The wash washrag

The Wash Issue 1 | July 2016

UGANDA PROJECT Rotary Global Grant supports the Uganda Rotary Water Plus initiave to provide universal access to water in Uganda.

WINS CHALLENGE Sensitisation of Kenya clubs on Wins WASH challenge

GREAT EFFORTS A look at UAE's great efforts at providing its population with clean drinking water

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The Wash Issue 1 | July 2016

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TABLE OF CONTENTS pg 2

Editorial

pg 3

Water Events

pg 4

Join a water verification team to Uganda

pg 5

A reliable water source can be the difference between life and death

pg 6

Water and Sanitation in the Oduworo-Kanapa in Teso region

pg 9

Wins in Kenya

pg 10 UAE: Great Water Efforts

PDG GEETA MANEK - Editor

Welcome to our first edition of 'The WASH', where water is our world. The WASH is your monthly WASH stories compiled by WASRAG contributors from all over the world . The aim is to promote and sustain WASH knowledge and support Wasrag in their work of encouraging and supporting excellence, innovation and sustainability in Rotary WASH programs.

Visit www.wasrag.org TODAY. PS: We welcome your comments and feedback.

WATER IS THE DRIVING FORCE OF A LL NATURE" "...

- Leornardo Da Vinci -

WATER EVENTS A ROUND THE WORLD visit www.wasrag.com TODAY

know any other water events happening around the world?

WATER STORIES

BY GINNY RIAN JOIN A SECRETARY, WASRAG BOARD PROJECT • Municipal authorities who have VERIFICATION played a major role in the regional development of the project and Enjoying water TEAM TO assurance of its sustainability. in the village We will end our trip with a three day UGANDA visit to a luxury lodge in Uganda’s Rotary Global Grant# GG1525797 was undertaken to support the Uganda Rotary Water Plus initiave to provide universal access to water in Uganda. It was funded to provide hygiene education and safe water to 24 villages in Apac, Uganda and has moved forward successfully. The project was initiated by the Spring Lake Rotary Club and was funded by contributions from: nine Rotary Clubs in District 6290 (Michigan); the Rotary Club of Lira, Uganda (District 9211); and the Rotary Foundation.

As the project progressed we learned some valuable lessons and gained much insight. In celebration of the project’s success, Rotarians lfrom Michigan will visit Lira, Uganda this Fall to join our partners in Lira

WATER IS OUR WORLD

and visit project sites, review the processes used to accomplish the work, and document the steps that have been taken to assure the sustainability of the project,. We will meet with: • The many Rotarians in Uganda who have made the project possible; most notably • The Uganda Rotary Water Plus Committee, which has been a critical partner in supporting the development of the project and its success within the context of Uganda wide project planning; • Staff of International Lifeline, the NGO working on the ground to provide the education, community development and boreholes in the 24 villages; and

Murchison Falls National Park . We will take game drives and a boat up the Nile River to see the animals that live on the River and the savanna.

This trip provides a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in developing a grant in Uganda. It will focus on water and sanitation , expand their understanding of the resources available within the country to support Rotary projects, and create friendships and wonderful memories. However, there will be limited space available on this trip. If you are interested in joining us and would like to learn more please contact: Ginny Ryan Email: Ginny@WASRAG.org (616) 844-2612

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A reliable water source can be the difference between life and death

BY PETER KASOGO Bweyogerere Namboole Rotary Club is one of the pioneer Rotary Clubs that have carried out a WASH project with the support and guidance of Uganda Water Rotary Plus. The project was in response to the persistent press releases of water flooding in Butalejja District caused by the overflow of River Manafa that was frequently breaking its banks into the neighbouring low lying villages destroying gardens, affecting food production, food security and cash crops; overrunning the only open water sources for Buffujja community and its underlying villages.

Sanitation in these areas was also worsened as often toilets were also filled up by the flooding, leading to a number of diseases like Cholera outbreaks and diarrhoea. This scenario created other problems like used up firewood sources.

This ultimately affected the health of communities in these villages due to the many hygiene related effects. Over 80% of illnesses then were linked to poor water and sanitation conditions and less than 10% could access safe drinking water with over 80% residents without access to adequate sanitation facilities.

The Rotary Club of Bweyogerere Namboole, developed an Adopt a village project for this area. The Project had four components; Water and Sanitation, Health Care, Education and Alternative Income for the Village inhabitants. Water and sanitation component with objectives cutting across the other three received overwhelming support.

