By Yang Ater Yang
Lakes State records progress among communities where Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program has been implemented.
The state WASH engineer and cluster coordinator, David Ayuen Mawel disclosed during celebration that Majak village, Malengok payam is an example of areas that achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
“The people in this village have accepted our message and gone ahead to construct their household pit latrines,” he said.
“Today, we are celebrating their achievement of attaining open-defecation-free status.”
Mawel explained that Majak is one of the 35 villages and one of the 7 villages that have been celebrated for their accomplishments since last month.
“It has been a very good occasion, with cultural dances by the youth, attended by elders, chiefs, and women, showcasing the community’s acceptance of this new way of life,” he added.
The community in Majak village has constructed 58 household pit latrines, complete with hand-washing facilities, which Mawel finds particularly satisfying.
“I would like to appreciate the government of the Netherlands, which funded this project through UNICEF South Sudan, and the Ministry of Land, Housing, and Public Utilities for making this happen,” he said.
Mariem Paul Jebi, the chairperson of the specialized committee on infrastructure in Lakes State Assembly, praised the progress made during their tour of Rumbek Center, Rumbek East, and Rumbek North counties.
“Under the leadership of the Ministry of Housing, Land, and Physical Infrastructure, and with the support of CEDS, we were able to assess 429 pit latrines constructed by the women in the communities,” she said.
Barnaba Makuac, representing the WASH team, acknowledged the achievement of 58 household pit latrines in Majak village and urged the community to continue constructing more latrines to avoid open defecation.
He also appealed to the government of the Netherlands, the Dutch embassy, and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to address the lack of water in some areas, particularly in Rumbek North and Cueibet County, which have been affected by inter-communal conflicts.
Sultan Majak Deng Mabok, the executive chief of Ayen Pachiec Boma, celebrated the successful completion of the latrine construction project in Malengok payam.
“This initiative by the CEDS organization has exceeded the achievements of the last two years, and we hope to see even more progress in the coming year,” he said.
A hygiene promoter from War-marual village whose names were not mentioned emphasized the community’s role in the success of the project.
“It is the community that listened to us and did what we told them to do,” he said. “Our community is making good progress in promoting hygiene, and even though CEDS has closed the project, we will continue to dig latrines for the health of our children.”
The main challenge now, according to the hygiene promoter, is ensuring that the communities have access to hand-washing facilities to complement the newly constructed pit latrines.
The State Ministry of Housing, Land, Public Utilities, ministries of Health, Education, Gender, Child and Social Welfare, and Local Government had organised a seven-day awareness campaign on hygiene promotion and sanitation in Lakes State.
The campaign, supported by the Center for Emergency Development Support (CEDS) and funded by the Netherlands through UNICEF, focused on constructing pit latrines in villages under the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) project.