On World Health Day, which was celebrated November 19, the United Nations reminded us that today in the world there are 2,400 million people without access to sanitation, and almost a billion people who take care of their physiological needs in the outdoors.
Since the beginning of the presence of the Community of St. Paul in the Dominican Republic, 14 years ago, we have been involved, from La Sagrada Familia parish, in building latrines for the most disadvantaged families of the region. In spite of the remarkable progress that has taken place, today almost 1,000 families in the parish territory that we serve still have no toilets.
La Sagrada Familia parish and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee have had a partnership for the past 35 years. Last January, we celebrated this 35th anniversary with a visit from the Archbishop of Milwaukee and a group of catholic faithful, who made a pilgrimage to the Dominican Republic. Upon seeing the need for dignified toilets for families, the Archbishop dedicated his Lenten campaign to this cause. Friends and acquaintances generously responded to his call, raising enough money to build 200 latrines.
We are very grateful for this collaboration, and would like to take this opportunity to share a short video, in which the priests currently in charge of La Sagrada Familia explain the process of building one such latrine.
The Community of St. Paul continues to develop an environmental health program in the Dominican Republic
“They used to say that the witches ate up the children, but what killed them was in fact diarrhea”. The Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana has built more than 18,000 toilets in 25 years. As part of this same effort, the Community of St. Paul, from La Sagrada Familia parish in Sabana Yegua, has built more than 2,000 toilets in the last 14 years.
A few days ago, the executive director of FUNDASEP (the foundation of the Diocese of San Juan for human development) told us, with great enthusiasm, of the great impact over the years of the uninterrupted construction of sanitary outhouses with dry wells and toilets. Msgr. José Grullón, Bishop of San Juan, insists that they no longer be called latrines, but rather “lavatories”, because with the toilets placed in them now, they gain more dignity. Also, he insists —despite people asking once in a while why the Church concerns itself with such material matters— that the work of the Church and of all Christians it is to be concerned with the whole person.
Indeed, what is more important than the life of a child? And so many children were dying from diarrhea as a result of gastrointestinal illnesses caused by parasites, bacteria and bad drainage. It is no secret that when people take care of their needs in open fields, diseases spread easily. No, it was not the witches or a bad spirit or a curse that ate the children. What “ate them up” and literally killed them were the recurring gastrointestinal infections.
In the last decades, the situation has drastically changed. We could say that our environmental health program has indeed “killed the witches”. We thank many people and institutions for the support we have received for the construction of toilets and promotion of hand washing. Although a great number of families already have their bathroom inside and thousands have toilets or improved outhouses, still 15% of the homes in the region where we work have no bathroom. We are decided to continue with this program until there remains no family without a toilet.
