Hot dog

I learned today that in the Chinese culture, foods are either hot or cold.  Meaning that they bring you warmth or coolth.  This seems to be independent of the spiciness or physical temperature of the food. For instance, rambutan and durian are hot fruits.  Turns out that black dogs are also hot.  In the cold winter (meaning less than 80F), the number of black dogs on the streets decreases significantly.  A guy from IDE commented about a black dog in his neighborhood that has white stripes painted on it.  Clearly a family pet. . .

Coconut water

An aside from today at the IDE compound.  The security guard was hacking away at a half dozen or so young coconuts when I was outside taking photos of the latrine pans.  This materialized in a glass of fresh coconut water for me about a half hour later.  I subsequently learned that in an emergency, coconut water can be used as an intravenous hydration fluid.  The salinity and glucose levels are ideal, and the juice is sterile in its shell.   Check it on Wikipedia:   just don’t use the wrong coconut.  Coconut milk (the thick stuff you’re probably thinking of) might clog you up. . .

First day @ IDE

Monday was my first day on the project.  Was picked up at my hotel by Pisith (now the HR officer) and Savuen (the new Logistics officer) and taken to the IDE office just outside of what I glean to be the ring road of Phnom Penh.  These aren't great shots, but here's two pics of the office--it's more a big house behind a gate.  

Savath (the R&D tech assigned to this project) had collected a few samples of local latrines.  These were all pour-flush pans  and were sitting in a courtyard outside the IDE office:

ceramic pour-flush pan embedded in a tiled concrete slab--$17

side view of ceramic pour-flush pan embedded in plain concrete slab--$10

concrete pour-flush pan embedded in plain concrete slab--$6.50

Most of the day was spent talking with Mike Roberts (the Cambodia country director for IDE) and Dan Salter (a former regional director for IDE who’s now acting as the marketing consultant for this sanitation project).  In parallel with the product development portion which I’ll be spearheading, Dan’s working on the marketing and sales effort.    I’ll get more into that later on when I understand it better, but I did want to share some pics from a trip Savath and I took to a ring-producer.  These businesses are pretty common throughout the country (and take on a few variations), but they’re typically the ones that produce the concrete rings which are stacked upon each other to line the inside of a latrine pit.  It’s not a huge business, however, so these same guys also use similar technique to make concrete pipes of many different diameters to serve irrigation, drinking and waste water needs:

smaller diameter pipes (0.3m), some in molds

close-up of mold

1m dia x 0.5m tall rings--these are stacked to line a latrine pit and weight 80kg each!!

couldn't quite understand if they're reinforced with mesh or just vertical rebar

stacked rings mortared together--the sealing is not always done,

 especially when seepage is intended

This particular producer also manufactured concrete slabs with embedded pans (see above).  The porcelain pans all come from Thailand or China and are cast (upside down) into the slab.  When tiles are used, they’re also cast into the slab in the same step. 

  

mold for casting the pans into the concrete 

(not shown is the angle iron sides of the mold)

And lastly, IDE has had great success here in Cambodia with another product:  the Rabbit water purifier.  In Khmer culture, the rabbit is considered a clever animal, hence the branding. . .  It's a gravity-fed ceramic filter that sits in a bucket with a spout.  It's quite effective in filtering 'bugs' out of water, but because of the clays used, it adds arsenic to the water.  As I understand it, they have to flush 500 bucket-fulls of water through each product before selling in order to eliminate the arsenic.  Though I hope I'm wrong. . .

decal on IDE truck

testing of purifiers

the Bugs Bunny-ish rabbit

Latrine 101

The most basic of basics. . .  a latrine usually consists of a pit, a slab and a shelter. 

shelter

slab

pit

The pit holds the waste.   In its most basic of forms, it’s a hole dug in the ground.  Anywhere from the little cat hole you dig when you’re camping to a meter or greater hole dug for a more permanent latrine.  They can be dug by hand or by an auger.  They can be roughly cylindrical or rectilinear trenches.  They can be unlined dirt holes, they can be lined with precast concrete rings or walls, they can be lined with bricks faced with concrete or they can be plastic reservoirs (in the case of the highly advanced septic tank).  They can be located right below you or offset to the side.  They can be above the water table or below.  They can allow seepage or try to block it.  They can be used for one poop or twenty years of poops.  The best combination of all of these options depends on the money one has to spend, the geology and hydrology present, the number of users and their diet, government regulations, and the type of anal cleaning methods used (paper, leaves, corn cobs, etc.).

