In Search of Dignity

But now she has bigger concerns: "The lack of a toilet in our house is my biggest priority today. At stake is our dignity; every time my daughter had to go to the fields to defecate, I don’t rest till she’s back. During the monsoons, it is even more troublesome to go out of the house with so many mosquitoes and the danger of snakes biting us," says Kavita.

Initially, when Kavita’s husband was alive, her neighbours shared their toilet with the family, but soon after his passing, they grew reluctant. Kavita’s meagre earnings from selling beedi’s were too little to support even the family’s basic needs, let alone constructing a toilet.

One day, Kavita happened to attend a community meeting organized by PSI India’s Saadhan Sanitary Mart (SSM), where she was intrigued to learn how quality toilets could be built at affordable prices. With the help of a family friend, Kavita submitted an application for a loan; her application was forwarded to the SaadhanSuvidha microfinance agency and very soon, the loan was sanctioned.

To her surprise, SaadhanSuvidha also sent their technical expert to her house to supervise the construction of the toilet.

Kavita is delighted with her new toilet. "I am happy, but my daughter is the happiest," says a beaming Kavita

An almost identical situation exists in thousands of small communities
across rural India: a recent joint monitoring programme (JMP) on
water, sanitation and hygiene by the World Health Organization and
UNICEF released July 1, 2021 stated at least 15 per cent of the
population in India defecates in the open.