Toolbox

Pit latrine death

Child’s parents call for flush toilets at all schools

Following last Monday’s tragic death of nine-year-old Tanesha De Souza after she fell into a pit latrine at the Santa Rosa Primary School, Moruca, many persons have been calling for flush toilets to be introduced at all schools throughout the country.

At the forefront of these calls are the child’s parents, Robin and Vanessa De Souza, who said they would never want any parent to experience what they did last Monday, when they were forced to look at their only daughter’s body covered in filth.

The father told Stabroek News that he could not understand “in this day and age with technology” that there are still pit latrines and he issued a strong call to the Ministry of Education to install flush toilets at schools. He pointed out that what was ironic was the fact that the school had flush toilets, which only teachers could use, and the nursery school located in the same compound also has flush toilets.

“They only have three toilets with two holes each for over 700 children,” the man said. His wife, who has been a teacher at the school for the past seven years, said that the school has two flush toilets, one for the male teachers and the other for the females, but only one is working so they all use the one toilet.

Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Raphael Trotman, also joined the call stating that it is hard to believe in this day and age, which the government has been touting that all Amerindian villages are taken care of properly, a nine-year-child could die after falling into a pit latrine on her first day to school.

However, while the calls are being made Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh when contacted said that the ministry had no intention of phasing out pit latrines since these are internationally accepted as proper means of sanitation disposal.

He noted that a number of international organisations, such as PAHO, recognise pit latrines as proper means of faeces disposal. He described the death of the child as an “unfortunate accident” and said the ministry was awaiting a full report on the incident. He said the police were conducting an investigation to ensure that there was nothing criminal about the incident.

He suggested that there might have been some negligence as the young girl should have been sent to the toilet with someone who could have assisted her since she was ill. He said his ministry would be working on phasing out pit latrines from schools eventually, but noted that it would be costly and would take some years to be achieved.

Further, the minister said, in many parts of Guyana, including along the coast, pit latrines were still being used especially in those areas where water was not readily available. He pointed out that entire housing schemes have been constructed with pit latrines.

But way back in July 2003 when he was the Minister of Housing and Water, Baksh was singing another tune. According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) feature the minister encouraged residents of new housing areas to dispose of garbage “in a proper manner and construct flush toilets instead of pit latrines.”

However, he is correct when he says that PAHO has recognised pit latrines as an accepted means of the disposal of human waste. In September 2007, that organisation in collaboration with the UK Department for International Development (DfID) had advertised for contractors to construct ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines and septic tanks in the Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) area. Stabroek News had contacted PAHO/WHO to ascertain why pit latrines were still being built. And according to Bissoon, the only name given, who had said he was in charge of the project, the initiative was based on information contained in a Bureau of Statistics census which stated that over 50% of the population in Region Three used pit latrines. He had said the agency was looking to build about 700 pit latrines between Cornelia Ida and Tuschen in Region Three. He had also pointed out that Region Three was the second most populated region in the country following Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica). Bissoon had said the initiative was an interim solution to the sanitation problem as most of the latrines were not hygienic and could contribute to disease in the area. He had said the new project would have ensured that latrines were built in the most hygienic way thereby containing the smell by keeping the pits covered, which would also keep away flies.

Propaganda
Trotman told Stabroek News that while government’s propaganda has been that it was properly taking care of all Amerindian communities, a child died after she fell into a pit latrine at a school. He pointed out that while millions are being spent “on pomp and ceremony such as Carifesta” the basic needs of people are not being met.
He said that whole idea of good governance was just a sham, adding that it was ironic that at the beginning of Amerindian Heritage Month hinterland communities were suffering such tragedies. In addition to De Souza’s death, three children also perished in a fire at a Waramadong dormitory, which had no electricity. Trotman said this was happening when millions of dollars were also being spent on vehicles, air trips and “mouthing off” by the government.

De Souza had suffered another accident at age one when she fell into pond, resulting in the lost of her speech. Trotman said that it was very sad that God gave her back to her parents eight years ago only to have her die in such a tragic manner. “It is really a shame and I am really hurting, that the child could have died in such a manner,” he said.

