbe carefully nurtured and guided.

The motivation and technical skjll of theproject field staff in continuing to provide aninnovative and catalytic role will be also a keyfactor in assisting the people of Baldia achievemuch from modest beginnings. At the least a starthas been m a d e . . . . . . .

A dramatically improved Baldia street

Produced by the Communication andInformation Service, UNICEF Pakistan,P. O. Box 1063, Islamabad.Text by Lonu Clarke, Photos byMaggie Black, Quratul Ain,Photo Fair Karachi.