The Northern Region Health & Hygiene Project (2000 - 2003)
Medical Care Development International (MCDI), in collaboration with Action Nord-Sud (ANS), addressed health and hygiene needs in the two Circles of Timbuktu and Gourma-Rharous in the North Region of Mali. MCDI developed and implemented water and sanitation interventions to reduce water and hygiene-related morbidity and mortality in the communities of the two Circles. Concurrently, ANS established income generation activities to expand economic opportunities in the project areas.
The primary goals of the project activities were:
- To help reduce morbidity and mortality among children under the age of 5 years and among women of reproductive age through interventions involving construction of safe water wells and latrines in schools and community health centers;
- To improve knowledge of and promote behavioral change regarding basic sanitation and disease prevention among school children and communities through the Children as Agents of Change (CAC) strategy and health education activities; and
- To improve the livelihoods of the target population by providing financial and technical assistance to communities, groups, and individuals to undertake small scale projects in areas such as agriculture, handicrafts and micro-enterprise.
- The project's integrated strategy was designed to yield multiple health benefits for school children and communities through combined interventions in well and latrine construction at schools and community health centers and IEC/health education. The combination of hardware activities (well and latrine construction) and software activities (health education) has proven to be the most cost-effective approach in impacting the behavior of communities with regard to basic hygiene and disease prevention.
The project organized and trained village and neighborhood water committees in the use and management of water and sanitation installations and on information related to water and sanitation; these committees, in turn, organized and educated villagers and community members. The project also supported the local development strategy by working through locally elected commune representatives (Communal Council) to select and provide technical and financial assistance to project beneficiaries proposing feasible and viable income generating activities.
