Temeke, TZ – Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services Improved for Primary Schools – 27 Feb 2015

From October until December of 2014 Sanitation and Water Action (SAWA) was hard at work in Temeke Municipality in Tanzania. The organization partnered with UNICEF Tanzania and the Hungarian Service Charity of Malta to improve Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure for over 20,000 school children.

The goal of the collaboration was to raise awareness for proper hygiene practices, rehabilitate old sanitation facilities, and build new ones with special attention to the needs of students with disabilities and adolescent girls.

The group helped raise awareness about the importance of good hygiene by organizing school healthy clubs and providing the clubs with materials to put on role plays and dramas about the importance of good hygiene.

Governance Training

SAWA also rehabilitated two school latrines by replacing old floors, installing toilet pans, building privacy walls, installing urinals, replacing the roof, and replacing a number of other decrepit components of the structure. To further improve facilities SAWA connected water lines to the latrines, built two additional distribution points with five taps each, rehabilitated a 2,500 liter water tank and installed a new 10,000 liter water tank for students to use at school.

After finishing rehabilitation, SAWA built a new 18-hole latrine which includes two toilets for students with disabilities as well as hand washing facilities at each school.

Water projects require major investment by all stakeholders. Given the size of the investment required, it is critical to begin planning for sustainability as soon as the project is implemented. SAWA held a number of meetings with project stakeholders to discuss stakeholder responsibility, budget, and operations and maintenance.