By Julie Cole | Fundraiser, HOPE UK
Good news! Work is commencing on the Alugude and Durbe Water System! The six small villages that will benefit from the Alugude and Durbe Water System will soon have access to clean water just minutes from their home.
Firstly, the spring will be capped and a 30m3 water tank will be built to serve the villages. Then 5.15 km of trenches will be dug between the fresh water source and the community and pipes will be laid to carry the clean water to the eight new water points using a gravity-fed system. To achieve this, the whole community will get involved - with the guidance of HOPE staff - digging, carrying, transporting, and so on. For this particular project, the construction of the water system will take three months. HOPE staff are estimating that the taps will be turned on in early July 2018. However, the investment in this community of 1,986 will carry on for another 21 months as health education will continue, as well as the facilitation of Self Help Group business training for 200 women.
In all of HOPE's work, we place a high value on monitoring and evaluation activities and are committed to being a learning organisation, constantly seeking ways to improve and have a bigger impact. Monitoring and evaluation is performed on our projects internally by the HOPE Ethiopia staff and primary users, and the results are shared with all stakeholders. Day-to-day monitoring of the project involves the community's own locally appointed Water Committee. They collect information about the state of the water system and its effect on the community - e.g. leaking taps, erosion near the source or any related hygienic or health issues within the community - and then take the appropriate action. At the end of the project, there will be a comprehensive review of the new water system by various Ethiopian government departments, including water, the mining and energy department, the zonal finance and economic development, the zonal health department, the energy and economic development office, the finance and economic development office and the local ward health office.
In conclusion, it is universally agreed that each community should own the development activities taking place in their village. It will be essential that the community of Alugude and Durbe can run the interventions by themselves after HOPE staff have moved on. Their active participation in the water system’s construction - which is starting now - and their level of adoption for the system and its maintenance will ensure its sustainability. For this reason, HOPE will provide much training for the soon-to-be appointed Water Caretakers, who be taught the technical aspects of how to maintain their water system, and HOPE will also provide them each with simple maintenance tools so they are equipped to do so.
Each HOPE water project intends to change the primary users’ way of life, saving them time, encouraging changes in hygiene behavior, and so on. The community of Alugude and Durbe is ready for this to happen and are prepared to embrace the benefits of access to clean water, whilst knowing the responsibility of maintaining and looking after the system for years to come.
Thank you again for your support of this project. You have positively changed lives.
If you desire to help bring clean water to another village, do consider supporting our next project In Chano Dorga as well. http://globalgiving.org/projects/help-hope-bring-clean-water-to-chano-dorga
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