Through this movement, Sri Napsiah has promoted the awareness of maintaining cleanliness for the sake of community health.
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DENTY PIAWAI NASTITIE
·5 minutes read
DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI
Sri Napsiah
Concerned about the common practice of open defecation, Sri Napsiah, 56, initiated arisan or rotating savings to build toilets in Nglawisan hamlet, Magelang, Central Java. Through this movement, Sri has promoted the awareness of maintaining cleanliness for the sake of community health.
Sri Napsiah is a mother of three who has been involved in monitoring the health of people in Nglawisan hamlet, Tamanagung village, Muntilan district, Magelang, for the last ten years. She frequently notices community members afflicted with such ailments as hemorrhagic fever, diarrhea and chikungunya. Some children under five also experience stunted growth.
“Many people have suffered from chikungunya here. While a village has 300 families, 100 of which have been affected, one after another rather than simultaneously,” she said when contacted from Jakarta on Friday (23/4/2021).
Sri also experienced it once, when she woke up from sleep with a fever and joint pain. The other symptoms were muscle pain, headache, exhaustion, knee stiffness and rash. The disease is caused by a virus and affects humans through the bites of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
After being traced, the disease arose as a result of poor hygiene and sanitation. In her residential area, a number of people defecated in the river. In fact, the local community has been using the river stream for irrigation, washing clothes, vegetables and kitchen utensils. The dirty river has thus become a source of infection.
Many people have suffered from chikungunya here.
The latrine arisan activity originated with the participation of Sri in cleanliness training organized by USAID IUWASH PLUS in 2017. This program was designed to assist the government in increasing drinking water access and sanitation service, as well as improving the hygienic behavior of poor communities and urban vulnerable groups. The training was attended by community representatives, executives of nongovernmental organizations and village administrative staffs of Tamanagung and Pucung Rejo. The participants were taught practical skills of building toilets and septic tanks that were affordable and use simple means based on the Indonesian National Standards (SNI).
DOKUMENTAS PRIBADI
Sri Napsiah
If I had waited for government funding, it would have been too long and the amount too small.
Sadly, after training, the area was not chosen as one of the pilot regions. Actually, in Sri’s hamlet, 14 of its 60 families still did not have proper sanitation facilities.
“If I had waited for government funding, it would have been too long and the amount too small. Only five latrines would be built in a hamlet. My hamlet wouldn’t definitely get its share. Finally, I initiated a toilet savings program,” said the woman who co-signed the Open Defecation Free Declaration in Magelang in 2019.
Enthusiastic
Sri invited residents who still had no toilets to join arisan by paying Rp3,000 per month per person. The amount was not large as she realized many people had to use their income for other needs. Some participants could afford to join 2-3 savings or pay bigger sums. Arisan lots were drawn every two months. The money from these savings was used to build toilets.
The first round of toilet arisan was on 3 October 2018. Although the main target was 14 families that did not have toilets, 45 people joined the savings program. A participant will get their arisan share worth Rp650,000 to serve as a “bait” to build a toilet. Those who have had toilets spend the arisan money on repairs to their bathrooms or additional toilets.
The Rp 650,000 from arisan is indeed not enough to build a toilet. A simple latrine will cost Rp1.5 million. She asks residents to use their own savings to cover the shortage not yet met by the arisan money.
KOMPAS/BUDI SUWARNA
Bath and Toilet Facilities in Growong Hamlet, Pucungrejo Village, Muntilan, Magelang Regency, Central Java. The residents of Pucungrejo Village really need sanitation facilities like this, Monday (22/3/2021). Of the 2,800 households, there are 100 families who do not yet have family-friendly latrines.
Normally, after arisan lot drawing, residents will work together to build a foundation, mix cement, pile up bricks and dig a septic tank hole. But some of them choose to pay bricklayers to get their toilet construction done. Now with residents having built toilets, the arisan activity is turning to waste management.
The main challenge to the toilet savings, according to Sri, is behavior. People are used washing up and defecating in the river. Residents can cover a distance of 100-300 meters from their homes to the river for defecating. Some of them with good bathrooms still drain their waste water into the river.
I’ve popularized hygiene among the elderly.
In order to change the behavior, Sri has gradually attempted to convince locals. “I’ve popularized hygiene among the elderly. I told them, ‘It’s tiring for you to walk to the river, which is a long way. Now toilets are built so you won’t be tired anymore’. They finally could understand,” said Sri, repeating her advice to senior residents.
Some residents persistently refused to build latrines. With various excuses like having no space or money, they still rejected the appeal, while in fact they could afford to build ones. As a solution, Sri sought the aid of village funds to get the toilets built in their homes.
So far, Sri has felt the joys and sorrows of this activity. She is happy for being able to help residents own their toilets. “What’s saddening is when some people keep refusing to build latrines,” she said.
Today Sri spends her days sewing clothes, helping her husband, who is a mechanic, cares for her grandchild and educates residents on the importance of maintaining environmental hygiene. “While I used to be filled with disgust near the river, now I feel we all assume responsibility for the river,” she added.
Sri Napsiah
Born: 7 December 1965
Education: Sleman Senior High School (Primary School Teacher)
Activity: Cadre of Health, Neighborhood Unit 004-Neighborhood Community 013, Nglawisan Hamlet, Tamanagung Village,
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