WATER IS OUR WORLD

Uganda Water Rotary Plus advised that we first concentrate on Water and sanitation component. This advice, which tallied with the community needs assessment led to the sub project design titled; Buffujja Water Sanitation and hygiene project. Subsequently, Uganda Water Rotary Plus provided the project review; advise and also assisted in identifying the International Rotary Club partner with whom we put together the water and sanitation project component.

In September 2014, Buffujja sanitation and hygiene project GG 1417543 worth USD 35,814 was approved by Rotary Foundation. This project was to provide clean drinking water, hygiene and sanitation facilities and education related to health impacts and importance of clean drinking water, hygiene and sanitation to the village of Buffujja and six other nearby communities. It also included education and follow up support to ensure the project sustainability.

The objectives of the Project were: 1. To sensitize the community about Heath improvement, the importance of education, effects of drinking unsafe water and the dangers associated with poor environment.

2. To provide clean drinking water 3. To provide hygiene and sanitation facilities 4. To provide training in the use of reusable menstrual pads as a way to better hygiene and the use of energy saving cooking methods.

5. To provide education and follow up support to ensure the project’s sustainability

The benefiting community Buffujja Village is located in Butalejja district in Eastern Uganda and until recently was one of the areas that did not have access to safe drinking water, mainly due to the unpredictable weather changes that could not favour either rainy or dry periods. The village has an area of approximately 10 sq. Kilometres with about 6,000 persons mostly peasants that are engaged in mainly brick making and petty jobs are now directly benefiting from the project that is serving the village of Buffujja and the underlying communities and the only community school with a pupil population of 800 students.

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Adopting a village in Uganda

Water and Sanitation in the Oduworo-Kanapa, Teso region

BY RTN SAMUEL MUTONO, PP RC OF KAMPALA WEST The RC KW has been implementing various projects over the years. The big ongoing support is Oduworo-Kanapa in Teso region, which is being implemented in partnership with District 5330.

The story of the D5330 Village started in late 2006. D5330 in South California, USA, wanted to start a District-wide International Project and in January 2007, sent its District International Officers to look at villages, which District Partners in four countries; Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and India had nominated for evaluation. The criteria for selection were, among others, as follows: • Extremely poor and needy village • Lack of government or other alternative interventions available • The community’s willingness to take responsibility for their own development (rather than sit back and wait for assistance) and to be a keen partner in making maximum use of available opportunities to develop itself.

Of the four villages, D5330 selected Oduworo-Kanapa Village, in Uganda, as their first District-wide International Project. The village was nominated by and is coordinated by the Rotary Club of Kampala West, in Uganda, D9211. When D5530 adopted the village a needs assessment was carried out, involving all the stakeholders. The village has about 4,000 households which was divided into four groups; men, women, youths and the elderly. The consensus on water by all did not need any explanation. Oduworo-Kanapa is an arid area with no major water source in the village. Water is collected from shallow holes in the ground during the rainy season. The muddy water sources are shared by people and animals alike. The water holes also serve as bathing places and for washing clothes, further compounding the already dirty water.

THE STYLE SECTION

Project Status Report Details Water and sanitation: The objectives were to supply rain water harvesting underground tanks to schools; Training of the youth and community in making bio sand water filters and later generate income; To repair, install and drill more boreholes in the community. Progress and Milestones: With the help of the Rotary Community Corp (RCC) , 9 boreholes that had been previously drilled by the local government were repaired and 12 new ones were drilled with aid from Rotary clubs of Kampala West, Lakewood California and D5330 making a total of 21. The community, through their Operation and Maintenance Initiative (OMI), have operated and maintained the boreholes in cases of breakage or damages at a cost not mentioned by RCC. According to Paul, the care taker of Oduoro borehole, “this borehole is a gift to us because; it serves not only Oduoro village but also the 3 nearby villages from the next parish. We thank you Rotary” In regard to the underground tanks, 2 schools (Kanapa Primary school and Totolim primary school) each benefited 2 underground tanks (each 52000 litres) to harvest rain water.

Both tanks were sunk and are operational. The school administration is the care taker of the tanks. The primary beneficiaries were the school going children and the surrounding communities. Bio sand water filters. Training was provided to the community members in the village in the making of bio-sand filters and 200 bio-sand filters were made and distributed to the community. The Fabrication materials were left with the community to enable them continue the activity as an income generating activity. Most of the beneficiaries were from Totolim and Obotia being that these villages are close to the lake belt. Most of the bio filters are for home use.

