WaterAid Projects

Mali: Healthy Communities Project

The land locked West African nation of Mali is one of the poorest countries on earth. The lack of economic stability leads to a range of serious and often deadly conditions. One of those issues is the lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

WaterAid is working to achieve their goal of reaching 59,960 people with better access to clean water and sanitation and another 72,500 people with hygiene education by 2020.

The Mali Healthy Communities program will:

• Build and rehabilitate 43 water points at schools, health centres and public spaces.
• Build and rehabilitate 42 toilet blocks in schools, health centres and public spaces. They will be gender segregated and specially designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
• Reduce the spread of infectious diseases by providing medical waste incinerators to 4 high-priority healthcare facilities and train healthcare staff on how to use and maintain them.
• Provide hygiene kits to 17 schools and seven health centres, including hygiene promotion materials, handwashing devices, garbage cans, gloves etc.
• Using a proven participatory methodology called Community-Led Total Sanitation we will encourage thousands of people in 45 villages to build their own household toilets. We will also show them how to do it by equipping 175 of the most vulnerable households with decent toilets.
• Set up 39 local committees and train them on how to operate and maintain the new infrastructure.
• Support 13 groups of women and young people in establishing small water and sanitation-related businesses (e.g. soap making) through micro-credit. This will improve their access to new economic opportunities and decent employment.

The Clean Water of Schools in East Africa — Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda

Now that the five-year journey has wrapped up, WaterAid can proudly say that 170 schools and over 120,000 students across East Africa have access to clean water and sanitation.

Through the engagement and collaboration of community members, senior school staff and government officials, WaterAid was able to:

• Develop child-friendly hygiene and toilet facilities that respect different physical and mental developmental differences of students at different ages.
• Develop gender-appropriate hygiene and toilet facilities so girls and female teachers can practice effective menstrual hygiene management in safe and private environments.
• Teach students about the importance of hygiene using drama, music, and art.
• Engage children as agents of change, building their confidence and encouraging them to spread the message about good hygiene at home and in their communities.