Ecological Sanitation in Uganda - EcoSanRes

Ecological Sanitation in Uganda
A friendly system for the Muslim society
A case of Hanifa Nakawunde in Kampala
COMPILED BY DERRICK SSEWANYANA -NETWAS-U
Hanifa Nakawunde lives in Kulambiro village, Kyanja Parish,
Nakawa, one of the administrative Divisions of Kampala city.
She is a Muslim lady owning an Ecosan toilet at her home.
She does not agree that using Ecosan conflicts with her
religious practices.
“I have been using a pit latrine before but learnt about Ecosan
toilets through sensitization by Kampala City Council (KCC)
health officials. I was convinced to construct one because I
wanted manure from the compost and urine to use in my
garden. You can’t get manure from a pit latrine for a garden.
The motivation was that after contributing UGX 100,000
(42USD) KCC was to assist me in constructing the toilet.
On completion, the toilet was a single vault dry compost
Ecosan that separates urine from faeces. There is a washer
trough for Moslems inside the facility and a jerry can for
tapping the urine outside the toilet. I specifically requested
for a washer trough because as a Muslim, we use water for
anal cleansing and it as well helps to avoid the mixing of
water with faeces.
I use urine as fertilizer in my garden after keeping it for two
weeks. For the compost, I remove it from the toilet, burry
it for 6 months before applying in the gardens. I don’t sell
compost because I use it as manure in my gardens.
I like my Ecosan toilet because it saves me the burden of
digging new pit latrines whenever old ones fill up. It saves
land and improves crop productivity through providing
manure. The only problem I have with Ecosan toilet is that
the elderly and physically challenged people sometimes
cannot easy climb the high stares on the structure.
Also removing the compost, is difficulty, no one wants to
do it except myself. My message to others and particularly
Muslims is that using Ecosan toilets is not in appropriate for
Muslims. You can still use water provided there is washer
trough. Ecosan saves and preserves land “.
Hanifa’s beautiful Ecosan constructed with support from KCC
Urine harvesting at Hanifa’s Ecosan
I n s p i r a t i o n a l s u c c e s s s t o r i e s
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