I'll apologize right now for both the candor and content of this post. I'm going to talk about poo, so if that's not your shtick, feel free to close your browser before embarking on this diarrheal diatribe.
I wouldn't be capturing the full volunteer experience if there weren't an entry on bowel movements. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business, #2. I'm talking about a chat on scat, a vent on excrement, the scoop on poop, even going so far as to say a treatise on feces.
The thing is, working in health, water, and sanitation, you deal with poop.... a lot. That may be your own compromised bowel movements due to parasites or maybe it's the BM's of community members. As a volunteer there may be latrine construction. There will be presentations and discussions about treatment and prevention of diarrhea. And that's OK. In fact, it's more than OK. Truthfully, the most uncomfortable one in the room is yourself, at least initially. Once you see that it's our culture that makes you squeamish, you learn to let go (potentially also a pun).
As volunteers, we've shed practically all inhibitions about sharing amongst other volunteers. This runs the gamut from tropical skin conditions to well... bowel movements. Here's a typical conversation with a volunteer you might not have seen for a month or two.
Volunteer 1: "How's it going?"
Volunteer 2: "Pretty good. I'm regular again, which is nice."
Volunteer 1: "No kidding. I know what you mean. Last week I was...."
Suffice to say, I wouldn't want friends and family back home to by a fly on the wall (much less potential for a pun. Flies, $#!%. I know, it's a real stretch).
It's interesting to see people out here are completely at ease with their excrement. They talk about it openly. They joke about it. That's how it goes in a world without flush toilets. Without the luxury of just pulling a handle, you have to deal with "it". And so there aren't really the kids snickering like you'd find back home. We laugh nervously out of shame or embarrassment precisely because it isn't a part of our lives. Flush and forget.
Author's Note: A good friend Luis posted a related, though much more professional and insightful blog entry on latrine construction and the challenges of behavioral change in an area where people are accustomed to using streams as their sanitation system. Click here to read on.
