“Once, my child was hospitalized for vomiting and diarrhea. At that time, I was disappointed in myself. I felt that I couldn’t take care of my only child,” Karina Fitriani, a resident of Kedungsari village in Magelang city, recalled her feelings when her two-year-old child was sick.
“This happened because we did not have a toilet at home,” Karina Fitriani—who often goes by Karina—shares the reason why her child was sick. This situation forced Karina to dispose of her baby’s dirty diapers in a river surrounding her house, inviting flies to swarm around. With the absence of a toilet at home, Karina and her husband had to use Karina’s mother’s toilet. However, Karina is afraid that always sharing the facility could bring conflicts as her mother also still shared a septic tank with her relatives.
Karina’s family had long wanted to build a toilet at home. Yet, constructing the facility on their own is beyond Karina’s family’s financial capacity as her family only earns IDR 30,000–50,000 per day from selling ayam geprek (Indonesian fried chicken). With this small amount of earnings, it is challenging for Karina’s family to build a toilet from a septic tank on their own as constructing this facility in Magelang city will cost around IDR4,000,000.
Karina’s family saw hope to have better sanitation facilities when Forum Tembang Tidar/FTT (a community-based organization in Magelang city) with support from USAID IUWASH Tangguh implemented Yayasan Dana Kemanusiaan Kompas (YDKK)’s program to build safely managed sanitation facilities in Kedungsari village.
“[In late 2022], Pak Untung from FTT informed us about the program. At that time, my mother requested two sanitation facilities, one for her and one for me,” told Karina. “But the process was quite long as we were assessed if we were eligible to receive the support. Thank God, our request was finally granted,” she added.
In April 2023, the FTT Secretary, Ms. Bodro Wardhani, on behalf of YDKK handed over construction materials to 18 households in Kedungsari village, including Karina and her mother. Wardhani Subodro highlighted that sanitation access is the basic right of every citizen, and people cannot turn away when some other people could not afford it. “These people are powerless, and we have to empower them. They live in extreme poverty, and we must help them, such as building them safely managed sanitation facilities,” she said.
Not long afterward, Karina and her family built the toilet with a septic tank through supervision from FTT and USAID IUWASH Tangguh. Now, Karina feels relieved as she does not worry about sharing sanitation facilities with others.
“Thank God, I now have my toilet. It is extremely helpful for us. After having this facility, our environment is cleaner and healthier. My child is not sick anymore,” said Karina. “I hope that other families who do not have and cannot afford to build sanitation facilities will also receive assistance from other stakeholders,” she shares her hopes.
Aside from Kedungsari village, YDKK and FTT also built safely managed sanitation facilities in nine other villages benefiting 47 families from February to July 2023. USAID IUWASH Tangguh supports education to bring collective behavior changes in water, sanitation, and hygiene practices.
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