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THE STYLE SECTION

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SENSITISATION OF CLUBS ON THE WINS CHALLENGE

WinS In Kenya Following a two days training session and field visits by RI staff, Rotary in Kenya has been well prepared to join the WinS challenge. A 9-member Recognition Committee led

by Jane Otima (RC Muthaiga) and working closely with the RI WinS representative PDG Bimal is championing the challenge in the 8 regions of Kenya (Nairobi, Coast, Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Western, Central and Rift Valley). The committee is further supported by a dedicated Rotaractor Brian Mwenda.

The role of the Recognition committee includes; • to work with clubs to qualify for the first level recognition (One star), based on existing projects or appraisal of completed projects • after project completion and/or review, validate and recommend clubs to be recognised (first Star) • meet periodically to review progress and recommend clubs • review and validate applications by clubs for recognition based on completed projects • recommend clubs for second and third recognition (2nd and 3rd stars) to WinS RI staff.

Each committee member has been assigned to sensitise

BY RTN JANE MUNGOMA

rotary clubs covering a specific geographic region for ease of reach. By end of July 2016 we hope to have sensitized over 70 Rotary clubs in Kenya and got some to sign onto the challenge. The committee is keen to initially work with clubs that have exiting grants in WASH as this gives an easier entry point to moving towards the WinS challenge.

Specifically, in this phase the committee is: 1. Sensitising clubs on the RI WASH in schools approach and Target • Clubs that wish to participate in the challenge and to be recognised MUST align their WASH projects to the WinS approach - starting with 1 star • Projects that qualify would have been completed and monitored for a minimum 6 months • Projects completed earlier will be evaluated against the WinS prerequisites for the different levels of recognition 2. Register clubs that are willing to move their WASH projects to the WinS challenge 3. For clubs in 2 above; • Support baseline data collection encourage clubs to have team to support data collection team to include Rotaractors where possible • Sign agreement with the club to follow the WinS approach • Discuss possibilities of fundraising for a WinS project if they have no ready funds for the same.

UAE

We can do anything with water except live without it.

Great Water Efforts SOURCE: CELEBRATEWATERNEW.CO.KE

Imagine, the cities of the UAE, meet all their drinking water needs from desalinated water! Waste water is treated and reused for greenery. There are several sea water desalination plants in the UAE. In the model green city Masdar, four smaller pilot desalination plants will use solar power! Using an old technology, ocean desalination, a plant in UAE, at Jebel Ali can produce 564 million gallons of water a day from the sea! Everyone pays for water by public meter, so they are more careful with its use.

Water saving toilets and showerheads are mandatory. Over use of water is indicated on the bills in red. It is time we thought about the use of water more carefully, when it is still available. Treating water becomes more and more expensive as we deplete our supplies.

In spite of their water issues, UAE is generously involved in efforts to provide foreign water aid, which include basic water supplies projects, digging wells, developing rivers basins, general hygiene, large scale water supply systems, large scale general hygiene systems and conservation of water resources in more than 61 countries, at a cost exceeding AED 1 billion. Top recipient countries of water projects includes: Afghanistan, Pakistan the only two Polio affected countries where impure water is key source of infection, Lebanon, Somalia and Sudan. In addition, UAE supports water projects in West African countries, such as Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Burundi.

Water projects have contributed in improving the enrolment rates of the school students, and for girls and women joining rates to adult literacy classes. In rural areas around the world, children, especially girls and women, are engaging in a daily journey searching for water, and spending long hours that force them to miss opportunities of education and improving their livelihoods.

Funded water projects helped in improving the personal hygiene, which reduced infections of hygiene related diseases. In addition, the availability of water resources saved some time for women to take care of their children and families, which led to improved maternal and child health. It also provides more time for the family to engage in income- generating activities. Also water availability helped in reducing the struggle over water. This helped in reducing conflicts, providing security and peace. For example, Merowe Dam in Sudan, which UAE has helped fund in providing energy of 1250 MW and irrigating 300,000 hectares of cultivated land. Unless we are careful, we will soon join the 1.2 billion people who live in places where it is tough to get water.

It is estimated that climate change is moving more parts of the world into desertification. The world population is expected to cross 9 billion by 2050! Unless we start working on saving water, even on an individual level, most of them will be thirsty. Start rain harvesting today! Start conserving water!

Rotary in the sub continent, under the leadership of RI Director Manoj Desai will hold their annual Institute in Dubai in December 2016. www.dubairotaryinstitute2016.org

WATER IS OUR WORLD

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