Washing feet and touching poop: How Kibo Group uses discomfort to preach the gospel.
By Tom Ngobi, Co-Manager of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program
I get paid to do a lot of gross things. The worst is picking up people’s poop. I wear gloves, obviously. But that doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable — for me or for the person who pooped in their own yard or for their neighbors who watch me pick it up.
I promise, though, it’s for a really good reason. I am the co-manager for Kibo’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program, which teaches people proper sanitation and hygiene practices. But getting people to do the hard work of building sanitation and hygiene facilities — like latrines, showers, disk racks, and handwashing stations — requires more than just giving them information about germs and disease. They need to see, for example, how they are harming themselves, their children, and their neighbors by pooping in the open.
Cue picking up people’s poop. During triggering sessions, I bring someone’s actual feces to a group meeting so that they can watch the flies travel from poop to food. Usually, chickens even come and peck at the poop. Everyone is disgusted and uncomfortable. But trust me. It gets the message across: Open defecation inevitably ends up in food and, eventually, the stomach.
Triggering is effective but extremely difficult. It causes embarrassment and shame and a lot of discomfort for everyone involved. I’ve done it countless times, and it still makes me want to gag. But it’s also a very spiritual experience for me. As I’m holding a person’s poop in my (gloved) hands, I remember what Jesus said after he washed the disciples feet:
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
John 13:14-17 (NIV)
Peter and the rest of the disciples strongly objected when Jesus bent to wash their feet. They were probably embarassed of the filth and ashamed that their beloved teacher would touch that. In rural Ugandan villages, visitors are revered, and it is horrifying to them that I, a beloved visitor, would see — let alone touch! — their feces. But Jesus was more concerned about teaching his disciples than he was about their discomfort. I am trying to follow Jesus’ example: I am more concerned about saving people’s lives than our temporary discomfort.
If my handling human feces changes behavioral patterns so that fewer children die, then the disgust we all feel is certainly worth it. My neighbor comes first. My love for them is more important. That’s the Jesus way. And we want to make that the Kibo Way, too.
This article was also published here by The Journey Church.