Negligence
While Baksh is saying that negligence was involved in the child’s death because she was not sent to the toilet with an older person, her father said it was negligence on the part of the ministry, because it was the ministry, which had pit latrines still at schools. The father said he was also hurting that up to Friday afternoon no one from the ministry contacted the family to sympathise. “If the media can get our phone number and call us why nobody couldn’t call us and just offer condolence?” the man asked. He said that only the Regional Education Officer (REO) visited them while the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) assisted in the offsetting of some funeral expenses. The father said that not even the Regional Chairman made contact with them.

Stabroek News attempted to make contact with the Regional Chairman by the number rang out. “They should done with pit latrines; other schools in the hinterland have flush toilets,” the man said while stating that it was hard to believe that the oldest school in the hinterlands still provides pit latrines for its student population.

‘She was everything’
Vanessa De Souza described her daughter as “everything” to the family as she was their only daughter and their eldest child. She said the entire family was taking the death very hard especially their youngest son who is four years old. She explained that Tenesha spent a lot of time with the child since she was not attending school and the little boy was asking many questions, which she found difficult to answer.

“I try to answer them but sometimes I have to hide in my bedroom to cry,” she told Stabroek News. She said prior to Monday the child never attended school because of the accident she had when she was one year old. The woman said her daughter had gone to spend the weekend with her grandparents when she fell into a pond. According to Vanessa, for months her child remained in an unconscious state and it was the prayers and support of relatives and members of the community that saw her returning to consciousness.

“We would talk to her we would read to her and the first thing she did when she regained consciousness was smile. She smiled to a song her grandfather had also sung to her,” the woman said. Vanessa said that while her child spoke and walked before the accident she stopped doing these things after the accident. Initially after she regained consciousness she would roll on the ground to move and eventually started to use her knees and later learnt to walk. But she still could not speak fluently, even though she would say a word or two at times. The woman said as a teacher she taught her child at home and even took a course in education for special needs children as an option while she was studying for her teacher’s certificate to better take care of her daughter.

The woman said she observed that her child responded better when she was among children and she always wanted to take her to school but her father would object because of her condition. He finally relented to send her to school for the new school year but had some reservations on the morning and asked his wife if she was sure she wanted to take the child to classes.

The mother said she assured her husband that all would have been well and pointed out how excited the child was when she saw her first school uniform. “She couldn’t stop looking at herself when she was dressed in her uniform,” the woman recalled.

Vanessa said she took her child to school and after leaving her with a friend first she placed her in the classroom she would have been in with two teachers. She said she went to assembly but her daughter did not attend because she was a new student. She saw the child again after assembly and remembered her showing her a “neat little circle she drew on her book. I told her to draw another one, and I told her ‘good girl’ and I left. Her eyes were following me all the time and she waved,” the mother said.

The woman said she was about to mark her register when she heard someone shouting that a child was in the toilet hole. She said she sprinted out of the classroom and “start moving more fast when I hear someone said it was ‘Teacher Vanessa’ daughter.” She said when she reached the toilet, persons were crowded around and although she could have looked into the hole she saw nothing as it was very dark. Many persons, including parents, were attempting to pull out the wood on the toilet seat to make the hole larger but to no avail. “It was a retired teacher who somehow found an axe and with that the hole was made larger,” the woman said. She said a family friend squeezed himself though the hole and did not wait for the ladder that was requested and he pulled the child out.

The mother said the child’s heart was not beating but they felt a pulse and while many persons did not want to touch her as she was covered with filth, she attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but that did not help. By this time her husband arrived on the scene and “he was very angry he ask me if this is what ah bring she to school for.”

Vehicles were called and one took the child to the hospital and was met by the nurse, doctor and medics who were also summoned. They started working on her before she reached the hospital but she was pronounced dead on arrival.

The woman said her daughter was accustomed to pit latrines as that was what she used at home but the hole was not that big. She said while they have had toilet issues before residents had just complained about the dilapidated condition of the former pit latrines and had lobbied for new ones to be built. The one that Tenesha met her death in was one of the new ones.

