Duah Michael a Junior High School graduate, aged 16, living with his parents awaiting results for SHS within a period of a week constructed a household latrine for his family for use with local materials in Oseikwame. This community forms part of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in the Asutifi North District.
He recals that during an engagement with Michael, he stated that at the beginning of the CLTS engagement he thought the facilitators were there to entertain the community. But when it came to discussion on fecal-oral contamina, he realized that open defecation is a way to eat faeces and that of others which could lead to serious diseases that cause his parents and siblings to spend a lot of money or even loss of life looking at their age. He then took it upon himself to build one latrine for the family within the shortest possible time.
He added that his love for modernization/invention has been his greatest inspiration. Notwithstanding Michaels' massive effort in constructing the latrine, he has been able to power their house with a broken solar panel that provides light in the house and as well as serves their radio feeds.
Mr. Stephen Adoma, an ardent natural leader in the community acknowledged Michael’s commitment and support to other household constructions within the community. Since he was the first community folk to construct a household latrine, it served as a model to other community folk whiles he further reach out to help other households construct theirs.
In the wake of the pandemic, COVID-19, the District Inter-agency Coordinating Council on Sanitation (DICCS) visited the community for DICCS va erification of the community following a community self-assessment and call from the community. During the inspection process, the team was amazed to see the innovation of Michael on having a hand washing facility located at the entrance of their house for all visitors to wash their hands before entering.
Mother of 16 years old Michael demonstrates the use of the handwashing facility