Real heroes don't wear capes, they empty pit latrines

 

Figure 1: Sanitation worker

Africa is to be pitied, worshipped and dominated. Without any form of intervention, from me, a white British university student, and perhaps you reading this too, Africa is and will continue to be doomed. The whole entire continent...

I feel it is important as I begin my blog to break down the colonial legacies that exists when writing about Africa and dispel the idea that by writing this blog I am striving for commendation and respect for being yet another white "hero" of Africa. The white saviour complex is deeply intertwined within the history of slavery and colonisation in Africa, echoing the attempt made by Westerners to help the poor and civilise the continent.

A series of tweets by Nigerian writer Teju Cole effectively summarises this concept:

"The white saviour industrial complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege." 

Throughout Africa, "white saviourism" has become ingrained into mission, aid and development work, where these alleged saviours come into the communities with their expertise but fail to listen to the voices of community members and local leaders. Acts are completed for rather than with the local community. This tokenisitic or performative aid erases the opportunity for transformative and community-led planning to effectively create sustainable solutions. 

So, who are the real heroes?

It is important to value the "invisible" heroes behind everyday sanitation practices, and not the ones plastered all over your instagram feed. Sanitation workers: pit emptiers and sludge operators form the backbone of sanitation systems, managing this essential infrastructure that serves the majority of the population. 

Self-operated, onsite facilities are difficult to maintain, as they not only serve a high proportion of the population, but they are also constantly exposed to faecal microorganisms, hazardous waste and harsh chemicals, where these sanitation workers are quite clearly risking their lives for their service to the community. 

In order to complete Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, we need to acknowledge the importance of these sanitation workers, recognise their skills and render them as "visible". 

Figure 2: SDG 6

A Case Study: Pit emptying in Chazanga Settlement

The Chazanga settlement, an informal settlement located in Lukasa, the capital of Zambia, is served by the Chanzanga Water Trust, who provide manual emptying of the pit latrines as shown below in Figure 3. The families register with the trust when their pits are full and an emptier comes and collects the waste using barrels and transports them back to a treatment facility.

Figure 3: A pit emptier in the Chanzanga Settlement

Pit latrines are widely used across Africa and are the most common basic form of improved sanitation. When properly used and maintained, they are effective in decreasing the spread of disease. As a more affordable and basic form of toilet they help to reduce the amount of human faeces in the environment, preventing the transfer of disease, and thus the upkeep and maintenance of these facilities is vital. 

The lives of these sanitation workers however are gruelling and dangerous. Every day when they go to work they not only carry the weight of literal "shit", but also the weight and responsibility of keeping their communities alive.

In the upcoming weeks, I believe it will be important to frame the discussion of water and sanitation in Africa by using water as a critical lens in which to understand and unpack the intricacies and dynamics of the colonial and postcolonial eras. I aim to recognise my positionally and strive to engage meaningfully with concepts and schemes related to water and sanitation, rather than being a so called "saviour"...