Every village member learns how to build their own toilet with hand-washing device from locally sourced materials and takes part in hygiene training and basic pump care. Often community members will assist manual drilling teams when installing a well with manual labour.
We encourage the communities we work with to pool funding together and to maintain their water systems long after we have left. A water committee is set up, made equally of men and women, and learn basic pump maintenance and continue encouraging good hygiene practice within their community.
Our investment provides initial WASH solutions to communities but importantly enables self-sustaining independent villages who can fund and maintain their own systems. How do I know your work is sustainable for the long term?
Everything we do aspires to long term local solutions. We have trained local enterprises who now continue to work independently.
Long term monitoring via follow-up visits from our local partner ensures extra support is available if needed – a look back study of 899 of our waterpoints installed between 2004 & now, shows 91% are working and we have plans to repair those that need it.
Because communities are actively involved in every stage of the projects, they take ownership and responsibility for the works.
We really can prove the impact too. Data collection and interviews with community members show us that diseases are reducing, quality of life is improving, and people are really benefiting.