Niassa Water and Sanitation Project (1993 - 1995)
MCDI was awarded a PVO grant from USAID to provide long term technical assistance for water and sanitation projects and information, education and communication (IEC) outreach in the District of Cuamba, Niassa Province, for the purpose of reducing the incidence of disease related to impure and inadequate water supplies and poor sanitation.
The purpose of this activity was to enable villagers in the target areas of Cuamba District, Niassa Province to recognize and resolve individual and community health problems which are related to the provision and use of water for consumption and sanitation. MCDI provided assistance to villagers through community mobilization and participation, health education and the provision of potable water from hand-dug wells. This was accomplished by organizing activities around problem-solving related to water and sanitation issues. These activities were seen as a pilot program which provided a database and a model for future water and sanitation activities in the Province.
The Project's Water and Sanitation Engineer worked with the selected communities to rehabilitate/construct 100 shallow wells equipped with hand pumps to be located in schools, social centers, and health centers. Along with well construction, cost recovery systems for pricing, collection of fees, and spare parts were provided to ensure long term maintenance. In conjunction with the latrine rehabilitation, the IEC component trained 100 village water committees (who in turn educated villagers) in the use and management of water and sanitation installations, as well as safe water practices.
