Applying PHAST (Participatory Health And Sanitation Transformation) : insights and lessons from Tweerivier, Namaqualand, Northern Cape.

This paper documents experiences from Tweerivier, one of the field sites during a training workshop in Participatory Health and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST).
PHAST was used to broaden local debate and understanding on health aspects of water supply and sanitation and to demystify techology and health . A series of participatory exercises were initiated to allow residents to explore for themselves the underlying cause of their contaminated water and to decide which of these they had control over and could change. An experiment was developed during the course of the field work, to test solar water purification techniques as an alternative to boiling and a broad range of sanitation technology choices were also, introduced to the community in such a way as to take control of the information away from technical experts.