Safe water and clean hands in Torba Province 2,750 people in Torba province will benefit from access to drinking water throughout the year, and will have the possibility to attend hygiene promotion sessions. Improving access to drinking water is one of the Millennium Development Goals, and is a health priority for the Vanuatu Red Cross Society. For two years, the French and Vanuatu Red Cross have implemented a program enabling access to drinking water through the construction of gravity Fed Systems and Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Torba province. The first phase of the program (« Supporting Community Planning for more resilient Vanuatu and Solomon Islands »),implemented from July 2012 to March 2014, allowed to improve the access to drinking water in five communities of Motalava Island. The second phase of the program («Supporting Community Planning: mitigating the impact of disasters by copying with water challenges »)further develops and extends the first phase’s activities, including hygiene promotion, for the population in Torba province, and will end in March 2015. These two phases have been funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign disaster assistance (OFDA). During the preparatory phase of the project, surveys revealed that 80% of the population of the province does not have access to drinkable water, and 2,200 persons suffer from water shortages during the drought season. This study also helped identifying other factors leading to waterborne diseases, as bad hygiene practices linked to the low number of latrines,and water and food management which is not appropriate.Drinking unsafe water implies major health risks, because of the spreading of waterborne diseases (typhoid fever, gastroenteritis, dysentery, polio, hepatitis). The project will consequently develop awareness-raising sessions for the population focusing on good hygiene practices, in order to contribute to the decrease of these diseases. Thanks to the Red Cross support, the project will allow 15 communities to build two Gravity Fed Systems in Gaua Island and 16 rain water harvesting installations in Torba province, which will provide drinkable water to 2750 people, and reduce the spreading of waterborne diseases. To start the activities, the Red Cross has chartered a boat that left Port Vila on the 11th of August 2014. This barge will deliver the equipment needed for the construction of water infrastructures.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 02:38:41 +0000
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