By Sanjita Gowda | Director of Partnerships
As discussed in our previous project update, our team recently decided to pilot an income generation project in the Nama Sub County to help water user committees (WUC) raise money to build security funds to repair borehole damage. Each water user committee member will recieve one pig to care for and eventually the piglets will be sold to raise money for borehole maintenance. The Project for Income Generation (PIG) will be piloted in one village. Based on the outcomes of the project in one village, we will determine whether to implement the project in all of communities we are partnered with. Water User Committees that were interested in leading the pilot village for the PIG project were encouraged to apply.
Peter, the manager of the Mpoma Community HIV/AIDS Initiative (MCHI) worked with the Nama Sub County Community Development Officer to distribute applications to water user committees in each of the villages involved in the WASH Project. At the biannual meeting in August, most water user committees were interested in leading the pilot village, but a few in particular stood out as most interested and most prepared. The pilot village will be determined in early January and the project will be initiated in early February.
Another component of our WASH Project is the Sanitary Pad Project. After a cost-benefit analysis, our team determined that building reusable sanitary pads out of raw materials is more expensive than purchasing reusable sanitary pads from an established company called AFRIpads. Therefore, students will still learn how to make reusable sanitary pads from raw materials in order to learn a unique skill, but each female student will receive a set of reusable pads from AFRIpads as they last longer and are less expensive.
The Sanitary Pad Project was recently expanded to another primary school called Buntubulamu Primary School. Ruth, a teacher and administrator from Johnson Nkosi Memorial Primary School, recently visited Buntubulamu Primary School in mid-November to train students on how to make reusable sanitary pads. These students will also receive reusable sanitary pads from AFRIpads.
Additionally, the water purification system that was installed at Johnson Nkosi Memorial Primary School in February is functioning tremendously. Clean water is readily accessible at all hours and school administration has noticed that students are drinking more water.
Lastly, Mpoma Community HIV/AIDS Initiative will start construction of a borehole in the village of Nsaanvu in early January. Peter and the MCHI team have worked with the community to establish and train a water user committee that will care for the borehole’s maintenance as well as the community’s sanitation and hygiene practices.
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