Water Well Update

I'm (Wendy) actually in the U.S. right now working a brief nursing assignment but wanted to send out updates as I get them.

 

Drilling will begin soon to place a water well in Rwesero village!!!  You can reference this blog post if you'd like the backstory regarding the well's beginnings:(http://davenportsonmission.blogspot.com/2016/09/big-purchase.html)

Prior to drilling, Water Access Rwanda pulls the community together that the well will service and trains them in: water, sanitation, and hygiene.  (http://www.warwanda.com/wash-training)

This was just completed this week with a great turnout of 202 families represented, community health workers, and locals authorities.

 

 

 

Check out this video from a previous well that was placed courtesy of Mercy Hospital:

 

http://www.warwanda.com/

 

 

 

If you want more details, you can see the report below from the training session that took place in the village. 

 
 

Thanks again for your support as we partner together with Water Access Rwanda to get clean water to Rwesoro village!

 

              ~WATER ACCESS RWANDA~

               W.A.S.H. Training Report

 

 

Partners Wendy Davenport   Area visited Rwesero Cell Kigali Sector Nyarugenge District Kigali Rwanda

September, 2016

 

 

 

Training Leader

Christian Hirwa

LifeWater mWASH Certified Trainer

hirwa@warwanda.com

 

Water Access Rwanda

BP 2376 Kigali City

Warwanda.com

 

Water Access Rwanda is the country partner of Water4, an international organization that supports and partners with manual drilling teams worldwide.

OBJECTIVE OF THE TRAINING

The main objective of the training was to strengthen the capacities of Rwesero Community with Community Health Workers to respond to emergency situations, and creating a culture of prevention in regard to drinking water quality and improved hygiene and sanitation of community of seven (7) villages of Rwesero cell, help the community up the sanitation ladder and discuss with them hand washing habits and proper water storage.

TRAINING PERIOD

The training took place on Wednesday 14^th September 2016.

TRAINERS

·        Christian HIRWA

·        Jean Pierre TWAGIRAYEZU

·        Cedric Roger BIDERI

TRAINEES

202 families of seven (7) villages of Rwesero Cell (92men, 110women) include:

·         Community Health Workers

·        Local authorities

UNITS TAUGHT

We trained 202 families including Community health workers to assure long-term knowledge and practice transfer by them.

The lesson taught involved:

·        Transformation development

·        WASH related diseases and transmission,

·        Germs and how they are spread,

·        the sanitation ladder,

·        cleaning latrines, 

·        hand washing at critical times and effective hand washing,

·        making and keeping water, food, utensils safe and clean,

·        Environmental hygiene,

·        How to make tippy taps

·         Ways people waste their money while going to hospital for waterborne diseases and how we can prevent that.

 

Soaps have been distributed to help them star practicing what we have discussed.

HOW THE TRAINING WENT?

The training went good. Everyone was excited and motivated by the lessons taught, they showed their participation and the will to change their community by motivating each other to practice Water Sanitation and Hygiene and they were so excited about the well which is going to be constructed in their Village.

WHAT CAN BE DONE DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?

It will be better to be given support document like books written in Kinyarwanda with images to facilitate more understanding.

May be discussing more about other diseases like hepatitis, Typhoid…

WHAT WAS REALLY SUCCESSFUL?

In general the training was successful, we emphasize on the use of clean water for drinking, cleaning utensils, preparing food, Most of them use stick tables outside and inside the houses to keep utensils safe and cleans, and most of them have Tippy Taps in their houses, they have good mindset that is willingly to change.

SPIRITUAL ASPECT INTO THE TRAINING

During the training, it was easy for us to include a spiritual aspect into the training because they all believe in God as the one who provides everything. We didn’t found any obstacles of spirituals aspects. 

PROBLEM MET DURING THE TRAINING

The problems found in this training:

·        There is a serious problem of access to clean water in their cell, and they were saying that one well will not be enough for them if possible they can get more wells.

·        Men are not so much interested in this kind of discussions, the majority  think this is for women

 

SOLUTION

·        The local authorities will discuss about that issue of insufficient well, and then see what can be done more.

·        And with the help of Community health workers they are going to mobilize men also to practice WASH.

FOLLOW_UP

·        Community Health Workers and the WASH committee which is going to be elected are the supervisors of giving the community the relief in WASH.

·        We are in contact with the Local authorities

 

CONCLUSION

Briefly, They already know many of what we were going to discuss, but they were very grateful to remind them especially sanitation ladder and hand washing at critical times, because they used to take latrine as the last, small and unimportant thing to be taken care of, and they witnessed that Water Sanitation and Hygiene is the key to health development for them, and that they will put into practice all the discussions.