OUR MISSION
Change Minds. Change Toilets. Change Lives.
HELP FAMILIES TO CHANGE THEIR TOILETS
Most Mongolian families have pit latrines. The pits are dangerously deep. Children fall, die, and get injured. Also pit toilets are never cleaned. It is the major source of infectious diseases for children. To stop the dangers, I initiated a project, “Let’s change our toilets” in 2017 which is carried out by Local Solutions, an NGO and Mini Solutions Cooperative jointly.
Changing toilets takes time. One has to believe in new toilets before she/he makes a decision to buy them and dismantle the old pit latrines. Moreover, there is a taboo to even speak about toilets and feces. And most families in off-grid Ger Area are low-income families. The team “Let’s change our toilets” has to be available at all times to help families change their minds, and then toilets. All our solutions are affordable, and well-tested in the harsh Mongolian climate. Helping Local Solutions will help families get safe toilets.
More on our project can be found here.
With gratitude,
Oyungerel Tsdevdamba
Founder, Local Solutions.
DONATE NOW
VIA OUR FISCAL SPONSOR, HESPERIAN HEALTH GUIDES, A 501(c)3 CHARITY.
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To donate by card online, follow the instruction on the link: https://tinyurl.com/2mzzeap8
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Please make checks payable to Hesperian Health Guides and note "Local Solutions" and mail to:
Hesperian Health Guides 2860 Telegraph Ave Oakland, CA 94609
3. Would you like to donate by bank transfer instead?
WHY CHANGE TOILETS?
Issues
Toilet-borne diseases like diarrhea and hepatitis occur 900 to 6600 a year.
5-8 children die from falling into the pits every year.
Empowering citizens:
Change Minds
As a largely volunteer-run organization, your donations go a long way. With as little as $20 a month, you can sponsor printing our educational leaflets for 300 toilet buyers a year.
People need to be trained on how to install, use, clean and manage indoor dry toilets. Although it is a safe, warm, environmentally friendly option, it is a culturally difficult option to promptly comprehend and adapt. Therefore, your annual donation will help continue our educational marketing activities for introducing safe toilets.
Our target is to raise $40,000 annually.
9 months of winter causes pit toilet feces to pile. Due to this, toilets are built with deep pits and degrades soil.
Due to the degraded soil, lands are devalued by 2x (at the least).
Providing a safe choice:
Change Toilets
Help us fund to establish a training center that will facilitate future workshops, training, and other educational programs – while housing several dry toilets that can be distributed more effectively to people around Mongolia.
A toilet show-room in the middle of Ger Area will help facilitate the change where it is most needed.
We envision to build an energy-efficient multi-purpose facility of 12 x 8 meters size which can serve as a model for local businesses. Our target is to raise $55,000.
The result:
Changed Lives
Ms. Oyun is 72 years old. She lives in Ger, a traditional Mongolian dwelling. She had a knee operation a couple of years ago and she can’t squat anymore. As the traditional pit toilet requires squatting, going to toilet became an unbearable affair for Ms. Oyun. Her children approached our project and with our help Ms. Oyun installed a dry toilet in the entrance cabin of her ger. She is happy with the new toilet and she likes to share her story to her neighbors. “Before this new toilet was installed, I restricted my meals in order to go to the toilet less. Now I don’t need to starve myself. I can eat better, and I am no longer afraid of coldness and squatting” she said to Local Solutions.
The toilet and the cabin cost her $680 which was 200 dollars cheaper than that of a new pit latrine. She was offered to pay it in 6 parts throughout 6 months. With the help of her children, she managed to pay for the toilet and the cabin on time. However, she pays for the toilet’s monthly maintenance: sawdust and biodegradable bags. Annually, the maintenance cost for her toilet is $22.00 and she affords it from her pension. She has land to improve. Burying organic waste of her toilet and her food waste provides much needed nutrition to the eroded soil of her yard. She has a handbook issued by Local Solutions, and she follows the instructions on handling toilet waste.
Changing Toilets Changes Land: Local Solutions also offers soil improvement training to families and communities as Mongolians don’t possess popular knowledge on soil, agronomy and organic waste management owing to our nomadic herder heritage. Toilets and the toilet waste stop being a taboo only after the entire circle is understood. So, in the course of changing toilets, we constantly educate people in agronomy, life-circles of vegetation and the know-hows of adapting green practices to the climate conditions of Mongolia.
Our fundraising history
