table of contents preamble 1. summary - ACT - Advanced ...

Community management
In order to enhance community ownership and sustainability, the programme involves
community in all stages of the project. The target group is informed on its roles and
responsibilities. It contributes all local materials, designs volunteers to be trained by the
masons and guarantees all unskilled labour. Water source committees are elected by the users
and trained in leadership skills and simple financial management.
Not all water points already have a committee and from the 22 committees that have been
trained only five are effectively functioning. At one water point where the committee has not
yet received training, the group is functioning thanks to the strong motivation of a number of
members.
In nearly all places there is still a lack of information transmission and motivation to the
whole group of users. It makes it difficult for the motivated members of the committee to
collect the financial contributions on a regular basis and to involve everyone in the good
maintenance of the water point.
Women make up for about 40% of the members of the committees and in different places they
have an important contribution in the mobilisation and the decision making.
Next to this the training of local pump mechanics was provided for. This training seems to be
technically fairly well and the mechanics claim to be able to do themselves simple repairs.
They have in the meantime done several small repairs. However the mechanics are often out
of touch with the right prices of spare parts. They neither know whom to turn to in case of
bigger problems.
Hygiene and sanitation
This component started only very late, but nevertheless in most villages the start of a
mentality change can already be noticed.
The staff received a thorough training from the Ugandan office of Water Aid. At the
beginning of ’98 a baseline survey was executed in 35 target villages, with the intention to get
on the one hand a better picture of the present situation and on the other hand a better
understanding of the perception, the behaviour and the expectations of the target group in
relation to hygiene and sanitation.
In every village where a water point is installed, hygiene and sanitation promoters were
designed by the population and trained by the project staff. They motivate the population to
pay more attention to household hygiene and to build latrines. In many households this has
already led to important evolutions : better use and storage of drinking water, more cleanliness
in and around the house, cooking and eating materials are washed and dried on plate racks…
Also around the water points the area is mostly clean : urinating and defecating around the
water point has stopped, bathing and washing up-stream within the contributing catchment
spring also stopped with the construction of wash basins downstream. The construction and
use of the latrines does not really start. People appear to be prepared to dig the pit for the
latrine, but they cannot invest in the slabs (UNICEF in the meantime has stopped its project to
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