The slab is what you stand on.  In some cases, it doesn’t exist at all.  If it does exist, but simply, it’s a wood platform with a hole through which you poop.  More complex and robust ones are made of concrete.  If it’s simply concrete with a hole in it, there’s often a cover to close the hole when not in use to keep odor down and bugs out.  Nicer ones are concrete with a pan embedded.  In this part of the world, the pan is usually built for squatting.  The pan is typically made of porcelain, but a cheaper option is a concrete pan.  The pan is typically a pour-flush pan which has a U-shaped water trap below it (much like what you find in the West).  The trap acts as an odor and insect barrier.  When using the pour-flush, you poop into the pan then chase with a liter or two of water.  The poop gets pushed thru the trap due to the slug of water and spills out the bottom side into some sort of pit.  Some of the water is retained in the trap, maintaining the water seal.   For a bit more money and for a nicer, cleaner look, the slab surface can also be tiled.  The slab can either rest on soil or on the concrete lining of the pit.   Again all of these choices depend on many of the same elements as above, but also include issues of cleanability and status.

The shelter is what surrounds you when you’re pooping.  It can be made of pretty much anything, from bamboo and reeds, to metal poles and tarps, to bricks and mortar.  It provides privacy and helps keep debris out of the pit.  It darkens the environment to help reduce flies.  Some designs direct airflow down into the pit and then up thru a vent pipe, helping reduce odors, flies and mosquitoes.  Shelters vary dramatically in construction and dramatically in cost.  There can be a lot of materiality in them, and there can be a lot of status tied up in their appearance.

Khmer Rouge et al.

Sunday morning was a downer.  Was up early for a 30-minute moto ride out to Cheoung Ek, aka the ‘Killing Fields’.  I haven’t seen the movie, but I guess this was the inspiration for the 80s movie of the same name.  I can’t really give a full history lesson (mostly because I don’t know it that well, but also because it would take a long time), but in the mid- to late-seventies, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge (translated ‘Red Cambodians’) managed to kill somewhere between 700k and 2M Cambodian through a combination of exhaustion, starvation and execution.  In what amounted to an attempt at the most rapid back-to-the-land communist revolution in history, the Khmer Rouge forced the entire population of Phnom Penh and other urban centers back into the farms in the matter of days.  They forced people to resettle in a direction relative to where they were located in the city the day the Khmer Rouge moved in.  If you were in the northern part of the city, you had to go north.  If you were in the east, you were forced to go east.  Etc, etc., with no regard to keeping  families together or allowing people to return to the area of the countryside from where they may have originally come from.  

The population of Phnom Penh dropped from over two million to about 25,000 in three days. Nearly everyone was tasked to grow rice, and a lot of it.  But yields never matched the aggressive quotas, and the rice that was grown was often consumed by the military or exported to China or other military suppliers, so the classless peasantry starved.  All people with ties to the pre-Khmer Rouge government and anyone educated were executed. And any conspirators (whether justified or not) were also executed.  Cheoung Ek, the killing fields, was one of the hundreds of places throughout the country where people were executed and buried in mass graves.  Much of my visit to Cheoung Ek (and the S-21 prison which I’ll get to in a moment) was chillingly reminiscent of the concentration camps in Nazi Germany.  Much less efficient however. Each prisoner taken to the killing fields was forced to kneel down in front of a mass grave pit and then clubbed in the head or back of the neck.  One at a time they filled the graves.  Perhaps the most appalling thing about this relative to the gas chambers was that it happen 30 years ago, not 60.  No more holocausts?  They continue to this day. . .

victims

excavated mass graves

Anyhow, just to finish the depressing part, I went from Cheoung Ek directly to the Tuol Sleng museum which occupies the former site of the S-21 detention center.  This is where conspirators, educated elite and political prisoners were brought to be interrogated before being sent to die.  The instruments of torture were primal—drowning people, pulling out fingernails, burning, dismembering with pickaxes and shovels, blinding people—but the forced confessions poured out and satiated the government.  Regardless, the prisoners never survived.  If I remember correctly, only seven of tens of thousands of prisoners lived through the ordeal.  They were painters and sculptures who were enlisted to record either the prison events or celebrate the Khmer Rouge rulers.   I guess this turned the notion of a struggling artist on its head.

s-21 prison--a former school

wooden cells: about 2m x 0.8m

the rules

And to really finish the downer bit, perhaps all of the Khmer Rouge leaders that lasted to the end of the regime’s end in 1979/80 were allowed to continue living normal lives in spite of their crimes.  Pol Pot lived in relative comfort in Thailand until his death of natural causes in 1998.  Many of the other leaders went on to high-ranking government positions in subsequent administrations.  The UN continued to recognize the political faction of the Khmer Rouge as the administrative body of Cambodia until 1990.  As far as I can tell, it was just last week that the UN decided to proceed in trying some of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders!!  Getting toilets out there may be important, but this place has some bigger issues.

