PHAST Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation Rotary International Conference, Lisbon, 2013 Mayling Simpson, Consultant Colorado, USA This presentation is about the methodology called PHAST and what is behind it.

Community planning meetings often start out like this.

With PHAST, they end up like this……..

And like this – led by the community

What is PHAST? A participatory approach to working with communities on sanitation, hygiene and water. A methodology based on SARAR Developed from field-testing 1994-96 Africa, Asia, Latin America, USA Just read the slide

Associative strengths Resourcefulness Action-planning Responsibility SARAR nurtures: Self-esteem Associative strengths Resourcefulness Action-planning Responsibility SARAR stands for …. These are the qualities and conditions that people need to make changes in their lives and communities. SARAR aims at building these qualities.

Underlying principles of SARAR People will solve their own problems best in a participatory group process. A group collectively will have enough information and experience to begin to address its own problems. Just read the slide

The aim of PHAST To empower communities to manage their water and to control sanitation-related diseases. By promoting health awareness and understanding which leads to environmental and behavioral improvements. PHAST is a variation on SARAR that is directed toward improved water supply, sanitation and hygiene behaviors. Read the slide.

How PHAST works PHAST uses methods and materials that stimulate the participation of women, men and children in the development process. It uses trained extension workers and graphic materials that reflect the culture and characteristics of communities. Read the slide.

Underlying Principles of PHAST Lasting change in people’s behavior requires health awareness and understanding. To change their behaviors, people must believe that better hygiene and sanitation will lead to better health and better living. Read the slide

Concept-based learning Concept-based learning is more effective in bringing about sustainable change than message-based teaching. PHAST is based upon concept-based learning. Read the slide

Bringing people together to plan changes Assessing their own knowledge base. Investigating their own environmental situation. Visualizing a future scenario. Analyzing constraints to change Planning for change Implementing change. PHAST brings people together to plan changes in their communities by: read the slide

Community Development Principles of PHAST Communities should determine their own priorities for disease prevention. People collectively possess an enormous depth of experience and knowledge. Communities are capable of arriving at a consensus on hygiene behaviors and sanitation systems. PHAST is based upon a number of principles – those things which we believe hold true across cultures. These are: read the slide

Community Development Principles of PHAST (continued) When people understand why improved sanitation and hygiene is to their advantage, they will act. All people are capable of understanding that faeces carry disease and can learn to trace and describe the faecal-oral route. Communities can identify appropriate barriers to block this transmission.

PHAST- 7 steps 1. Problem identification 2. Problem analysis 3. Planning for solutions 4. Selecting the options 5. Planning for new facilities and behavior change 6. Planning for monitoring and evaluation 7. Participatory evaluation The PHAST process takes the community through a series of steps.

Tools and Techniques Role plays of behaviors, illnesses Community walks and maps Making the feces transmission routes using drawings Sorting drawings of good and bad hygiene behaviors Sorting drawings of sanitation options Selecting what the community wants

fingers flies faeces food mouth fields fluids Hand washing Cooking Pit toilet This is a diagram of the faecal-oral route of disease transmission, called the F-diagram. (Go over the diagram, first with the routes and then with the barriers indicated as vertical lines.) Our experience with PHAST shows that people can actually make this diagram using pictures instead of words. When they make it, it becomes clear to them what they must do to stop faecally-transmitted diseases. VIP, flush or ecological toilet fluids Boiling or disinfection

Pictures instead of words PHAST uses drawings to illustrate ideas so that illiterate people can participate. Read the slide.

Making a Community Map - Eritrea

Principles on decision-making The people closest to the problem are those best able to find the solution. The community understands its own situation best. Those who create decisions will be committed to following them through. PHAST is also based upon a set of principles concerning decision-making. Read the slide.

Principles on decision-making (continued) The more of their own material and financial resources people invest in change, the greater will be their commitment to following it through and sustaining it. Self-esteem is a prerequisite to decision-making and follow-through. Read the slide.

Key factors needed for effective participation Respect for people’s knowledge and ideas Faith in the creative potential of people Minimum of structure; maximum of participation Loyalty to the group Commitment to helping people express themselves. There are a set of key factors that are needed for effective participation of people. These factors rest mostly in the program officers, facilitators and community leaders. These are: read the slide.

YES Is PHAST successful? PHAST has been applied in over 20 countries: Latin America, East Africa, West Africa, Former Soviet Republics, and USA. Read the slide.

Getting Ready to do PHAST Facilitator training – 2 weeks Artist to make drawings of local environments and cultures Read the slide.

Requirements for Success Training of facilitators Plenty of time with the community Willingness to budget the software sufficiently Allowing the community to own the process and project Do this at the beginning, not at the end!

CHAST Children’s Hygiene And Sanitation Training Primary School children ages 5 to 12

History Grew out of PHAST Created in 2004 for Somalia. (Caritas Swiss & Luxembourg) Adopted by Gov. of Kenya in 2007

CHAST Tools 3 story characters 1 or more puppets (with names) Colored posters Role plays Puppet shows Card games Songs Art

5 Steps for Children’s Hygiene Behaviors Introduction Problem Identification Problem Analysis Practicing Good Behavior Monitoring

Further reading (see handout) PHAST Theory: Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation: A new approach to working with communities, 1996, WHO. PHAST Practice: PHAST Step-by-step Guide: A participatory approach for the control of diarrhoeal disease, 1998, WHO CHAST – A Practical Guide, 2004, Caritas Switzerland Read the slide.