Dorothy Leads the Charge for Clean and Healthy Living in Torowa

Dorothy Saweru is a member of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Committee in her village of Torowa located in Morehead Local Level Government (LLG) of Western province in Papua New Guinea.

When the weather is good, Torowa is a full day’s journey by boat from Daru Island to Arufi, and another 10 hours by vehicle from Arufi through Morehead Station and further west towards the Indonesian border.

Although logistics remains challenging for service delivery in this remote part of the country, communities along the South-Fly District battle with health and waterborne diseases innate to water-birthed communities.

Dorothy was born with a defect in her left arm. Her arm was not formed properly and she has had to adapt to this since birth. Now in her thirties and unmarried, Dorothy lives with her brother and his family. Despite having a special condition, she feels she needs to contribute as best she can to the upkeep of the home and her chores.

It was this drive and determination to overcome obstacles and challenges that led Dorothy to become a member of the WASH committee in Torowa, a spark that was ignited when the World Vision team in Daru Western province led a Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) training in Torowa.

With the support of the Papua New Guinea Australia (PNG Aus) Partnership program, World Vision was able to reach communities including Dorothy’s in Morehead LLG, to help change their lifestyle habits on the aspect of open defecation and to declare not one but 10 communities as open defecation-free.

Through the initial stages of the CLTS training and implementation, Dorothy and other members of her community began to realise the importance of having properly sanitised toilets and how it can help save them from waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, which was a common sickness in the community.

“The training conducted by the world vision team came as an eye-opener for many of us. We were so confined to living in our own homes and keeping them clean, but as for defecation, we would go out into the bushes or even near water sources to relieve ourselves, which we now see as wrong,” she says.

After learning how to build a properly sanitised toilet, Dorothy rushed home to gather all her materials to start building her new toilet.

“I started digging the pit in the first week to reach the required depth as mentioned in the training. The youths in the community, after seeing me work relentlessly on my new toilet, decided to help me complete the build in the second week.

“My motivation to build my own toilet was because of my condition; I needed to have a toilet that is near my house where it’s convenient for me. Secondly, I wanted to prove to other abled members of my community that I could do it too.

“But I was more than grateful to have young men and women be a part of this great change and to help me complete the construction in just two weeks.

“What we’ve learnt through the training conducted by the World Vision team is new and really showed us that there are some people and/or organisations out there who care for the health and well-being of a small remote community like Torowa when most times we feel abandoned and forgotten.

“As a member of the WASH Committee and a person living with a disability, I would like to say thank you to the PNG Aus Partnership program, World Vision, and the Western Partnership Program for showing us the way to live a much healthier and happy life,” Dorothy adds.

Dorothy is a champion for people with disabilities in her community and the surrounding communities, and she has pledged to continue to be a vocal member of the WASH committee of Torowa, which has since been declared amongst the 10 communities of the South-Fly District to be ODF.