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4.2 Economic Characteristics
The indicative economic characteristics of the population in terms of income per month and possessed assets are
presented in Table 4.2. The overall median income for the families in the blocks was TK 3150 and the maximum was
TK 9000. That means the overall median income per day per person was crudely TK 20 per day per person (=TK
3150/30.5 days/5 median family size), which is $US 0.34 per day per person ($US 1=TK60). The number of families
that were earning an average of $US 1 per person per day was quite low.
The data concerning the possession of TVs or radios in those areas were not accurate. Focus group discussions
revealed that many families did not give the correct information about TVs, as they did not pay the yearly tax
that
is required for the ownership of TVs. Those who
had a TV were
likely
not to have
a radio. The possession of
radios
and TVs implied that certain residents of the
settlement
had access
to mass
communication,
in addition
to
indicating
their economic status.
More
than 70% of the sampled interviewees in the
Bauniabad
blocks
owned the
households
they
resided in,
and
the
rest rented the rooms/houses they lived in. Overall,
the
sampled
households
represented
a permanent
urban
settlement
that was in poverty.
Table 4.2: Selected economic characteristics of the families surveyed.
4.3
WS Cultural Characteristics
The women were the main collectors and managers of water. They were also responsible for cleaning the toilets,
and collecting water to be kept in the toilets for washing purposes, as the people of the settlement, similar
to most people residing in Asian sub-continent countries, cleaned them with water after defecation. Women/
housewives conduct cooking and all other domestic indoor/outdoor activities. Additionally, they are also expected
to take care of the children and elderly members in a family. Therefore, they are also the main users of water
irrespective of whether they use it for themselves or for the others.
Water issues and its collection by women were openly discussed
by the people. The importance in reducing the
hardship on the women in collecting the water was evident when there was a willingness to pay for it. However,
any defecation related issues were not openly discussed. Human waste is regarded disgusting and the act itself is
regarded very private, and that is why the defecation sites are always covered, irrespective of the type or location
of a latrine. Though there was a strong demand for improved sanitation among the people in 1995, there was
almost no willingness to pay for the then available sanitation options according to the baseline survey conducted
that year. This was because most of the residents found those options to be inconvenient and dirty. However, later,
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