Clean water is saving lives in Zazye, Ethiopia
Work began on the Kecho spring in October 2014 that has brought clean water to the community of Zazye, Ethiopia.
In August 2014, HOPE International Development Agency UK secured a £10,000 grant in support of efforts to bring clean water to families in the community of Zazye, Ethiopia, a village of more than 1,000 people.
“This is our first successful grant application and it's a major development for us as a charity,’ states Chris Haywood, Chair of the HOPE International Development Agency UK Board of Trustees. “It has proven to be a worthwhile investment of time in securing the funding and has been key in sharpening our grant-writing skills which we plan to use again in the near future to support our efforts to bring clean water to as many families as possible.”
Upon hearing about the successful grant application, HOPE International Development Agency's Ethiopia Director, Frehiwot Alebachew, responded, “Thank you for your hard work and strong dedication in supporting needy people in Ethiopia. We now have the opportunity to bring clean drinking water to yet another vulnerable community. In rural Ethiopia, access to clean water is the number one problem for women and children. Today, they walk 2 hours or more to collect water. The containers women use to carry water back to their villages can weigh up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds)! We are so pleased that we can now help this hard life end for another community!”
The grant from the Waterloo Foundation (a foundation that gives annually to development efforts worldwide), combined with money raised throughout the year in the UK and additional support from HOPE International Development Agency Japan, meant that clean water was available to families in the village of Zazye by the end of 2014.
Below are some of the reported outcomes and outputs from this project:
Outcomes: -
1. Social: The quality of life has been improved for the Kecho community, especially for women and children (mainly girls) who remain the principal water gatherers. They now have more time for social affairs with friends and families. The water point locations are recognized as important social gathering places for water gatherers (e.g. women & children) and the communal nature of the water point and the community management system further facilitates this, resulting in improved community relations and support. Children are also reporting that they are enjoying school and are missing fewer classes.
2. Economic: The improved water sources have an overall positive impact by allowing more time for economic activities (especially by women) and strengthen family food security through providing excess water for irrigation. Livestock troughs, filled with clean water, have also improved the health of animals, thereby improving their market value and allowing them more time to work in the field.
3. Health: The beneficiaries have experienced a significant improvement in health through the reduction of water borne diseases and the safe disposal of human waste through use of latrines. There is also a great improvement in the level of hygiene (e.g. reduced open defecation, typified by the children and adults looking clean) and based on the overall interest and participation at both the community and the family level, we anticipate dramatic health improvement over the long term. Health education training provided focus on correct hand washing, excreta disposal, wastewater disposal, treatment and protection of water, personal and household hygiene and food handling.
4. Behavioural Changes: In Kecho, the community is following improved sanitation practices, such as using pit latrines and hand washing stations. There has also been an improvement in personal hygiene and the cleanliness of households and approach to the cleaning of household utensils and dishes. Animals are now kept separate from family sleep areas. Because a HOPE staff member remained in Kecho to facilitate the SHG programme, this has provided additional time and opportunities for teaching and modelling changed behaviours regarding sanitation and hygiene.
Outputs: -
1. From September 2009 to November 2014, HOPE implemented four water projects in the four villages of Zazye kebele (neighbourhood/ward) in the Bonke woreda. These projects increased the clean water coverage of the kebele from 0% to 63%. Now the Kecho water project, also in the Zazye kebele, increased the clean water coverage of the kebele from 63% to 82.1% by December 2014. 1136 additional people now have access to safe drinking water and 190 households have clean water for domestic use.
2. Hygiene and sanitation education has been provided for 1136 people.
3. Before the start of these water projects, use pit latrines in this kebele was very poor, with approximately 22% usage in 2009. After implementation of the previous HOPE projects (the four projects before the Kecho water project), the coverage increased to 69% by November 2014. Then, as a result of the Kecho project, 200 pit latrines were constructed and almost all open defecation is avoided in the village and sanitation practice in using the toilet increased from 69% to 85%.
4. Safe water is now accessible for clinical usage at the Kecho Health Post as well as the school in the village.
5. According to the data from Bonke Woreda Health Office and from discussions with the Prevention Department and Geresse Health Centre, the prevalence of waterborne diseases and visits to the village health posts as a result was 25% in 2013/14. After the Kecho water project in 2014/15 it was 16%, which is a 36% decrease from that of 2013/14. Our end of project target was a 50% decrease in reported incidences of waterborne/diarrhoeal diseases. (See Learning Outcomes below for reasons for the variance).
6. The Kecho Health Post and the Bonke Woreda Health Office have reported to us that the incidence of eye infections was approximately 27% in 2013/14. And after intervention of the Kecho water project, they have reported that this has decreased to approximately 17%, which is a 37% decrease from that of the year before. Our end of project target was a 25% decrease in reported incidences of eye infections.
7. There has been a reduction of water fetching time from three hours to 5 to 20 minutes (and a reduction of distance to water source from 3 km to less than 500 meters).
8. Absenteeism and school dropout rate of students decreased by 6%, especially among girls, as reported by the school in Kecho.
9. Participation and the empowerment of women in the community has increased as evidenced by 10 of 20 members on the Water Committee are women and of the 2 of 5 of the trained Water Caretakers are women. In addition, 120 women are now members of Self Help Group (SHGs) and have started their own income generating activities because of the free time that they now have from reducing the time of fetching water.
All of these women have participated in Self Help Groups are currently running profitable small businesses - by growing excess vegetables to sell at the market or in raising animals to sell.
