Humasol
Beschrijving:
Van:
One of the projects of Humasol is an ongoing – so far – three year project, with each year different students and a different input, following Sustainable Development Goal 6: to ensure access to water and sanitation for all, because water is life!
Humasol vzw supported by KU Leuven
Faculteit/Departement/ Opleiding/Externe partners: Engineering Sciences and ‘Cultures and Development Studies’
Samenvatting: Humasol vzw is a Belgian fourth pillar organisation that is involved in renewable energy in the South, and which is fully functional through and for students and volunteers. Every year, about 30 students are working on projects in countries like Benin, Cambodia, Uganda, Peru, and so forth, to collaborate with the local community in technical, social and cultural projects. Humasol is closely involved with several universities in Belgium resulting in nearly all students to fulfill their official internship or thesis research with a VLIR-UOS scholarship through projects offered and supported by Humasol.
Contact: info@humasol.be
Website: www.humasol.be
Since 2013, Humasol students have been working on a multidisciplinary project for a local organisation in the Tororo District in Uganda, with a double focus. On one hand, Humasol has a specific focus on renewable energy and the access to safe water for communities and two Health Centers. Hereby students implemented projects to rehabilitate boreholes and create solar-powered hydropumps providing clean and safe flowing water for the Health Centers. On the other hand, Humasol students have been focussing on raising awareness on the importance of clean water, hygiene and sanitation, by organising social, cultural and educational workshops for local communities in collaboration with the local government’s Health and Development officers. In general, all projects, whether social or technical, are prepared in Belgium by the students through support of senior Humasol members and in collaboration with companies. During their actual internship stay abroad, students are faced with several factors that are related to implementing projects in a developing country, urging them to face the multicultural aspects of these projects. Humasol prepares its students for these situations by organizing multiple workshops and ‘cultural awareness sessions’ about a wide range of social and culturally related development topics. By conducting projects for the local community, and working with not only local materials, but also members of the local community and the local government, Humasol students get a thorough sense of the interesting culturally bounded complexity of a project in a developing country. So far, in case of the project in Uganda, this mixture of the multidisciplinary and multiculturally approach of Humasol has resulted in the provision of safe water for two health centers through solar-powered hydro installations, the rehabilitation of over 35 boreholes and the raised level of awareness of over 17 local communities. Resulting directly in the improved access to safe drinking water for over 75.000 people in the local communities, and the access to flowing safe water for two Health Centers that have a rate of about 250 patients a day, and even each have a maternity where up to 1200 children get born every year! Not only does Humasol focus on the direct results of this multidisciplinary approach, further indirect outcomes are also highly valued. In that regards, Humasol highly supports the knowledge exchange and reproduction that occurs when students conduct their projects abroad by including the local communities in the implementation phase of their projects, aiming for more durable and sustainable outcomes. Currently, as is the case for Uganda, more people are closely involved in – and are capable of – the maintenance of boreholes that have been rehabilitated in their presence, several people are capable of managing the solar-powered water installations, and countless community members are advocating for hygiene and sanitation in their close environment, spreading the message, that water is life!