Erosion is a huge problem in villages. Farmers who now have access to affordable herbicides spray it on the ground in the villages instead of trimming long grass back to deter snakes. With no vegetation in villages or around houses, the soil melts away in the rainy season and blows away in the dry season. As many houses are built from compacted mud bricks, houses melt away as well.
A few months ago we spoke with a lady about open defecation in her village – was she using a latrine? Her house, built many years ago and which was for the last few months of its life nothing more than a wall with a door in it, had finally collapsed completely. “Look at my house,” she said, “do you think I’m worrying about where I go to the toilet?”
