Safe Drinking Water Project Earns Grant to Expand Efforts in Tanzania
The Mswakini Safe Drinking Water PUR Demonstration in Tanzania Project, managed by AED's Center for Private Sector Health Initiatives (CPSHI), has been awarded an additional $70,000 in new funding made possible by Procter & Gamble's (P&G) Children's Safe Drinking Water Program (CSDW) and its partners. Since October 2009, AED has implemented a PUR distribution and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) education project in Mswakini Chini village in Tanzania through funding provided by CSDW.
PUR is a highly effective water purification product and is easy to use once demonstrated. Consistent behavioral reinforcement and communication within communities is important to ensure the long-term adoption of safe water and related hygiene and sanitation behaviors.
Through continued support from CSDW and its partners, AED will continue its work within Mswakini Chini, a Maasai village near Arusha, and expand activities into neighboring Mswakini Juu village in early 2011. The Project's goal is safe drinking water for all, with a focus on vulnerable populations, such as people living with HIV and children under the age of five.
Within Mswakini Chini, AED will continue to distribute PUR and provide reinforcement to the uptake and maintenance of improved WASH behaviors. AED will introduce PUR in Mswakini Juu in early March 2011, providing household and school-level WASH education. It has been shown that the more a community is mobilized around safe drinking water, the greater the positive reinforcement for the desired behavior and likelihood of sustainable behavior change.
To this end, AED also works closely Selian Lutheran Hospital, its local implementing partner, and government and community leaders to gain buy-in and participation at all levels through community sensitization and by providing training and refresher courses to community volunteers and education and health officials.
During the upcoming expansion period, AED aims to reach an estimated 400 households per month with PUR and WASH educational activities in Mswakini Chini and 350 in Mswakini Juu. AED will conduct new volunteer training for Mswakini Juu volunteers and community and government leaders.
Posted February 2011
Read more about the Mswakini Safe Drinking Water, PUR Demonstration project