In January 2016 Meeting Needs kindly supported Village Water with a grant of £4,100 which enabled us to transform lives in Shingole Village in Zambia with hygiene education, sanitation and safe water.
The village has a total population of 104 in 21 households; 40 men, 46 women and 18 children. The communities main source of income is farming and the staple crops are cassava and groundnuts. Before Village Water’s intervention, water was sourced from a scoop hole 700m outside the village, which meant many daily trips to collect water. This waterpoint was completely unprotected and open to contamination and sanitation facilities in the community were very poor and open defecation was the norm.
The project has resulted in hygiene education sessions taking place, households then went onto build simple tippy taps, pit latrines, bath shelters, dishracks and refuse pits from freely available materials. A follow up check found that the village has installed sanitation facilities and were open defecation free. The new water point was then installed and a 9m well was dug which fills 20L in 53 strokes. The pump is working well and produces constant water, the hygiene and sanitation standards are high and there has been a 100% reduction in diarrhoea and eye infections.
