Let's clean up this mess
This is what the women at the East Devadhanam in Trichy decided. And they succeeded. Simple methods, collective awareness, commitment and action brought about good sanitation. The women’s self-help groups in this slum are operating the first ever community-based DEWATS system in Tamil Nadu. A “pay and use” toilet complex, the income is being used for maintenance and the treated water is being used for growing vegetables.
In Madhuranthaganalore village, Cuddalore, enthusiastic school children participate in a Sanitation Parliament. The young social reformers from the Panchayat Union Middle School (the first school to have an ECOSAN toilet in Tamil Nadu) have taken the onus of maintaining toilets and general hygiene in the school. They not only spread the message within the school, but also take it to their families, the community and to nearby villages.