Start Date: 2011-08-01

Completion Date: 2012-05-01

Technology Used:

The BioSand Filter is a household point-of-use water treatment that provides up to 150liters of clean water per day, removing 90-100% of biological contaminants. Everyday an average family will have enough clean water for drinking, cooking and cleaning, reducing the risk of water related diseases. In schools, it provides enough drinking and hand-washing water for up to 100 children per filter. It is simple and easy to maintain, even for the children! It is also an entry point into the community to introduce good hygiene and sanitation practices as well as water resource protection and management. The BSF can be made locally by trained citizens using local resources.

The VIP or Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine in areas where open defecation is practiced, can create a storage for human waste to reduce the risk of water contamination for nearby water sources.

The leaders spearheading these 3 projects in 3 different parts of Central Uganda are women. Currently, GWWI has been conducting an intensive multi-week training working closely with the women to build their capacity to strengthen their existing WASH programs. This entails
 deepening their understanding about the interdependence of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and create a vision of improved health and opportunity in their communities by offering the BSF to those in need 
- conduct community surveys to collect baseline data 
- map resources and conduct needs assessments 
- construct, install, maintain and promote the BSF 
- design a strategic and business plan to promote and sell/subsidize the BSFs 
- conduct WASH Education and Outreach in their communities 
- design social marketing campaigns to promote and sell the filters 
- run a WASH Education Center and BSF production facility as a small business 
- mobilize and/or engage with the local health officials for coordinated outreach. The BSF program began a year ago when the women attended BSF trainings conducted in Uganda. Each organization conducted a BSF pilot project having installed 10-15 filters in select households and schools to 
- assess user satisfaction and challenges 
- create demand through social marketing through WASH Education 
- refine their business and marketing plan 
- establish their production facility 
- create a construction/outreach/follow-up schedule 
- test the water to ensure BSF effectiveness 
- conduct community WASH Education seminars 
- identify the most needy householders and schools to implement the next round of BSFs for this funding request

Each women's team will have enough funding to build 50 filters each. 10 will go to schools, and 40 will be implemented in impoverished households, like grandmothers taking care of orphans. The requested program funding would subsidize the filters so the women to make the BSFs available to the most needy. The recipients would offer 
- supervised sweat labor for some of the more insignificant tasks 
- sliding scale to pay for what they can afford for the filter 
- at least 2 family members to attend at least 2 WASH Education seminars.

UCOBAC will also be installing VIPs in the most needy households with single grandmothers having to take care of orphaned grandchildren. By the start time of the project, UCOBAC will have completed and piloted the VIP in their community after having received a formal training and the East African Women and Water Training as well as a customized community VIP refresher training and construction.

KWDT, named the Best Performing WASH NGO in Uganda, will be implementing more household Rainwater Harvesting and Ferro cement tanks for women-led households in Katosi. KWDTs unique model in working with women's circles and training the local women to build each other's ferro cement tank is replicable and sustainable. The KWDT women's circles raise money through "Merry-Go-Rounds", where members contribute a fixed amount per month and one woman will receive the full month's contribution to invest in a RWH system. KWDT will also invest in the woman's RWH system so they can reach their financial goal.

Phases:

Phase 1: a) Multi week Biosand Filter Training for MWATF, KWDT and UCOBAC in August 2010 covering BSF construction, M&E, WASH Resource Inventory and Needs Assessments and microbusiness development. b) Holistic WASH training for KWDT to support the desig

Community Organization:

GWWI has vetted and trained each of the 3 organizations included in this grant. They each have had success implementing projects in their communities ranging from Rainwater harvesting, toilets (Ecosan and VIP), ferro cement tanks, tippy taps for schools etc. The BSF is an added technology for all three organizations to add to their stable of services for their constituents. The VIP is an added technology for UCOBAC. And the RWH and ferro cement construction, although already being implemented in Katosi by women's groups, were implemented adhoc, with little considerations for creating a closed loop system for other technologies/strategies like greywater reuse and ecosan toilets.

Each of the organizations are over 5 years old and have strong ties to the communities with long term volunteer focal points who assist in liasioning, mobilizing and sensitizing local citizens.

Government Interaction:

During the current training, GWWI facilitates a government engagement workshop that includes partnering with local water sanitation committees, local health officials to conduct water testing with the women. Each of the organizations has various levels of engagement with local government officials. Some of them have deep long term partnerships and others have good relationships based on their contributions to the communities.

Ancillary activities:

Job skills - the women in all three organizations will add BSF construction to their stable of existing services. UCOBAC will add the VIP technology, and KWDT will begin designing first phase RWH with ferro cement tanks in preparation for other technologies like greywater reuse and Ecosan toilets.

social marketing strategies - using WASH education to promote the filter and other WASH Technologies

water testing using the Portable Microbiology Lab- using proven water testing methods as indicators for levels of contamination that requires no labs or technicians to conduct

GWWI will be supporting, supervising and managing the oversight and coaching of the women as they role out their respective projects.

Other Issues:

All three projects are within a 45 minute-2 hour distance from each other. They have all attended technology and capacity building trainings together and can create a much needed best practices and info exchange with each other.