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Tap stands, toilets and handwashing stations: Improving sanitation in Saya Mure

Access to safe water and sanitation is essential to the realisation of all other human rights. That’s why Raleigh volunteers in Saya Mure are working hard to ensure that people living in the community have access to basic facilities which will maintain a healthy village. Volunteers are digging a number of toilet pits for new household latrines and are building 13 new handwashing stations which will help improve sanitation and hygiene. These handwashing stations will provide a fixed place for handwashing which will be invaluable for households in Saya Mure, especially in light of a recent outbreak of diarrhoea and cholera in the community.

The first steps towards constructing a new hand washing station

Manu is the secretary of the Water User Committee in Saya Mure and is receiving one of the 13 new hand washing stations. She said:

“Last year there were great problems in the community with diarrhoea and cholera because our water pipe was infected with germs. We had to dig out our whole pipe and re-pipe the entire system, and then clean and sanitise all our resources. It was successful at the time, but we are still working on improving sanitation in the community.”

Manu is the secretary of the Water User Committee in Saya Mure

“Since the Raleigh volunteers have been here they have sharing knowledge with the children here on how to wash their hands properly, which, with the new handwashing stations they are building, will help keep them safe from illnesses.  Once my new handwashing station has been built, I know that I will use it before eating and before preparing food, because I am the responsible person here and will need to be a good example for my children. I know that by doing such things, my children will get less ill and it’ll be good for us health-wise and income-wise”

On top of building new hand washing stations, the volunteers in Saya Mure are helping to construct a number of new tap stands which will provide more public water access points for the community.

Raleigh volunteer Sujan digs pipeline trenches for the new tap stands

Raleigh volunteer Sara said: “We’re digging lots of trenches so we can connect water to new tap stands. A lot of people here are sharing public tap stands for their daily water needs, so by providing more tap stands it means people won’t have to wait as long for water. Life can be quite hard here as day-to-day life is filled with daily chores, so if we can make life one step easier by providing new tap stands and hand washing stations then that will be really important.”

Jemima and Hannah carry out a number of water quality tests

A key part of the project is ensuring that the water is pure and healthy for the community. Alongside project partner Goreto Gorkha, Raleigh volunteers have been carrying out a variety of water quality tests. Raleigh volunteer Jemima said:

“It’s important for us to do a water quality test so that we can see if the water is safe to drink and use. We did up to ten tests, testing for things like fecal matter and determining the acidity of the water. It’s important to see if the water’s pure enough and for the community to know the quality of the water, so that they know whether it’s safe to drink and cook with.”

The results of the water quality test are passed on to the local government authorities for Saya Mure who will treat the water for any areas which need improvement. The water will then be retested by project partner Goreto Gorkha in six months to ensure the continual improvement of the community water supply.

Team Saya Mure

By monitoring the water quality and providing facilities to maintain good hygiene, Raleigh volunteers are helping to improve life for people in Saya Mure. With every brick placed on a new handwashing station and with every step taken towards a new tap stand, the volunteers are contributing to Sustainable Development Goal number 6, doing their bit in the global effort to provide clean water and sanitation for everyone by 2030.

Clouds roll in over Saya Mure

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