Ouagadougou: Sociology student Mamouna Sawadogo stressed on Tuesday that demographic pressure has led to sanitation and public hygiene problems in the country’s major cities, as well as in higher education structures, including the toilets at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, which was the subject of a study.

“Our study was carried out at Ki-Zerbo University and aimed to understand and analyze the different strategies developed by female students in order to be resilient in the face of sanitation and hygiene problems in the toilets at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University,” said applicant Mamouna Sawadogo during her defense in July 2024 on the theme: “Use of toilets and resilience of female students at Ki-Zerbo University.”

The choice of the theme, according to her, came from her personal experience and also from her observations around the University toilets, since the first year.

Mrs. Sawadogo, specified that the data collection was carried out according to the qualitative approach and the semi-structured interview techn
ique through in-depth individual interviews.

“The results of the study show first that in the use of UJKZ toilets, female students have different perceptions on the exposure of their private parts and on the exposure to the risks of diseases. Unanimously, all the female students surveyed as well as the resource persons support that the use of UJKZ toilets is likely to cause health problems to users, especially girls, because the latter are more in contact with dirt since they squat to relieve themselves,” explained the applicant.

For her, it appears that the students, in order to adapt to the situation of these toilets, put in place strategies of abstention in the use of the toilets as well as strategies of use with precautions.

According to him, the state of the university toilets means that some people relieve themselves in the bushes, behind walls in neighboring courtyards or use the administrative toilets for those who have relations. Others use these buildings, but very cautiously.

The causes of toil
et breakdowns, she continued, are the misuse of toilets by students, the administrative burden in repairing breakdowns and ignorance in the use of toilets, among others.

At the end of his Master II defense in sociology, his theme, described as interesting and well analyzed, was deemed admissible by the jury.

Source: Burkina Information Agency