Aqua Clara International has established a training center for WASH training activities & oversight; trained 10 filter producing social entrepreneurs(supplying materials sufficient for the construction and installation of their first 500 filters)
Narrative
As is fairly typical, the implementation phase of the project brought a combination of success and a few unexpected hitches that we overcame along the way! It seems appropriate that I am writing this final report from our completed training center in Rigoma Market. The ACI staff are working away in the offices, training room and lab, and there is an artist painting some informational illustrations on the exterior wall of the training center. It has been a busy year. Here are some of the highlights.
The first status/progress report reflects one of the early challenges that we faced when the farmers' cooperative reneged on their agreement to donate the training hall and small plot. Fortunately this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as, when the local District Officer heard about our need for a new training and demonstration location, he offered us a more centrally located space adjacent to the market in Rigoma. There were many advantages to this new location - it is part of the District Officer's local headquarters so there are a lot of people passing by each day as they come to renew their identity cards, attend public meetings or go to the market. Another advantage was that the local police officers are close by so they are able to keep a close eye on the training center during the night. The best part about this new location was that it was directly donated to Aqua Clara by the District Officer, the local chiefs and the local community - it is public property and represents an important affirmation of Aqua Clara's work. People who stop by the office want to see how their space has been used. This local ownership has been one of the things that we are most proud of in this project.
The new location wasn't in quite as good shape as the original building (i.e. there wasn't a roof or a floor in some of the offices), so we had to review our initial budget for renovation. We worked hard to get the most competitive quotations for the renovation project and soon local fundis (workmen) were hard at work. Switching on the lights for the first time was a great moment that brought a round of applause from everyone gathered.
The pace of the project really picked up in December or 2010 when Professor Ted Loudon of Michigan State University arrived in Kenya. Prof Loudon is an expert on sanitation and has extensive experience of implementing sanitation projects around the world. We recruited the Community Development Entrepreneurs (CDEs) and Community Health Promoters (CHPs) who lived nearby and our team worked hard to clear the demonstration plot adjacent to the training hall. It was incredible to see how fast everyone worked - the women in particular wielded their jembes (hoes) very effectively. During one of these days, the local district agricultural officer (Romana Mbinya) stopped by to see what was happening and was so enthusiastic about the project that she worked with us for a week. This was an unanticipated bonus to the project as Romana has since become one of our closest government partners. Romana was particularly excited about the ecological sanitation latrines that we have constructed on the demonstration plot as she had attended workshops about this type of latrine, but did not have the financial resources to demonstrate them at the community level. Romana has been using the demonstration plot with latrines to train local farmers in the area. This is a great example of how this project is working in support of local government efforts.
The decision to put example vegetable plots next to the latrines has worked out very well. With Romana's advice, we planted a variety of vegetables that are common in the local area. The idea was that we would plant two beds of maize, two beds of beans, two beds of sukuma wiki (a local green) etc side by side, and then fertilize one of each of the vegetable beds with the urea from the urine diversion dry composting latrine. This has proven to be a very effective visual way of demonstrating the value of recycling human waste for use in the shamba (farm).
During the construction of the arbor loo, we quickly realized that the location of the demonstration site was unsuitable for this type of latrine. The water table was at about 1 meter below ground and the latrine pit filled with water very quickly. We continued to construct the portable superstructure and the moveable slab as we still want to be able to show an example of this type of latrine at the training center, although it cannot be used. When we give tours of the demonstration area, our staff are able to use this latrine to train on the importance of selecting the appropriate type of latrine for the specific location. The concept of the arbor loo is popular however, and one the the Community Health Promoters spoke about how she always plants a banana tree in her full latrine pits - she is definitely going to be one of our key advocates for eco-san latrines! Seeing the latrines is a great catalyst for discussion and debate. The CHP who planted a banana tree in her full latrine pits now knows of a simple way to build a moveable slab and superstructure as opposed to spending scarce resources on these items each time a latrine pit filled. While the arbor loo is not appropriate for this particular site, it will be appropriate for some of the ACI partner schools where the water table is deeper.
