Stories from Ethiopia: Meet Abez

“We can use the toilet whenever we want and have to go, during the day and even at night. After having our toilets, we have now started living a healthy life. We breath clean and fresh air.”

Abez has lived in Woynima Kebele, Amhara Regional State in Jabi Tehnan, for almost 28 years. She has six children, three of which live with and are dependent on her. Like most people in the area, she supports herself and her family through farming. Despite farming being primarily a man’s role in Ethiopia, Abez continued growing mango, corn and sugarcane herself, after her and her husband divorced. This left her with the responsibility of collecting water and providing an income for her family.

She told us about what it was like before clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities were built in her community:

“My name is Abez. I am 57 years old. I have six children but only the three of them live with me as the rest started their own lives. I am a farmer. I grow corn, sugarcane, and mango. I used to plant teff and other grains, but since I can’t do the laborious work, I stopped that this year. I am divorced from my husband as there was a disagreement between us. I have lived here for a long period of time; it’s almost 28 years now. I used to live in another village but in the same region.

Before we constructed this one, we used to have another toilet, but it was not well constructed like this one. It lacked many things, like a door and unpolished ground. So many people in our village used to open defecate.

Previously it was very difficult for the women to go as we wanted to; but the men used to open defecate whenever they liked. We lived a very stressful life. We needed to look for a quiet place where there was no body around. Otherwise, we needed to spend the entire day without even peeing. It was even difficult when we felt sick.”

Our project in Jabi Tehnan means Abez now has access to clean and safe water. As well as water points being constructed close to her home, she also received training by health professionals on how to build a toilet. Here’s how she did it:

“I was told to build a toilet by health professionals. As per their guidance, we constructed two toilets: one of us, the women and the other for the guys. Four households use the toilets. I think we spent around 6,000 ETB (£89.44) for the construction, excluding the labour cost. My son also supported the construction. It’s been a year since we have constructed these toilets.”

Her and her family now have access to a proper toilet, meaning they are less likely to get sick: they are living a healthy, dignified and happy life. Abez now attends more community meetings so she can share her knowledge about practicing proper hygiene, helping give local women a voice:

“We have benefited a lot because of the toilets. Previously, the place was so dirty. It was difficult for us to go to the farm and even work there; it was very smelly and because of that we used to suffer with different diseases like asthma. But now, we can do our farm work happily because the place is clean. We also live a proud life. We can use the toilet whenever we want and have to go, during the day and even at night. After having our toilets, we have now started living a healthy life. We breath clean and fresh air.

Even if we don’t go to every community meeting like the men, because it’s not common to do that in our area, we sometimes go when we are called. Still people call you names and it’s a taboo to attend every meeting with the men. Whenever we get a chance, we still speak about the things that we want to happen in our community. For example, I decided when constructing this toilet and they constructed it the way I wanted it. I am also planning to reconstruct the toilets with concrete in the coming year and I am sure nobody would oppose me. I now know the use of having toilets so I will give due attention to it.”