Waste

To the basics. . . the most fundamental reason for building a latrine is to separate humans from human waste.  Human waste has some nasty stuff in it.  If you want a lot of detail, read this.  Otherwise, here’s my summary. 

First off, to establish my lack of decorum, I’ll refer to solid waste as poop, shit or feces depending on my mood.  Liquid as pee or urine.  Together, I’ll call is waste.  Exposure to human waste exposes one to contact with myriad communicable diseases: intestinal infections, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, diarrhea, hookworm and shistosomiasis, to name a few.   These come in the form of Bacteria (E.coli, cholera, typhoid, leptospirosis), Viruses (poliovirus, rotavirus), Protozoa (giardia) and Parasites (hookworm, roundworm, tapeworm, schisto, liver fluke).  All of these are in feces.  Schisto, e.coli, typhoid and leptospirosis can come in the urine—it’s perhaps not as ‘sterile’ as people might have you think. 

Some of this will become more relevant later, but protozoa and parasites are big, bacteria are medium-sized and viruses are small.  Once all these bugs exit the human body, their life spans are limited.  As a rule of thumb, bacteria and protozoa are relatively fragile and can last from days to a few months.  Viruses and parasites are more robust and can last from months to years.  If they stay in the wastewater, their lives are longer than if they move into soil.  In soil, they lose their ideal conditions and die or are replaced by other, more mundane bugs.  Soil also physically inhibits the movement of the bugs.  When moving through soil, the big bugs are captured before the smaller bugs and thus less likely to contaminate ground water.  Dry conditions are typically more hostile to the bugs than wet conditions.  There are aerobic bacteria (meaning they need oxygen in addition to a food source to survive), anaerobic bacteria (thrive in no oxygen environments) and facultative bacteria (bacteria that can survive in both environments by switching their metabolic processes). 

None of these bugs matter, however, unless humans come into contact with them.  The vectors of transmission include fecal-oral, skin penetration and insect and rodent.  In essence, we get sick via drinking contaminated water, by touching food or our mouths with contaminated hands, by flies moving from feces to food, by mosquito bites from mosquitoes that have bred in waste, by swimming and bathing in contaminated water and by walking on contaminated soil.  

Nearly all of this can be prevented by incredibly simple latrines.

In country

After a 26-hour journey (22 on a plane), I finally arrived in Phnom Penh Friday night. Appropriately enough, the lavatories on the 14-hour leg from DC to Seoul had some issues, so the plane reeked of toilet from boarding on thru.  I eventually got immune to the smell, but I think it’s a mild case of things to come. 

Anyhow, although this blog will mostly be about all things toilet, I’ll include a bit here and there about my general living in Cambodia. . . today included.  The Phnom Penh airport was nicer than expected, and the hustlers outside not so aggressive.  The ATMs here dispense US Dollars, and it seems to be the preferred currency.  Most people (locals included) seem to be paying in dollars, and the Cambodian riel seems to be mostly used as replacement for US coins (which don’t seem to be used).  4000 riel to the dollar is the current exchange rate, and I’m not sure if it’s pegged or what, but restaurants have it printed on their menus and there doesn’t seem to be much expectation of it moving a lot. 

Pisith (the Logistics officer for IDE) met me at the airport and guided me to my temporary temporary home:  the Golden Gate Hotel.  I’m only here for two days then I walk across the street to my real temporary home: the Golden Comfort Apartment Hotel.  Also on the same street are the Goldiana Hotel, Golden Bridge Hotel, Goldie Hotel, Golden Star Guest House and Gold Star Service Apartment. . . .  If you name it, it will be. . .   Here’s a pic off the front balcony of the hotel of a tuk tuk driver waiting for a fare.   

Tuk tuks and moto-taxis (think scooter/moped with you sitting on the back behind the operator) are equally represented in the ‘taxi’ business.  No sign of the car option that most westerners would consider a taxi.  My first day took me to the Royal Palace, the National Museum and Wat Phnom (the founding temple of Phnom Penh).  Here are some pics from those and from just walking around:

throne room in palace

buddhas in Wat Phnom

incense in Wat Phnom

trash can made completely from recycled tires

caged birds at Wat Phnom--setting them free brings some sort of good luck,

 but they're trained to return to the cage:  a renewable resource.

