Following the destruction by Cyclone Idai, Silveira House intervened with the Humanitarian Aid support to Cyclone Idai affected population in Chipinge District Zimbabwe Project in Chipinge District between May 2019 and March 2020. The project covered three broad outcomes, namely: improved access to safe water, improved access to sanitation facilities and improved knowledge on good health and hygiene practices.
Access to Safe Water
The project drilled a total of 8 boreholes in the selected schools and Tongogara Refugee Camp. It also conducted rehabilitation of 7 and repaired 19 boreholes in wards 1, 3 and 5. The project then collected 34 water samples from 34 drilled and rehabilitated/repaired boreholes for water quality monitoring. Training of 34 Water Point Management Committees was also conducted as a way of facilitating community based management and sustainability.
The project worked closely with government departments in the implementation of the activities in the project area. District Development Fund (DDF) was supervising siting, drilling, capacity test and installation of new boreholes. Furthermore, DDF played a pivotal role in borehole rehabilitation from identifying quality parts from suppliers and assigned their ward based Pump Minders to conduct borehole rehabilitations/repairs. It also trained Pump Care Takers on basic maintenance of boreholes. Different government departments namely; Rural District Council, DDF, Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) and Ministry of youth facilitated water point committee trainings that were conducted in new and rehabilitated/repaired boreholes.
Access to Sanitation Facilities
The project trained 32 builders for 6 days from the three wards 1, 3 and 5 at Mutema Clinic in ward 3 – Mabuyaye village and the training was facilitated by 2 Environmental Health Technicians. During the training, builders managed to complete 10 latrines in Mabuyaye village. At the end of the training the builders were equipped with builders’ tools and protective clothing to use during construction. After the training, the builders went on to construct 355 household latrines in 5 villages. During the implementation of the project it was realised that there is a number of unfinished latrines in the area and the project had made savings which facilitated rehabilitation of 131 latrines. One disability friendly latrine was constructed at Nyakumwana village for a disabled woman who uses a wheelchair.
Hygiene Promotion
The project conducted 3 refresher training courses for 42 Village Health Workers (VHWs) on Participatory Health and Hygiene Education (PHHE) at ward level. Upon completion of the refresher trainings the VHW went on to conduct PHHE sessions at village level and distributed Information Education Communication (IEC) materials. 600 households benefited from the distribution of WASH kits that consisted of bucket with tap, 2 bars of soap, pack of 10 children diapers, Aqua tablets and a pack of 10 sanitary pads.
In total, 3012 families benefited from the project and now have access to water, sanitation facilities and practice better hygiene.
