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Women and Water
It is usually the duty of the women to fetch and carry water for their families. The daily journey can take several hours and crowded water sources often have long queues, sometimes of up to 5 hours. The demands on time this causes leave little time for women to earn an income or spend with their children, the latter often being left alone or with an older sibling whilst their mother goes out to find water. Pregnant women sometimes continue to carry water until the day they give birth.
Girls as young as 10 can often bear the responsibility for the family's water supply. Not only is this physically stressful but also results in girls often being unable to attend school.
Women are key participants of successful projects: they are keen to learn how they can better their own and their family's health. Many become health promoters and continue the work that the health educators start. A survey in 1999 of the Dodoma Region found 80% of hygiene promoters to be
female.
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Children and Water
Children, particularly girls, are often responsible for the collection of water. Each litre of water is equivalent in weight to one kilogram and the carrying of such heavy weights, already damaging to adult women, can have even more serious side-effects for children. There can be damage to the head, neck and spine, and for girls, deformity of the spine can lead to complications in pregnancy and childbirth.
The time consuming nature of water collection means that many children are not enrolled in primary school and often will drop out of school after one or two years of education. If the parents are to be free to work, children are needed at home for domestic tasks or farming and hence have little time for play. Many accidents occur from children left unsupervised or with just an older sibling whilst their mother works or collects water.
Children are often more open to discuss and change hygiene habits than adults and emphasis is placed on the education of good hygiene behaviour in schools. The
'Child-to-Child' campaign in Tanzania recognises that children are often responsible for younger brothers and sisters and teaches them to become health educators for their friends, families and ultimately for the whole community.
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Health Education
Local health educators are responsible for teaching vital health messages to villages and slum areas benefiting from new provisions. The information is taught to children in schools, who at a young age can mature with good hygiene practices and pass information on to their parents. Women work as health motivators when NGO health educators are no longer in the villages.
In Chessa village, Tabora, Ashura Kayungilo spent five days training to be a health promoter and now visits five homesteads once a week. Posters stimulate ideas and discussion, including the causes of diarrhoea and how it is spread, the safe storage of food and water, keeping the home environment clean and washing fruit in clean, safe water.
Health and hygiene education is an important necessity when providing water and sanitation services. It is important that villagers are aware and learn the importance of cleanliness and
non-polluting practices so the most can be made of the new or improved facilities. In this way safe water and sanitation will remain sustainable, in a future free from ill health and disease.
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Tanzania - Country Profile
The United Republic of Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa. It is also one of the poorest in the world. The population of some 33 million people, has seen enormous increases, almost tripling from 12.3 million in 1967 to 30 million in 1999. Yet unlike many other African Nations, Tanzania has few exportable minerals.
Since its foundation in 1964, the country of Tanzania has enjoyed political stability, sparing it from the political strife which has affected many of the neighbouring lands. In 1967, Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere, issued the Arusha Declaration, reforming the primitive agricultural system in an attempt at
self-sufficiency through farming co-operatives and the nationalisation of factories, banks, plantations and private companies. Despite technical and financial aid from the World Bank and overseas supporters, the project had collapsed a decade later, with allegations of corruption, combined with inefficiency, lack of community
co-operation and rising petroleum prices.
Following Nyerere's resignation in 1985, the new president, Ali Hassan Mwinyi began dismantling the government control over the economy in an attempt to attract foreign investment and raise productivity. This policy continues under the current president, Benjamin Mkapa, though Tanzania remains heavily dependant on foreign
aid.
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WaterAid in Tanzania
WaterAid first started supporting projects in Tanzania in 1983 in the Dodoma Region. Since 1990, it has been working closely with the Government departments of health, water and community development, as well as NG0s in the WAMMA partnership. The aim of this project was to support the implementation of integrated water, hygiene education and sanitation projects. Each year, WaterAid and its partners deliver integrated projects to over 60,000 people.
The key aspect to WaterAid's approach to water and sanitation projects involves firstly placing the benefiting communities at the centre of all actions, fully involving them in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. of their projects. Rather than focusing on one aspect alone, it is judged best to fully integrate water supply, sanitation and hygiene education into the project plan, thus realising the full benefits of improvements to health and living standards.
All WaterAid projects are carried out by local partner organisations. The ultimate aim is a situation in which the local partners can work effectively and independently, without WaterAid support.
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Project Details
To continue to work towards the completion of existing borehole projects.
To continue to focus on gender, equality and livelihood issues in the implementation of WaterAid's project work.
To continue work on hygiene promotion and sanitation in villages in which work has already started and start hygiene promotion and sanitation in additional villages.
To focus on good management and financial transparency at village level.
To continue supporting an effective pump engine maintenance scheme.
WaterAid Contribution
WaterAid will provide project funding for technical inputs, and for materials purchased and installed.
Local Contribution
Cash and labour contribution by communities and administration support by
WaterAid partner
organisations.
Your support will make a real difference to this programme. For
information, please contact
us.
Thank you for your valuable help.
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