Slum Sanitation

 If I'm honest I've been putting off writing this second post. When the issue is so large that it affects billions of individuals it becomes hard to know where to start. I have decided to try and follow personal links in this blog, so with that in mind, this post will focus on the slums in Kampala, Uganda. In 2019 I worked with an organisation called My Name is Human, many of the projects were based in Uganda, my friend lived in Kampala and I was in frequent contact with individuals living in the Kampala slums. 

Figure 1: Peri-urban area of Kampala.

The infrastructure required for water and sanitation differs depending on the location. Piped water as well as more advanced sanitation are more common in urban environments than in rural ones, however slums exist in a grey area. Sub Saharan Africa has a high prevalence of slums accentuated by high population growth unmatched by the weak economic opportunities, rapid rural to urban migration, and weak urbanisation strategies. With such a large proportion of the Kampala population, 60 percent, living in slums and with this number set to rise more needs to be done to improve infrastructure within the slums. 

One of the issues is that these areas can be tough, they can be intimidating for outsiders and authorities are not keen to invest in adequate infrastructure. Lack of access to basic sanitation can impact a population hugely, hindering economic growth and hampering progress towards the world's poor meeting their basic needs. 15% of the population uses a public pit latrine; I'm going to describe what this is, as for many of us in the west this is a new concept. A pit is dug which can differ in depths, the bigger the pit the longer the latrine can be used for before it fills up. There is then some form of shack, small rectangular structure constructed for the users privacy. These latrines are relatively cheap to construct, can be used by multiple households and don't need skilled workers to maintain them.

Figure 2: A ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine.

With seven in every ten pit latrines either full or overflowing, this isn't a sustainable sanitation option.  There is little chance to create a new pit latrine when one if full, due to lack of space in the cramped slum conditions. Pit latrines are used by the majority but open defecation and 'flying toilets', defecating into a plastic bag and then disposing of the contents, are still occurring. When latrines become full or because of bad construction are not able to be emptied these two latter forms of sanitation become more common. The inadequate waste management systems in place in many of the Kampala slums results in high levels on infectious diseases, including multiple diarrhoeal, which can kill children.

Another aspect that affects the inhabitants of these slums is how wet Uganda is as a country. I remember my friend telling me it was raining in Kampala almost daily. Vast amounts of this rain water can flow into the pit latrine, causing them to collapse.  Low-lying terrain with a high water table result in latrines over flowing, and contaminating ground water which is used by many as drinking water. Latrines overflowing and excrement flowing down your streets shouldn't be something that residents have to deal with on a regular basis, but the real issue is that the drinking water is no longer counted as safe. Safe drinking water is defined as the water that does not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption.

I fear I could go on and on about issues in the Kampala slums. With poor sanitation infrastructure and over 80 percent of spring sources contaminated by faecal matter, I believe the way forward is policy, and government involvement. NGOs frequent the Kampala slums but I fear relying on aid does not allow locals to learn and express exactly what they need. If instead large Ugandan organisations, government personal or politicians were to make these issues a priority a great number of improvements could occur. Investment into enviro loos, eco san toilets or improved design and maintenance of conventional pit latrines would have greatly beneficial. Funding is the key.