Since the tragedy, a Parents Teachers Association meeting was convened but the parents said they did not attend. She said the child’s grandfather attended the meeting and he said even though the issue was on the agenda he had to raise it before it was addressed. And he made the parents’ feelings known, which was that the pit latrine at the school should be gotten rid of.

Since the death of the child, the children have been afraid to use the toilets. Vanessa said she has since lobbied for the toilet her daughter died in to be dismantled. While there was some resistance to this, she said it has since been torn down and the hole filled.

“We just want this hurt we are going through that no other parent feels it,” the woman said.

Comments

About Comments

We thank all readers who have contributed to this site since its relaunch. This section of the website is intended to provide a forum for reasoned and reasonable debate on the newspaper's content and we hope that readers make full use of it as many have already done.

The comments section is an extension of the newspaper and what it has become well known for over its history: accuracy, balance and fairness.
In recent weeks a large proportion of the comments posted have contained attacks on other users, slander, coarse language and profanity. Comments of these types will be deleted.
Comments which contain gratuitous and incendiary references to race and ethnicity will be struck.
We reserve the right to edit/delete comments for length, any libel and taste. We moderate all comments so be patient while your message waits to be approved.
Curious about the little images next to each commenter's name ? Go here and sign up using the same email address you used to register for Stabroeknews.com then upload your image and confirm it.

21 Responses to “Pit latrine death”

malaika06
on September 7th, 2008 6:58 am

“…..Shaik Baksh when contacted said that the ministry had no intention of phasing out pit latrines since these are internationally accepted as proper means of sanitation disposal”,

Did the minister really SAY THAT???? Then there’s another part of the report where it is claimed that they (Government) WOULD phase out the pit latrines but in time because it would be too expensive?

If PAHO and other international NGOs are sanctioning this type of development for Third World countries, then they are getting their cues from these so-called leaders in Guyana and elsewhere.

These politicians/leaders have/are trying to convince the civilised world that sub-standard is okay when it comes to certain development issues.

The Ministers of Amerindian Affairs, Education and Health all need to bow their heads in shame.

It’s a pity that no one took photographs of the child when she was pulled out of the pit because that should be part of their punishment.

Plaster their walls with pictures of how the poor child met her death so as to be a constant reminder to the ministers of their uncaring ways, ineptitude and inefficiency.

[Reply to this]
drumup_change
In reply to the above comment on September 7th, 2008 12:55 pm:
………….. ……..do a study and you will see the pit latrin is one of the places most mosquito production takes place other than stagnant water……………the health department knows this………….the education department knows this…………………the ministry of agriculture knows this…………….guyanese should come out real strong on this…………………its unhealthy………………and we need more than this for the vat………..we pay…………..

[Reply to this]
Alanzo
on September 7th, 2008 8:49 am

Keep it up parents, don’t give up the fight against the government. Don’t be afraid! They will try to victimise you but use that as a stepping stone.

[Reply to this]
Arnold
on September 7th, 2008 11:09 am

Malaika gyal
Yu 3rd and 4th paragraph is exactly wah meh bin wan fu seh……….
Thanks!!

[Reply to this]
Kumar Persaud
on September 7th, 2008 11:17 am

The pit latrines built by the gouvernment cost as much as a flush toilets. That is a lame excuse that flush toilets cost more.

These people incompetence prevent them from seeing the picture in its totallity.

Gross imcompetence.