The next stage of the project was the training of the new Community Development Entrepreneurs(CDEs). [In the proposal, we referred to these people as Community Development Officers. However, it was decided that this created confusion in the local community as the word 'officer' carries the connotation that that person was being paid by ACI as opposed to the reality that they were creating their own income from their independent ACI business.] The selection procedure for the new group of CDEs worked as follows. The school administration, local chiefs and parents association nominated 3 local community members to go forward for interview by ACI staff. The ACI staff then interview the candidates and select the best person to go forward for training. The Community Health Promoters were also selected in the same way.
This year, ACI launched the program in the Eldoret area with Purdue and Moi Universities. It made sense to combine the training sessions for the two program areas so in April, we held a week long residential training just outside Eldoret. The decision was made to combine the CHP, CDE and School Rep training sessions so that each group would be more knowledgeable about the work of the other. It also helped to foster a team spirit which has been a good source of support for the participants as they returned to their communities. In the original application, we proposed training 10 new Community Development Entrepreneurs. There have been many applications from local schools who wish to be part of the ACI program, but we wanted to consolidate some of our base schools before we moved forward with a larger expansion. Therefore we trained 5 new CDEs, and reselected new CDEs for 4 of our schools where the original CDEs had proven to be ineffective. The training, tooling and launch costs are the same as was stated in the original proposal.
The training workshop went very well and the ACI staff used a variety of interactive educational training tools developed by CAWST to train on key WASH issues. The participatory learning environment helped the participants to discuss important and sensitive issues. At the end of the week, one CDE commented that he would remember this training for the rest of his life and was excited to take what he had learned back to his community.
Program launches in our rural partner schools have become important fixtures on the ACI calendar. A launch follows a training workshop and is designed to give the CDE's a boost as they start their business in their local community. The launches are led by local ACI staff, the CDE and CHP for the area and the partner school. The local community are invited to the launch and work together to construct the school's first biosand water filter. This is an important public validation of the CDE's business as well as an opportunity for local community members to ask questions and learn more about how the ACI program works. ACI staff lead the community members in an interactive game called 'the human biosand filter.' Basically, this involves all of the participants acting out the various removal mechanisms that take place inside the filter to better understand how the filter works. There is always a lot of laughter and jostling to be the strongest predator microbe in the biolayer! Sales began at the launch days and the CDEs immediately started work at the beginning of June.
Sales of filters have been strong with 300 filters sold by the 9 trained CDEs to date. Obviously this only represents 5 months of work, so they are on track to reach the target that we anticipated in the original proposal. ACI also found a new supplier for safe water storage containers which has proven to be very popular. [The specific container is also commonly known as the "Oxfam bucket."] The safe water storage containers are attractive, durable and most importantly are a safe way to store and distribute clean drinking water. The trained CHPs have been visiting the filters 30 days after they have been installed and have been actively training on WASH improvements at the household level. During the year, ACI school clubs were also established at the partner schools and these have proven to be a very effective way of training school children on water and hygiene as well as ensuring that the ACI products at the school are in good condition.
The original proposal contained provision for a turbidimeter. However, Purdue University donated a turbidimeter to ACI in Kenya in August of this year, so it was unnecessary to purchase another one. The money saved went towards the higher cost of renovating the training center.
The training center is in full daily use and has transformed the work of ACI in Kenya. We have space to properly demonstrate and train on the ACI initiatives, a field laboratory to conduct ongoing water tests, and an office that tracks and administers the program in the area. People drop into the office on a regular basis for a glass of water and learn more about ecological sanitation, hygiene, drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting practices. Informative signs on the walls help educate and reinforce knowledge on the multi-barrier approach to safe water and hand washing etc.
The ACI team were delighted to welcome Katie Spotz to Kenya at the end of 2011. Katie funded this project through her Row for Water and it was great to be able to show her the results of her efforts. The CDEs and CHPs were amazed to hear about her achievements and commitment to getting clean water to those in need. Thanks Katie!
