Clean Up Your Act, Create Your Future
Photo Journal: Changing habits through informed choice - Kg Speu, Cambodia
Improving access to clean water and affordable sanitation is one of the most pressing issues facing people in rural Cambodia. Although little victories against open defecation might have been achieved in some areas where villagers have built and now use their own latrines, the long battle against such habits is far from over.
To stimulate demand for proper sanitation for example, it is not simply about delivering health messages to communities. We need to understand existing habits and tap into the locals' motivations, focusing on benefits that they may value more, such as convenience, privacy and safety. Although poor, people should have choice in sustainable solutions that are within their reach: this is about respecting each one in the community as customers and giving them real choices. Finally, with new demand being generated, local industries may evolve, creating employment opportunities and wealth for the communities. Adopting a market approach to addressing developmental needs creates local capacity to consume and to produce, a far more sustainable solution than giving hand-outs and subsidies.
WASH Marketing. Photos by Jean Qingwen Loo.
The WASH Marketing initiative aims to improve the local communities’ quality of life through the promotion of affordable water and sanitation product incorporating sustainable business models. This project has been designed as a long-term strategy to encourage more people in low-income communities to drink treated water and take up proper latrines. By doing so, we hope to create a demand these entities and keep it strong with focused training and social marketing techniques.
