into the proposed latrine site. It would behoove future teams to walk through a
master planning exercise before locating sites for their project.
5.5 Case Study Conclusions
The future generation of the Kikoo community will likely embrace the VIP technology. Primary school pupils acknowledge that their school toilets do not smell,
and they have a greater sense of pride and privacy each time they attain nature’s call
and look forward to building similar toilets in their own homes.
In spite of the VIP difficulties encountered in the project, they are much better
than the traditional toilets. The lessons were taken forward to build latrines with
concrete slabs and ventilation, but ensuring ongoing maintenance and forward
thinking will help sanitation in the community of Kikoo going forward.
6 Conclusions and Next Steps
As seen in the lessons learned figures in Section 4, as well as the case study in
Section 5, there continues to be room for improvement on the delivery of projects
with our partners. The overall latrine project data shows that approximately 21 percent of implemented projects are not functioning as designed. While it is not
unexpected with development work to have some setbacks, EWB-USA believes
that we have a responsibility to improve upon this indicator. The data also report that
nearly 10 percent of sanitation projects are not being maintained. The latrine lessons
learned from general EWB-USA projects and the case study show the need for
engaging the community early on in the project cycle, ensuring they are fully
invested through early planning, design, implementation, and maintenance and
ensuring that all customs and future plans are incorporated. Also, extensive technical
investigations of the water, soil, and current sanitation practices in the community
are necessary for long-term project success. Long-term operation and maintenance is
a key indicator that is used to monitor the success of a project. With the new
EWB-USA country office model, there is greater opportunity to improve upon the
metrics that are used to evaluate the success of a project with EWB-USA staff on the
ground to provide comprehensive and long-term monitoring of the success of our
work. Also, if there is an observed lack of maintenance, the country offices can
engage with the community and/or NGO partner to reeducate or repair as necessary.
As a learning organization, EWB-USA embraces continuous improvement and has
established a robust system to enable the organization to identify lessons learned that
will inform organizational learning and continuous improvement to better assist the
rural villages and communities we serve.
2 Village-Driven Latrines with “Engineers Without Borders USA”
59
master planning exercise before locating sites for their project.
5.5 Case Study Conclusions
The future generation of the Kikoo community will likely embrace the VIP technology. Primary school pupils acknowledge that their school toilets do not smell,
and they have a greater sense of pride and privacy each time they attain nature’s call
and look forward to building similar toilets in their own homes.
In spite of the VIP difficulties encountered in the project, they are much better
than the traditional toilets. The lessons were taken forward to build latrines with
concrete slabs and ventilation, but ensuring ongoing maintenance and forward
thinking will help sanitation in the community of Kikoo going forward.
6 Conclusions and Next Steps
As seen in the lessons learned figures in Section 4, as well as the case study in
Section 5, there continues to be room for improvement on the delivery of projects
with our partners. The overall latrine project data shows that approximately 21 percent of implemented projects are not functioning as designed. While it is not
unexpected with development work to have some setbacks, EWB-USA believes
that we have a responsibility to improve upon this indicator. The data also report that
nearly 10 percent of sanitation projects are not being maintained. The latrine lessons
learned from general EWB-USA projects and the case study show the need for
engaging the community early on in the project cycle, ensuring they are fully
invested through early planning, design, implementation, and maintenance and
ensuring that all customs and future plans are incorporated. Also, extensive technical
investigations of the water, soil, and current sanitation practices in the community
are necessary for long-term project success. Long-term operation and maintenance is
a key indicator that is used to monitor the success of a project. With the new
EWB-USA country office model, there is greater opportunity to improve upon the
metrics that are used to evaluate the success of a project with EWB-USA staff on the
ground to provide comprehensive and long-term monitoring of the success of our
work. Also, if there is an observed lack of maintenance, the country offices can
engage with the community and/or NGO partner to reeducate or repair as necessary.
As a learning organization, EWB-USA embraces continuous improvement and has
established a robust system to enable the organization to identify lessons learned that
will inform organizational learning and continuous improvement to better assist the
rural villages and communities we serve.
2 Village-Driven Latrines with “Engineers Without Borders USA”
59