Toilets as Temples and Construction with Compassion In TATA Housing villages

          

This ceremony was conducted as an experiment in love – a way of connecting the  internal purity of heart to the external cleanliness of sanitation practice. The experiment arose from Jayeshbhai’s thought of how a deep understanding of toilets, their spirit and their use can be inculcated in the poorest of the poor villages.

The Prem-pratishthaceremony was conducted in Vadasar village, by selecting one of the

poorest familiy, from different communities.  The toilet designs were Ishwarbhai’s designs, that included in them an understanding of who the users of the toilets were, their habits and their practices.

 Announcements of the shauchalayprempratishthaan (toilets installed with love) ceremony was made beforehand, and village had a special day allocated for this event. The volunteers from ESI explained to the assembled villagers their understanding of sanitation. They drew analogies to explain that just as T is for temple, similarly T is for toilet. Just as a temple is a place where the heart is purified, the toilet is a place where the body is purified. So, they can both be treated with due respect for attending to a human being soul (mind) and body.

Preparations were made in full swing for the events. ESI volunteers cleaned the streets and filled potholes in the roads with dirt. Decorative garlands of mango leaves were placed at different places in the village indicating an auspicious event. In front of new toilet constructed, a colorful rangoli (pavement design) was also created. Volunteers paid special attention to children in schools, explaining to them their understanding of sanitation and why it is necessary. we also explained the significance of the special toilet installation ceremony, thus inculcating in children a natural interest in the regular use of toilet.

The ceremonies were conducted on 18^th Septmber 2013 in Vadasar. For this ceremony, a lot of officials were invited. The Gandhinagar district DRDA(District Rural Development Agency) head,  Taluk Development officer, local government officials and tata housing representatives . The assembled villagers shared with the community their opinions about the use of toilets, the reasons for their current sanitation conditions, thus giving a voice to the common man in the presence of government representatives. ESI volunteers shared with the community different drawings of toilets, and the specific designs of toilets for different users and communities, and their thoughts on use and maintenance.

For the inauguration event, all the assembled guests and villagers went to toilet and lighted a lamp at each location. Two-minutes of silence was maintained at toilet to absorb its significance, a coconut was broken at the entrance to new toilet and the coconut pieces distributed as offering to the crowd. (In India, each auspicious activity includes the breaking of a coconut and its offering to God, and the pieces of the coconut are eaten by devotees as a blessing).

The assembled guests and community members then had conversations with each of the six families that volunteered to have a toilet constructed in its home. The family members were active participants in the toilet construction, so each of them shared their experiences of the process. All were unanimous in the idea that they wanted toilets for family sanitation and safety (this was a primary concern for women) and that the construction was a fairly straightforward process.

A ShauchalayPrem-prathishthaan (toilet installation with love) ceremony was conducted in all the villages sponsored by the Tata CSR project. This was an experiment in connecting spirit with action – a way of connecting the internal purity of heart to the external cleanliness of sanitation practice. The experiment arose from Jayeshbhai’s thought of how a deep understanding of toilets, their spirit and their use can be inculcated in the poorest of the poor villages.

The fundamental spirit of this event was that the same essence that goes into the building and inauguration of a temple can also go into the inauguration of a toilet. In Indian temples, after carving an idol from rock, a ceremony called Praan-Pratishtha(installation of life)is performed. A mere rock in the shape of a deity is thus transformed, through faith, into a representation of the Divine. Once the praan-pratishtha is performed, people who would have kicked the piece of rock will now bow down to it. Similarly, Jayeshbhai suggested a ceremony of prem-pratishthaa (installation of love) for toilets; so that people could understand their spirit and inculcate them as a representation of sanitation into their lives.

Preparation for the event:

A survey was first conducted in all the villages to collect data about the villagers, the type of families, economic and social status, toilet and sanitation habits, etc. This was followed by an awareness campaign with Suresh bhai and Nandini, where knowledge of sanitary habits, their importance and their practice, was shared with the villagers. After some community gatherings and discussions, the villagers preferences and problems became more apparent. Once the villagers’ needs were identified, initial action focused on primary school kids and youth. Primary school kids were given special attention, and their awareness in cleanliness, habits, etc. was focused upon, all in a friendly way. The ESI team also conducted a youth training camp for three days to improve the awareness and habits of the youth, and raise their involvement in the change to be brought into the village. Thus the children and youth felt that they were an active part of the upcoming improvements.

Post-prem-pratishthaan:

The prem-pratishthaan ceremony had a very noticeable effect in all the three villages. The demand for toilet installations in each village increased very significantly. Many requests were made to ESI to install toilets, particularly the ones that serve the needs of individual families. While the demand was much higher, ESI decided to construct 50 toilets for each village. The criteria for selection of the homes were the size of the family and the number of people who would use the toilet, the number of women in the family, presence of widows or handicapped in the family, economic status, etc. Each of the families was also involved in the construction activity, both physically as well as financially. The benefactor family contributed Rs. 900, Tata CSR contributed Rs. 7000 and the government financed the construction to the tune of Rs. 4600. The total toilet construction – including the toilet, the soap pit and the composting system - was accomplished very economically at the cost of Rs. 12000.

ESI’s primary mission of raising awareness in the villages has been quite successfully accomplished, as seen by the hugely increased levels of demand for toilets. After constructing 50 toilets in each village, its primary mission accomplished, ESI has now decided to step back from the construction of the toilets and is now playing the role of intermediary and facilitator. ESI has now asked the villagers to construct the toilets for themselves, by applying to the government for financial assistance, and is now willing to facilitate by guiding the process in various ways. The goal of raising awareness has been reached because now the villagers are feeling the need for toilets and now the construction of toilets is a demand-based, decentralized and pull-based process instead of a push-based one. Meanwhile, the villagers are also empowered (without being dependent on ESI) by constructing their own toilets and championing their own needs.