Impact of public sanitation on girl's health and education: A case study from rural Cameroon

Over the course of six weeks, we used focus groups, semi-structured interviews and ethnographic methods to investigate the interface of personal hygiene, water access, health education and public hygiene for adolescent girls living in the Bome-Ngyenmbo valley in the Northwest province of Cameroon. This research was part of a larger research partnership between faculty and students from the University of Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Global Water Initiative (PGWI) and the Bome Area Development Association (BADA) to complete a social impact analysis of the water and sanitation systems in the area. The research reveals a significant disconnect between individual knowledge and practice of personal hygiene (which was generally very good) with the notion of empowerment around public hygiene issues. Specifically, lack of consideration for design of public spaces (churches, health clinics, schools, markets and sports behaviors) leads to unhealthy behaviors around sanitation that particularly affect women and girls. In addition, the ability to adequately deal with one's personal hygiene was a source for group scorn and stigmatization. Women, even in the poorest of conditions, should be entitled to participate in the planning and management of public spaces, and should be able to hold executives of public entities responsible for proper maintenance. Implications for women's participation in design of public spaces, and ramifications for achieving gender equity in schooling will be discussed.