[Reply to this]
owenkhan
on September 7th, 2008 11:22 am

When you cant even build proper toilets for your children to use , to make them feel safe in the schools of Guyana, you are not doing a great job. You ought to bow your heads in shame. What a horrible death for an angel. So the teachers have a modern toilet , and these students has a pit latrine.You Ministers of the Government, and your leader are not doing the job.I hope your children are safe.
It is quite obvious that your intellect is 30 years backwards.You all are jumping around like peacocks, and dont know what priorities are. Some of you ought to retire and just find another job, because you dont know how to help your poorer citizens of this country.In which century are you building Guyana for. Not this century, half almost gone already, under two government , after independence . The big question is where are we going? Where is all the Money going; yes the MONEY. We needTOILETS in schools, We need Transportation, How about cleaning up squatters from around the airport? Or are you going to wait until a tragedy and people get killed? People has no right being able to get to these airplanes. Things happen, We have to build the toilet before we need to —-. How can someone steal lights off the runway. Dont you all Mr and Mrs Government see that something is really wrong.?All of you sit high and mighty in your homes, with your GUARDS, CHAUFFER, MAIDS,and do nothing or very little in the interest of uplifting the lives of poor guyanese people, both black, Indian, and other. There is a lot that has to be done to get this country in order. You all, both major parties build hate between blacks and indians, when guyana will always remain dominated by blacks and Indians.I grew up in the 40’s, 50,s & 60,s in Bagotstown
with 65% Blacks , 30 % Ind, & 5 % other. What a place to grow up in. Everyone was my aunt and uncle, every elder got their respect. We walked on the sea dam
late at nights. We baked our bread and share it. We picked our fruits and gave our neighbour some. OUR DOORS WERE ALWAYS WIDE OPEN. Locks only at night.Dont get me wrong you had the occasional fowl thief, or thief-man, or bike
thief, but life was wonderfull.You cant bring all of that back, but for god’s sake
wake up and do the things you’re supposed to do to help poor people.
If de int gat notin, or notin in he belly, he gun tief.We need industries for more jobs,We have too many people liming on the streets.I am saying its not hard to do this, but it is going to get worse, People want to come back and invest,; but its
hard when you’re 30 years backwards. Lets Build the necessary things
to make their lives comfortable, Like Flush Toilets. Children will be happy, and parents and grandparents also..Dont let 2011 catch us with pit latrines.

[Reply to this]
guy123
In reply to the above comment on September 7th, 2008 1:38 pm:
Well said.

[Reply to this]
drumup_change
on September 7th, 2008 12:49 pm

“Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh when contacted said that the ministry had no intention of phasing out pit latrines ”

……………this is one issue all guyanese should stand behind……………the lost a child………………what service this child would of given to guyana ……….nobody knows…………………the minister speaking from his high office……………making the above statement…………………..tell us about how guyanese who are poor are treated with all that vat they must pay…………..the poor have no voice……………….and can only continue to make demand for there rights to the basic needs of there community…………………where is the NGO………….where is church…………….remember the saying cleanliness is next to godliness………..and for one to change he/she must first change before change can come or make change…………………….. pit latrines in this time/day and age where the world is to be more than a little village…………..

[Reply to this]
cochore
on September 7th, 2008 1:44 pm

Just imagine folks, Guyana is sending students to study Engineering in Cuba, a country that hasn’t seen much modern technology since the 1950/60, due to the US embargo since the ’60s. No wonder all of a sudden, everybody is beginning to talk about modernization and new technology.

Cuba needs modernity like Guyana needs the 21st century and composting toilets instead of pit latrines, where no amount of slick engineering would suffice. Yuck!

[Reply to this]
Light
on September 8th, 2008 12:22 am

This the minister ’s statement is a reflection of callousness and arrogance which characterise this administration.

[Reply to this]
Guy Marco
on September 8th, 2008 1:47 am

We can only imagine what the parents of that poor girl and the parents of those three children in the Mazaruni area are going through - but we cannot know/feel the emotions for them - especially when the child was the only child.
Yet one Deon Johnson wrote in the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that Amerindians are well taken off - electricity, health,etc - by the government. If it did the four youngs children would have been alive today.
The schools are government runned institutions hence Ministry of Education/education department in the region is solely responsible - PERIOD!!!
The Village Council should stop the villagers from sending their children to school until workers from the ministry of Education arrive there with at least one toilet bowl and other materials to begin working on the flushable toilet. There is No excuse what so ever - Moruca is one of the locations that is with in reach easily.
If the government can spend so much millions of dollars to create an Amerindian Village for Carifesta; and since the President himself said that he would not hesitate if he had to do It AGAIN - then Mr. President we don’t want another village to be built but just buy us one toilet bowl, materials for build the spetic tank and pay the workers. We will be happy and we know you can afford that. Can you?
If PAHO say it ok for us to have the pit latrines - it because we are poor and they nor their children do use them.
In 1992 I was invited by a good freind of mine to a meeting called by the first former Amerindian Minister. He said “we Amerindians will be better…” But I got up and said that I was afraid that “we Ameindians might be made partician politic museum pieces.”
Two persons from Moruca were made Ministers of Amerindian Affairs since then. Why is it that they couldn’t negotiate with the government at least two more flushable toilet? I am sure they were aware that the Santa Rosa Primary school children were/are useing the pit latrines. I am sure also that MOAs or the official of the MOE never used the pit latrines during their visit to the school.
If the kindergarten school has a flushable toilet and the teachers - Why not make things ‘Even Steven’.

