Village Water - Zambia - 2018
Safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
Village Water transforms lives in rural Africa through safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Better health means children can go to school more and parents have time to farm and provide for their families.
Years: 2018
Water borne illnesses in Zambia are common including diarrhoea, worms, eye, skin and chest infections. This means that children are often too ill to attend school. Girls are more likely to miss school or drop out completely when they reach puberty if their school has no dignified facilities. Our solutions are simple, cost effective and lasting.
This project will focus on a school in rural Zambia with more than 500 pupils with no safe water or sanitation facilities. At least five feeder villages of around 150 people each will also benefit from training & water. The district council & education department will help us identify the school & take part in training & monitoring of impacts, so they can continue to do this in the future.
The project will implement the following:
-Provision of a safe water point, powered by solar or electric pump, feeding into a header tank & distributing water to toilet block & teachers' compound;
-2 permanent toilet blocks (1girls', 1boys') - flushable toilets, urinal, shower & sinks; 2 teachers' toilets;
-Hygiene & sanitation training for pupils, local community members & teachers including menstrual health promotion to all pupils above Grade 4;
-Training & materials (sewing machine, fabric, patterns) to set up workshop for reusable sanitary products;
-4-5 tap stands around the site - at teachers' compound, at the kitchen area & on the school periphery, so local communities can use the water for a small donation, which is then given to the school to cover the cost of bills & maintenance.
-Formation of water committee comprising teachers & parents who are trained to maintain the water point & to collect contributions for future repairs & spare parts;
-Pupils & teachers act as 'sanitation champions' spreading their learning back in their home communities & encouraging behaviour change. We provide simple leaflets in the local language to help them to get the messages across.
-Follow up visits to test water quality, check pump functionality, & monitor reductions in water borne diseases & school attendance.
