Bangladesh WaterAid

Final visit of the trip

So, after what seems a very long week, we visited a post intervention urban slum near the centre of Dhaka Capital City.  The project we visited has been proceeding since 2007 in which time the residents have gained a fresh water supply from the Dhaka water authority and installed three sanitary latrine blocks.  The residents did have latrines prior to intervention, but they were poor quality and in the rainy season, and following blockages, the sewage from the latrine would overflow and run down the pathways of the slums and sometimes through peoples houses.  There would be puddles of stagnant water too.

The assistance from WaterAid partners has assisted the community in planning for their future, and in a similar way to what we have seen in previous projects, the community maps out the slum and notes areas of problems and at their monthly meetings the committee produce an action plan similar to how we would manage any project and they make decisions on how to solve the problems.  When working as a group they are able to contact the Dhaka water authority directly and now that the landlord has set them up with legal water supplies which they are billed for, they are treated like any other water company customer.

I spoke to a family who had moved into the area when the improvements were done, and they were happy with their situation, and lived better lives without the disease and poor conditions of before.  There is still something worth mentioning though.  These people are still incredibly poor, and the work that WaterAid and their partners has achieved will improve their quality of life dramatically, but is still a million miles away from anything that you or I would have to live with.

Finally, for those in the UK.  It's been about 31 degrees here today.  I still can't see any snow  :o)

Pre Intervention rural community

Today we drove from Khulna to the Nalbubia Cluster in Nalbubia village which have not had any intervention from WaterAid.

The community village is in low lying coastal land which is susceptable to saline intrusion to the water supply.  Only 5% of the villagers have already taken their own initiative and installed latrines in most homes so they have already solved the easiest problem of avoiding contaminating their own water supply.  That leaves a lot still to be educated, and the actions of the majority may still have a big effect on the minorty who have already implemented sanitary procedures.

The villagers currently have to walk over 2km to a council provided pond to collect their drinking water.  The water in the pond is rain water and in the dry season has the potential to run dry.  A pond sand filter was buit 6 years ago, but has never been operational, so this is a potential area of improvement which WaterAid partners could follow up easily if the need is identified as a high priority.

The area is mostly covered in water, where it used to be a large percentage of rice fields.  The farmers realised that the saline water in the soil was gradually deteriorating the quality of the crops, and many turned to shrimp fishing as it was more profitable and more suitable for the conditions.  This is still the case, but the family I interviewed had a problem with a virus which killed all of their shrimp within 3 days and it takes 3 months to recover a saleable amount of shrimp again.  Also, once the land has been turned to shrimp farming it can never be returned to use for growing crops.  This is just an idea of the hard decisions these people have to make in day to day life and they do appreciate all the help they are given.

From what we've experienced in post-intervention communities, it is often the case that within 18 months of a project being started with a community, they will begin to form their own initiatives, removing their reliance upon outside agencies, and also spread the knowledge to local villages.

It's been another good educational day, and we're back in the capital city Dhaka now for our final visit to a post intervention slum in the morning.

I want to thank South East Water and WaterAid for this opportunity, because it's truly amazing.

Visit to Coastal Communities

Today we were back on the road and a had a two hour drive to the region of Satkira and a district of Shyamnagar where we visited projects which have been assisted by a WaterAid partner in the area.

The challenges faced by these rural communities are linked to their low lying position and closeness to the coastline of the Bay og Bengal.  This area suffers from cyclones every year which cause destruction of property which you would see in the news, but lesser reported events where communities water supplies become infected by saline water from the tidal surges.

We visited a community who showed us how they had improved their sanitary conditions by the creation of a Pond Sand Filter which uses a hand pump to raise the water onto a sand filter bed and then out through taps.  The difference to the water is a better taste, smell and less solid particles.  The water looks perfect.  The families now suffer from less illness and are encouraged to pursue further projects to enhance the community position.  The level of planning done within the community is very business like and a lot of hard work goes into ensuring that their future is healthier.

However, the contrast to all this hard work is that they still live on land which in 30 years time could be under water due to climate change.  This is just something to consider, then think that if you were in that situation wouldn't you be asking the question 'What do we do?'.  It's thought provoking and I have to thank Jez from Sutton and East Surrey Water for raising the point.

On a brighter note, the people that I met today were all very welcoming once again, and their way of life still has a lot of great benefits.  As I sat on one families porch looking out over their rice fields and ponds, it was so calm and friendly that you could easily just sit there for hours.  The difference is that these people never get that chance as they are constantly working to achieve a better standard of living.  When I return to work I will post a lot more images of the work we have seen done today and hopefully give you a better idea of how WaterAid really can change peoples lives.

And the weather, it's not snowing.  :o)