[Reply to this]
Guy Marco
In reply to the above comment on September 8th, 2008 1:58 am:
Correction - If PAHO………..it’s because …………nor their children do not use them.

[Reply to this]
darcman (IBGT4eva)
on September 8th, 2008 8:18 am

Two weeks. This is the time of which the parents should keep their children away from schools with these latrine toilets. Im so shame to learn that these toilets still exist in schools. Im ashamed!

[Reply to this]
Irreverend
on September 8th, 2008 10:58 am

My long dead nana had a short pithy and unprintable meaning for P.P.P. that is closely related to the latrine pit mentality.

[Reply to this]
evileyes
on September 8th, 2008 12:00 pm

how many people has pit ltrines throughout guyana?how many people have died so far from falling into pit latrines?if this poor child was ill then some one in authority should have accompanied her to the toilet.

[Reply to this]
bgsbny
on September 8th, 2008 2:27 pm

….. we have to ensure ,, — with the proper management — that the toilets r ,, kept in place by the security guard at ever school,, an we also have to have a guard to “watch de guard” b4 he/she invite her friends and relations to come and get tiolet bowls and tanks !…..

ah guess is one of the reasons why they still have pit latrines !……

[Reply to this]
8R-DAW
on September 8th, 2008 4:00 pm

Guyana needs to be treated with respect by the people who govern it. The Guyanese people are to be blamed too. I am quite certain that many homes and all the schools in both rural and urban areas can build outhouses(latrines), but instead of digging a pit to sit over, dig one for a cesspit and put a toilet bowl in the outhouse and connect it to the cesspit(septic tank). No more falling into pits. It is the government’s job to lead the people to a more healthier life, providing means for Guyana to move from the past to an acceptable present. Not all foreigners find it an adventure to visit the latrine at the friend’s house he’s visiting. Many people accept latrines as normal, it is not normal! It is disgusting! Wake up, Guyana! Water to flush the toilets? We’re talking of the land of many waters! A terrible way for someone to go. Don’t forget, a stitch in time …

[Reply to this]
Joe Coxall
on September 8th, 2008 6:04 pm

The pit laterines need to be redesigned that all. It does not have to be that deep smelly pit that we are accustomed to seeing in the country side. The internet and utube are filled with many neat and functional designs where the waste is easily recycled as manure for your flower garden beds.

[Reply to this]
ALLAN GONSALVES
on September 8th, 2008 8:07 pm

THE ONLY LANGUAGE THE MINISTERY OF EDUCATION SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND IS TO BE SUED INTHE COURTS FOR THE GREVIOUS DAMMAGE DONE TO THIS CHILDS PARENTS.HE SHOULD ALSO BE CHARGED WITH NEGLIANCE,HE SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY RELEASED FROM HIS JOB.THE GOVERMEHT OF GUYANA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CLOSE ANY SCHOOLS THAT HAVE THESE DEATH TRAPS ,

[Reply to this]
Charriot
on September 9th, 2008 1:30 am

Let’s all VOTE a different party into power next elections. We need people who care about the nation and not their party. NO MORE PPP AND PNC.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of them!!!!!!!

[Reply to this]
Bahramand Khan
on September 17th, 2008 4:43 am

I think pit latrine is not healthy and safe place to defecate. This is more dangerouos and hazardous than open defecation. The governments and International organizations shoud either provide or promote flush latrines or should explore other options instead of risking life of innocent children. In areas where water is short, another safer and appropriet option is bore latrines. It is a small bore hole where children can not fill into.

[Reply to this]