No Toilet, No Clean Water: Sanitation Challenges in Flores's Interior
Ende, East Nusa Tenggara. At a time when the government is actively pushing for more equal development in all of Indonesia's provinces, in some remoter areas in the archipelago many still struggle to even get access to clean water and good sanitation.
In Mautenda, a village in the Wewaria subdistrict of Ende, a district of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), finding clean water and good sanitation is especially difficult since the climate is hot and dry and the terrain mountainous, making infrastructure development doubly difficult.
Located on the southern coast of the island of Flores — literally "flowers" in Portuguese — Mautenda ironically suffers from very low rainfall, with the dry season typically lasting for at least eight months.
Not exactly the best situation to be in, since most residents of Mautenda earn their living as farmers.
Lax Sanitation Standards
Humanitarian aid organization Wahana Visi Indonesia, part of World Vision International, a global humanitarian aid, development and advocacy organization, reported that approximately 40 percent of residents in Mautenda relieve themselves out in the open since there are no proper toilets.
It also said that 98 percent of the villagers never wash their hands after going to the toilet since water is scarce.
"Health issues are a big problem in this village. Our research shows unhygienic behaviors and poor sanitation cause many infectious diseases to be passed on among residents," Parulian Butar-butar, Wahana Visi Indonesia regional program manager in Ende said.
Vision for Health and Development
World Vision started its Area Development Programme in Ende after a thorough assessment in 2012 which exposed Ende as an area where health problems, especially among children, needed to be urgently addressed.
Jebsen & Jessen, an engineering, manufacturing and distribution company based in South East Asia, partnered with World Vision for Meet-A-Need — a corporate social responsibility program this year that combines corporate volunteering with funding for projects that meet a specific social or environmental need.
The program's first target is to construct proper drinking and sanitation facilities in Mautenda.
This means the company has so far conducted the same community development program in six South East Asian countries: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia.
The Jakarta Globe was invited to the village by Jebsen & Jessen to witness day-to-day life in Mautenda.
Raymundus Rangga, Mautenda's village head, said on Thursday, "Lack of drinking water and proper sanitation facilities have been a big problem for us. We're grateful that Wahana Visi Indonesia and international volunteers from Jebsen & Jessen have given such great contribution to alleviate this problem."
A total of 20 Jebsen & Jessen employees embarked on a week-long stay in Mautenda — around three hours drive from the nearest airport — on May 20-26 to repair a damaged water pipe, dig a well and help educate children and their families about disease management.
Jebsen & Jessen has provided a grant of $72,150 for a six month-long development initiative which will positively impact at least 371 households in Mautenda as well as students and teachers from 21 schools.
The ultimate goal of the initiative is to protect children from infection and diseases by improving hygiene and sanitation practices in their families and community.
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