When we asked Juliet Ninsima how the water crisis in Marongo-Kahembe impacts the community members' daily schedule, she said, "In this community, the borehole well that most of us rely on is broken down. And once it is down, we really suffer from accessing water."
Juliet wakes up each morning at 6:30 am to prepare breakfast as the men ride about two miles searching for clean drinking water whenever the borehole breaks down. In the afternoon, women like Juliet have to walk to get water.
"This interferes a lot with most of our daily activities, like farming, since most times we get to our gardens very late," she said.
"Most times we are affected, especially the women, who end up preparing meals late, and most families end up having meals once in a day since the women are so occupied looking for clean water."
More than 350 people use the unreliable borehole well to meet their water needs. It is located in the center of the village, making it accessible to everyone - when it is working. The other drinking water points are located at the extreme ends of the village, some of which are broken down and abandoned due to contamination.
We asked Milly, a level seven primary school pupil, how the current water situation affects her personally.
"At my school, we don't have water, and this is the only borehole that serves the entire village, including two schools," she said.
"We get so tired, especially when this borehole is broken down because we have to walk about two kilometers away to collect water. This sometimes affects our studies, as well."
Here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Rehabilitated Well
We are going to restore water to the broken-down borehole. Since this water point is located at the center of the village and easily accessible by most people, unlike the water points located at the far ends of the village.
When this borehole is restored to its original status, it will provide the community with easy access to clean and safe water. We will remove the old pump, clear out the well, reinstall a new stainless steel pump, and build a new well pad to protect the water.
Training
Training’s main objectives are the use of latrines and observing proper hygiene practices since these goals are inherently connected to clean water provision. Open defecation, water storage in unclean containers, and the absence of handwashing are all possible contaminants of a household water supply. Each participating village must achieve Open Defecation Free status (defined by one latrine per household) before the pump installation for a shallow hand-dug well.
This social program includes the assignment of 1 Community Development Officer (CDO) to each village. The CDO encourages each household to build an ideal homestead that consists of a latrine, handwashing facility, a separate structure for animals, a rubbish pit, and a drying rack for dishes.
We also implement the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach with each of our village partners. This aims to improve the sanitation and hygiene practices and behaviors of a village. During these sessions, village leaders naturally emerge and push the community to realize that individual households' current practices – particularly the practice of open defecation – are unhealthy and affect the entire village. CLTS facilitates a process in which community members realize the negative consequences of their current water, sanitation, and hygiene behaviors and are inspired to take action. Group interactions are frequent motivators for individual households to build latrines, use the latrines, and demand that other families do the same.
Improved Sanitation
The aim is that all households own an improved latrine. Many families do not use a latrine but use the bush. Due to open defecation, feces are spread all over the village. This leads to waterborne diseases and contamination of groundwater and surface water. Our aim is that the community can live a healthy life free of preventable diseases. We endeavor that people will have both access to sustainable, clean water and access to sanitation at the end of our presence in the community. We have now organized families to form digging groups for latrine construction and empowered them with the tools they need.
