The Community-Based Total Sanitation (STBM) Award is a recognition and prestigious award for regions in claiming success in accelerating efforts to change people’s behavior to live a healthy life through no more open defecation practices. This award is given by the Indonesian Ministry of Health to Regents and Mayors who have successfully verified ODF (Open Defecation Free), as well as giving appreciation to sanitarians and other related partner actors as the spearhead who have jointly carried out assistance in this success.

The year 2018 was the first year that the STBM Award was given to Districts/Cities that have achieved 100% access to sanitation (ODF) and 2019 was added by awarding the best sanitarians from Districts/Cities that have ODF. As of 2019, 42 districts/cities have received the STBM Award. With the STBM Award, it is hoped that it will be a trigger for other regions to achieve STBM targets and give birth to many innovations to accelerate the SDG’s 2030 point 6 target, namely ensuring the availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all with targets by 2030, improving water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating discharges, and minimizing the release of hazardous materials and chemicals, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and significantly increasing recycling, as well as safe reuse of recycled goods.

In 2020 the Ministry of Health has also given awards to other STBM related partners in this case the best Natural Leaders and Village Heads from Districts/Cities that in 2018, 2019 and 2020 have achieved 100% verified ODF. The awards were given during the STBM National Coordination Meeting in November 2020.

Habel Lakalo is a pioneer of the Probur Village Sanitation Team who managed to put his name in the National Best Sanitation Category from all over Indonesia to win the Natural Leader Category award at the STBM Awards and the 4th National STBM Coordination Meeting. He became one of the 33 best sanitarians of 2020. The Village Sanitation Team is a follow-up to Habel’s innovation in creating and cultivating healthy latrines in Probur Village. Through this Village Sanitation Team, changes in ownership of healthy latrines have occurred in Probur Village.  He started his sanitation activities with a starting point in the hamlet where Habel lives, namely Wormanem backwoods of Probur Village.

In Probur Village, initially there were still many families who did not have healthy latrines. Seeing and feeling this unhealthy situation, Habel took the initiative to form a village sanitation working group and carry out sanitation activities in the form of making septic tank holes at night. The strategy was to take turns digging holes together from one house to another. The rocky soil of the village was a challenge for the hole diggers. However, through togetherness and mutual cooperation, one hole after another was successfully completed. After making the septic tank holes, they continued to contribute stone and sand as well as money to buy cement. This community organizing process is facilitated and supported by UPKM / CD Bethesda YAKKUM Alor area