The women in this family ensured the construction of a toilet

Travelling through the village of T.Puthupatty we made a stop at the home of Anitha, one of many people in her village who had borrowed a loan for the purpose of constructing a toilet. Anitha is a member of a joint liability group that is headed by Rajalakshmi. Though we were unable to meet Rajalakshmi, who had left for work before our arrival, meeting Anitha gave us a glimpse into the group’s utilization of their loans. It has now been over a year since she availed of this loan. On obtaining the loan she wasted no time in constructing a functional toilet in her home. “We have two young girls in our home and it was increasingly dangerous to have them go to the fields every day to relieve themselves. The darkness at night made it riskier for us and this forced us to seek a loan to build a toilet,” she said of her urgency to build a toilet. Anitha got all the women in her family to press for the construction of a toilet. Soon her husband also supported her resolve.

The toilet was constructed at the rear end of her home; it had an attached bathing space and used the septic tank model instead of a leach pit. The cost of the construction overshot the loan amount but her family was determined to build a toilet and they dipped into their savings to build what they have wanted for years. “Today everyone uses the toilet, my daughter, my aged in-laws who live with us, and me,” she added. Anitha’s mother-in-law, who had joined us during the course of our conversation supported Anitha’s observations. With an eagerness to help me understand their situation she said, “The toilet is most useful to the women in this family. It’s the water problem that makes it difficult sometimes; all of Puthupatty suffers from a water shortage.” Anitha’s family makes judicious use of the little water that they receive from the local body.

Anitha had learnt that she could avail a loan to construct a toilet after an awareness drive on the benefits of sanitation. With her husband working as a driver, she faces no problems in repaying her loan. Anitha’s household that includes her parents-in-law and her two daughters no longer defecate in the open and lead healthier and more dignified lives today; and they have you, their lender, to thank for this change.

Correction: Due to a data entry error by our field partner, the wrong photo of the group borrowers was uploaded at the time of funding the loan on our website. We are working closely with our field partner to eliminate such errors in the future.