MUSTAPHA MALLAMBE COMMUNITY DECLARED OPEN DEFECATION FREE (ODF) USING COMMUNITY LED TOTAL SANITATION (CLTS) APPROACH

Mr. Mustapha Omar proudly showing his bottle of ash in his own latrine at Mustapha Mallambe Community, MMC LGA, Borno State

On 22 March 2018, the Borno State Task Group on Sanitation certified Mustapha Mallambe, a small rural community of 473 households in Maisandari ward, MMC LGA, Borno, as ODF. This means that residents of this community no longer defecate in the open environment and have embraced the use of latrines. 

Prior to our intervention, the community’s generator powered borehole would occasionally function based on them affording fuel; over 65% of the households did not have latrines in their homes and there was no proper waste management system for the community.

Owing to our interventions, coupled with strong community ownership, the generator-powered borehole was upgraded to solar power and a waste disposal pit constructed. Moreover, all households have latrines within their homes. Furthermore, a Water User Committee (WUC) comprising of women and men was established to coordinate WASH activities and seeks solutions WASH related issues in the community. In collaboration with Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA), the Ministry of Water Resources and Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA), we have trained and equipped the WUC with tools to ensure they function effectively linking them with relevant government structures.

‘We appreciate the upgrade of our borehole and with the waste water from it; we are able to water our farms. We promise to sustain our hygiene practices many years ahead’ – said the community leader, Bulama Mai Ali.

The above achievements are part of the Emergency Relief and Assistance for Conflict-Affected Populations in Borno State project implemented from May 2017 to March 2018 through support of the Government of Sweden.