Background
Major achievements in Water and Sanitation area and other related sectors SIDUR has experience in working on Water and Sanitation projects since 1998.The first phase of Water and Sanitation project was carried out in densely packed urban slums of Hyderabad especially Borabanda with no source of water in the houses.
The project is now complete in 7 slums and, three Sustainability Appraisal studies undertaken therein have clearly demonstrated that this project has become an alternative delivery model before government The outcome of our work so far in all these slums has given us a better perspective in understanding the concept of hygiene and sanitation in the urban slums of Hyderabad.
2. Goal:
1. To provide qualitative potable clean drinking water, accessible and effective sanitation and hygienic environs in the community Objectives:
- To provide individual water connections in slums
- To construct individual pit toilets in slums.
- To provide education in health and hygiene to the slum community.
- To educate school children on health education.
- To train, educate and give awareness to the community to maintain, evaluate and monitor the water programme.
- To impart knowledge and awareness on health and sanitation issues to slum community.
- To eradicate the habit of open defecation.
Guiding Principles
Target: 1000 ( individual water connections) and 75 ( individual toilets)
Our approach is based on the key principles:
- (a) Creating an enabling environment
- (b) Promoting more options for service delivery
- (c) Integrating water supply with sanitation, environment management and hygiene education:
- (d) Promoting participatory processes:
- (e) Targeting the poor;
- (f) Supporting integrated water resource management etc
It encompasses major shifts in terms of service delivery, ownership of schemes, cost sharing, community empowerment, institutional responsibilities etc.
Work Process
SIDUR recognized the importance of improved hygiene along with sanitation in preventing water-borne diseases. To motivate the behavioral changes necessary for improved hygiene and sanitation.
SIDUR enlisted the help of local leaders and women groups from the slums.
Women from SHG's were taken as Volunteers, or change agents, and were trained to raise awareness about hygiene related issues and to motivate the consumption of safe drinking water in their community.
SIDUR's change agents made door to door visits conducting demonstrations and promoting proper hygiene and sanitation. Being from the project community, these change agents had both an understanding of local health issues, and an established relationship based on trust within the community.
Educational materials and posters linking simple hygienic behavior to clean water and food were designed for low-literacy populations with the input from the volunteers.
Improve hygiene and sanitation conditions focusing on mobilizing the community. Bringing about a sense of shared responsibility in the community to keep these areas clean.
Community involvement in sanitation for health and hygiene was built through a sustained campaign that broadly addressed three major areas
- Health issues that arose as a result of poor sanitation
- The gender impact of poor sanitation with women suffering from lack of privacy and also being burdened with additional tasks,
- The economic costs imposed by poor sanitation in terms of increased disease and mortality.
Our Approaches
Promote proper sanitation through the following approaches where ever possible:
Provide resources for the construction of sanitary facilities which most households cannot afford.
Conduct Participatory Health and Hygiene Education workshops in all communities, to achieve the following:
Educate and articulate on the importance of sanitary facilities.
Educate and promote the proper techniques for washing hands.
Community awareness on hygiene through the following:
Prepare and distribute hygiene awareness teaching material (e.g,manuals, training aids, and strategies of intervention). Recruit and train Peer Health Educators for the sustainability of the Program.
Develop a training program that targets children (school going age) and run workshops to impart water and sanitation knowledge and practice.
Develop and distribute material with messages that promote hygiene (such as pamphlets, posters, local drama etc).
Educate caregivers or mothers on the importance of hand washing.
Educate on proper storage of water in the household.
Community awareness on HIV/AIDS and other health issues.
Project Impacts :
With a livelihoods strategy, rainwater is both a key domestic and productive resource. The effects of this project will therefore be multiple in terms of health, poverty reduction, education and equity:
- Reduction of burdens of the poor; less time spent in collecting water (particularly women and children);
- Reduction in water-related diseases as quality is usually better than water from traditional sources;
- Less sick days, savings on medical expenses and time for more economic activities;
- Improved health status as sufficient water used for all domestic purposes and improved diet less problems and growth reduction particularly among children and women as transportation of heavy loads over long distances is reduced
- Improved economic and health status from the income from other income generating activities.
- More time for education and personal development, particularly for young girls as time saved is now used for school attendance or homework.
