Rating: 6
review by Blue Planet Network
The organization is not really formed, agreed.
The proposal is not strong, agreed.
It is risky, agreed.
However, it is the first time a CBO is using PWX. If they use the platform and the network, it would send a strong message to the sector. Even if the project does not succeed, if we can track all the learnings and issues, it would be very valuable.
That is the big risk: will the community work with the platform, the process, and the network?
Rating: 5
review by Water for Waslala
While we applaud Sabore's Well's commitment to ending the drinking water crisis in Ewaso Nyriro, we do have some concerns about their approach, especially with regard to project design and sustainability, and thus would suggest that the team take some additional time to think through the approach before proceeding with implementation.
Regarding project design, we are concerned about the installation of only four toilets for a community of 9,000. We imagine that demand for these toilets will greatly outstrip supply and worry that the toilets will depreciate rapidly and become abandoned fairly quickly after implementation. We would like to see more of a plan on how these assets will be maintained and how they are adequate to solve the sanitation problem in the area.
More worrisome for us is the plan regarding project sustainability. Regarding financial sustainability, there does not seem to be much of a plan in place to actually enforce collection of monthly tariffs. How will tariff payments be enforced with a community so large, especially with public wells? How have tariff levels been set, and how can we be sure that they will be adequate to cover annual repairs?
We do not see much of a plan in terms of training and capacity development, which we view as one the most critical elements of our work. We do not think that 1-2 workshops on sanitation/hygiene best practices is adequate to ensure correct use of the water system. We would like to see an actual program of several training modules to build core skills among the community members, such as conflict resolution, accounting, conducting repairs with a life cycle mindset, etc. At the very least, a core group of leaders from within the community should be trained along these lines to ensure the project will be sustainable.
Finally, we'd like to better understand who will be in charge of maintenance. How will that person be trained, and compensated for his/her efforts? What is the succession plan if that person is one day no longer able to maintain the system?
Spending extra time thinking through these details and developing a detailed plan to account for them is a critical next step to ensuring that the projects have the intended outcome 5 years after they are built. I'd like to see details on these before I can provide a recommendation to move forward.
Matt Nespoli
Water for Waslala