SINGING SONGS OF SANITATION

Posted by Michael Duffield on March 19th 2009 in Organizations, Volunteers Edit



Jeff Conant went to northern Mozambique on the unusual mission of looking for the world’s simplest effective latrine. He found what might be it, and more surprisingly, he found a truly remarkable musical group, Massukos. Mozambique’s most popular musical group, Massukos sing about sanitation and hygiene, about washing your hands and drinking clean water. Not your typical pop fare, but band leader Feliciano dos Santos is not your typical musician. He is the founder of Estamos, an NGO dedicated to improving sanitation and preventing AIDS in Niassa, the large rural area of northern Mozambique that is his home.

Conant was co-writing the book “A Community Guide to Environmental Health” for the Hesperian Foundation when he went to Niassa. His trip was one of a number of field visits he made as part of his research, seeking examples of successfully functioning sanitation projects. He had come to Niassa to see a dry latrine system in use locally. Santos was one of Conant’s guides who showed him the simple but very effective toilets which Estamos was promoting and installing.