 

The problem & the project

Only about 17% of Cambodian rural poor households have access to latrines which effectively separate human excreta from human contact.  The health, environmental and economic impacts of this are vast:  Cambodia has an under-five mortality rate of 83 per 1000 live births.  In the US, it’s about 7.  Cambodia has a Millenium Development goal of reaching 30% coverage by 2015.  Yet, at current rates of latrine construction and population growth, 30% coverage won’t be reached for more than 100 years. . .  clearly there’s a problem. 

IDE conducted studies around the supply and demand for latrines.  If you want a bigger summary of the work, click here.  Otherwise, here’s my summary:  Cambodians are relatively poor.  A five-person family at the national poverty level earns about 900USD per year, and rural Cambodians cite cost as the number one reason that they don’t invest in effective latrines.  A lot of NGOs are working in Cambodia trying to assist the poor, and a number of these NGOs have historically given away latrines.  They tend to build what is, in fact, quite a nice latrine (including an offset tank, pour-flush pan and solid walls and roof:  I’ll explain latrine options in a later posting. . .) that costs about 150USD to build.  This has caused two problems.  First, this latrine is now seen as the ‘ideal’, and people don’t want to build anything lesser.  Yet they can’t save up enough money to build it.  So, the second problem . . . they wait and see if an NGO will just build them a latrine.  Yet, the NGOs can only reach a very small segment of the population so very few get built (of the latrines existing in Cambodia, only 17% of them are provided by NGOS. . . the rest are purchased by the users).  As I understand it, other cheaper options exist, but they’re not ‘desirable’.  Cambodians are also prioritizing other investments—63% of households own a TV, 10% own a DVD player. . . Note that this is not because of ignorance of sanitation—IDE found a high level of awareness around hygiene issues even if good sanitation practices and investment prioritization do not necessarily follow.

IDE’s hypothesis is that if we can build a desireable, upgradeable latrine system that has an initial investment of 10-20USD (perhaps for the below-ground infrastructure) and that can be upgraded over the years in subsequent, similar-sized investments, a far greater percentage of the population can be reached.  It’s expected that a 20USD price point will be immediately accessible to 50% of the population.  Note that in keeping with IDE’s market-based philosophy, these latrines will not be give-aways.  The distribution, sale, construction, use and maintenance of the latrines must be a self-sustaining enterprise.  IDE will only contribute to the initial design, to training and awareness and to marketing. 

So that’s the design project as I understand it.  A low-cost, upgradeable, desirable latrine.  Purchased by the end-consumer.  Installed by the end-consumer, perhaps with help from a mason or other skilled tradesman.  Probably using locally-available materials, though if there’s huge benefit in getting parts made in high volume outside of Cambodia (plastics, metal, etc.) that’s a potential option. The project starts on January 26^th. . .

Sounds like a good design problem. . . 

IDEO and the Rockefeller Foundation

In collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, IDEO also developed a Design for Social Impact workbook and toolkit.  Also a great read and reference, the work aims to better connect design firms to the social sector.  It can be downloaded here:  https://client.ideo.com/socialimpact/

IDEO & IDE

Though I’m not sure of the full history of the relationship between IDEO (www.ideo.com) and IDE (www.ideorg.org), I do know that IDEO recently worked with IDE to develop a Human Centered Design (HCD) toolkit that focuses on applying HCD to the developing world context.  The work was funded by a grant from the Gates Foundation and was developed through closely working with IDE staff in Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Cambodia and Vietnam.  The toolkit looks quite awesome, and I plan to reference it in my work in Cambodia.  Luckily, the work is available for use by the public and can be downloaded here:  https://client.ideo.com/hcdtoolkit/ .

this blog explained. . .

Hello all.  Welcome to my blog, wanderingjefe.  Wandering because I’m headed on a bit of a walkabout.  Jefe (pronounced hef-fā) because that’s what a lot of my friends call me.  I earned the name on a trip to Baja about seven years ago.  Its means ‘boss’ in spanish in a somewhat disingenuous kind of way.

I’m headed to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on January 22^nd for a few months to work with the folks at IDE (www.ideorg.org) on developing a low-cost latrine for use in rural settings.  This blog will be about my travels and my work.  Why blog at all?  First, to keep my colleagues and friends at IDEO up-to-date on what I’ll be working on because I’m going to be involving them a bit in the process.  Second , to force myself to thoroughly record and document the project and my travels.  Third, to share my experiences with family and friends.  And fourth, because I’ve never blogged before, so what the hell. 

I’ll be posting a bunch of background info in the next two weeks and then will continue to post explanations and photos as the project progresses.  I’m guessing that there will be updates every two to three days, and if there’s not, please bug me. . .  Cheers, jrc.