Help Rural Ethiopians Improve Access to Water
|
Updates from the Field:
Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
|
Keep Up-to-Date
 Subscribe to "Updates from the Field" by E-Mail
 Subscribe to "Updates from the Field" by RSS Feed
Index of Updates from the Field
Water User Associations (WUAs)
By Brannon - Country Director, February 06, 2008 10:07 AM
As part of CHF's participatory approach to development, we first organize beneficiaries of program activities into community-based Water User Associations (WUAs), which are utilized as the organizational framework around which to structure all activities. WUAs serve as a mechanism to ensure the sustainability of the interventions undertaken beyond the end of the program.
Through participatory decision-making, the elder councils confer with their respective communities to identify the needs to improve the quality of water sources and identify the contribution from those that will benefit. Management of the community contribution to the rehabilitation, training of the community on hygiene and sanitation, awareness raising and distribution of the water purification systems, and creation of the market opportunities for the continued supply of Water Guard, becomes the responsibility of the WUA.
Members from each WUA (both men and women) participate in a "Training of Trainers" program that covers gender issues, family planning, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, malaria prevention, and traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. CHF also recognizes that HIV/AIDS can greatly deplete the productivity and resources of communities and households, and seeks to reduce the economic and social vulnerability inevitably caused by the disease. As HIV/AIDS is such a critical health issue, the topic receives special attention in the training cycles to ensure proper understanding by
beneficiaries. HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness training is conducted for beneficiaries to improve their understanding of the causes of the disease and appropriate prevention mechanisms.
A key aspect to ensuring community led implementation of a project, which will result in selfsustainability
of interventions, is the drafting and acceptance of agreements between CHF and the specific beneficiary communities (WUAs). These agreements define the nature of participation to be exercised by each stakeholder. CHF views communities as both beneficiaries and program partners, and by incorporating all stakeholders in the identification, prioritization, and implementation of activities, we create local “ownership” of the process and the resulting vested interest in its success and
sustainability.
In the last quarter, CHF:
> Organized and trained 18 Water Users Associations;
> Conducted 23 community meetings; and
> signed 18 agreements with WUAs
In the next phase, CHF will consequently:
> begin construction of 23 shallow wells; and
> begin construction of 180 latrines.
Attachments:
Fatima's Story
By Tseday Bizuayehu - CHF Ethiopia Staff, November 01, 2007 04:20 PM
For the last year, Mrs. Fatima Ali has been living in the Somali region of Ethiopia with her pastoral community. She had no choice but to drink water directly from unprotected shallow wells and the Shabele river. She knew nothing of water treatment and water purification systems, and she and her family suffered from diarrhea and other water borne diseases as a result. Thanks to the LIVE-WATER program, CHF International provided Fatima with training in hygiene and sanitation and in the use of water purification systems, such as Pur and water guard. Now, knowing the importance of water treatment, Fatima always makes sure to purify her water before drinking it. With her new set of water treatment equipment, she has greatly improved the hygiene and sanitation of her own home.
Fatima feels that CHF’s programming in the Somali region has opened people’s eyes to the possibility of a brighter future by strengthening the disaster response capacity of some of the most vulnerable households in the region. Fatima now shares the skills which she has obtained from CHF International and holds local workshops on hygiene and sanitation in her neighborhood so as to help her neighbors share in the better quality of life as well.
“I am safe from diseases & I underst[and] that the cause was drinking untreated water.” Fatima said.
Fatima believes that CHF has done good work for both the water supply and hygiene and sanitation of the Somali region. She points to herself as proof. Fatima, a mother of two daughters and a son, lives in the Dud’ade, Gode region of Ethiopia. She is just one of the beneficiaries whose health has improved dramatically as a result of the water and sanitation aspect of the LIVE-WATER program.
Attachments:
Alternative solutions for drought-prone regions
By Tseday Bizuayehu - Program Officer, May 04, 2007 05:16 PM
Too little rainfall in this region has been causing catastrophic droughts since the 1970s. In 1984-85 alone, the estimates on famine-related deaths in Ethiopia ranged from 250,000 to 1 million people. Since then, relief and development efforts have focused on finding long-term, sustainable solutions for food production in Ethiopia, with some of the country's regions faring better than others.
One unique approach has been the nurturing of Enset production. Enset, also known as the false banana, has been perhaps the least studied domesticated crop in all of Africa, but new research shows that it may provide a key resource for guarding against famine. The "Tree against Hunger" is not only nutritious, but can be harvested at any time and stored for long periods. Moreover, enset can survive stresses that reduce other food sources, and it tends to enrich rather than deplete soil as do other crops.
Residents in those areas of Ethiopia where Enset is grown have survived the droughts at a significantly higher rates than those in areas that did not rely on Enset. However, despite Enset's potential as a nutritious food source, it faces some obstacles, Its usefulness is not widely known, even in Ethiopia. Moreover, there are some cultural barriers, with some viewing it as "peasant food." While there are those who like its taste, others find it unpalatable.
Recently, CHF successfully established a market linkage between, food insecure women households and fiber products producing factory, so that these household could supplement their household food gap from the income they generate from sale of the fiber, a resource that would otherwise be wasted with out any use.
Organizing enset fiber producing and marketing groups is one of the most successful activities of CHF's program in Ethiopia. An asset building group comprising 100 poor women has sold the first truck load of enset fiber to G7 Trading & Industry here in Addis. The factory delivered a technical training on standards of fiber, fiber storage and management free of charge so that they can supply a high quality fiber in the future.
Attachments:
Rehabilitating wells
By N. Abdullah - CHF International, October 26, 2006 12:36 PM
In June and July 2006, CHF helped construct and rehabilitate 17 shallow wells with 6 more under construction reaching an estimated 184,000 vulnerable individuals. In addition, the distribution of basic but essential commodities, such as jerry cans, soaps, bed nets, and Pur water filtration systems.
Links:
Major Accomplishments in June 2006
By Nussi Abdullah - Program Officer, August 14, 2006 03:27 PM
In line with CHF's philosophy to empower local communities for long-term sustainable development, In June 2006, CHF/Ethiopia:
• Constructed 11 model poultry houses in Maskan for rural farmers to improve care and production.
• Distributed 5,500 mosquito nets to 2,750 beneficiaries in malaria-prone regions of Maskan, Mareko, Silti and Dalocha woredas.
• Conducted Water/Sanitation trainings to 21 selected members from a Water Users Association in Sankura Woreda.
• Completed construction of 3 natural springs and reservoir Overall, 5,744 beneficiaries are benefiting from the spring.
• Trained 120 women on family planning, gender & nutrition and 80 beneficiaries about HIV/AIDS.
Attachments:
|
