Hi everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Eusebio Hernandez. Eusebio is the first of several people from Candelaria Arriba, Colombia that I’ll be introducing over the coming weeks. Eusebio was born in Candelaria Arriba, close to where this picture was taken, and has lived there his entire life. While I was in Colombia I had a chance to sit down and talk with him at his home, where he lives with his wife and two children. Eusebio toldcontinue reading
As we all know, washing our hands is very important. This is especially true when you’re working with food, have just used the toilet, or are caring for children. Washing our hands removes bacteria and pathogens and is a key part of keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy, especially our children. People all over the world wash their hands, but depending on where you are in the world the experience may be very different. I’m fortunate to live somewherecontinue reading
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Colombia, and the issues the country faces with water coverage. If you missed the post you can read it here. This week I’ll shift from water, and instead take a look at the state of sanitation in Colombia. First, let me talk about what I saw on a recent trip to the country. Like I said in my post about water in Colombia, as a tourist not there to specifically look intocontinue reading
Happy Menstrual Hygiene Day! Today is a very important day for women and girls all over the world, and a day to break the silence surrounding menstrual hygiene. Menstrual hygiene is an important topic because without it girls cannot go to school during their period, women cannot go to work during their period, and neither girls nor women can be themselves when they have to hide their period every month. When girls can’t go to school, and women can notcontinue reading
Waterborne diseases affect millions of people around the world every year. However, it doesn’t need to be this way. Clean water, proper sanitation facilities and good hygiene can eliminate the risk of these diseases. Below you’ll find several brief overviews of the most common diseases, how they are treated, and how they can be prevented. The links at the bottom of the article can be used to help your community stay safe and healthy. Let’s start with what is maybecontinue reading
Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope it’s been a good one so far! I’m going to start out this year by talking about sanitation and a type of business that is helping people to gain access to improved sanitation and hygiene, the Rural Sanitation Mart (RSM). But first, let’s talk about why RSMs are even needed. Maybe some of you are sitting on your porcelain throne right now as you’re reading this, but unfortunately 2.5 billion people worldwidecontinue reading
About the author: Stephanie Tam specializes in behavioral approaches to sanitation and hygiene in international development, with a focus on how cultural practices mediate the impact of technology in operations and maintenance. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, she has been working on human behavior through the lenses of performance studies and behavioral economics, and thanks Dilip Soman at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto for support on this current project. She is deeplycontinue reading
About the author: Stephanie Tam specializes in behavioral approaches to sanitation and hygiene in international development, with a focus on how cultural practices mediate the impact of technology in operations and maintenance. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, she has been working on human behavior through the lenses of performance studies and behavioral economics, and thanks Dilip Soman at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto for support on this current project. She is deeplycontinue reading
In part 1 I gave a brief introduction into what SLTS is and its objectives as well as talking about the different components of SLTS. If you missed part 1 you can read it here. Today I’m going to write about the strategy used for SLTS. One thing that I wanted to say, and that I may have mentioned last time, is that I’m not entirely in agreement about some of the strategy used with SLTS. Basically, the SLTS strategycontinue reading
Is there a monster under my bed? Or maybe something lurking in my closet? Probably not, but for a child growing up in a developed country these are the kinds of fears that can rule their bedtime. Silly? Yes, and as a child grows up they will realize that it was all in their mind. Anjali Sarker had a different fear growing up, and one that was actually based in reality. While growing up in a rural Bangladeshi village Anjali’scontinue reading