To be a girl campaign

 

 

This summer, we’re helping WaterAid to re-write the story for 130,000 girls around the world

What does it mean to be a girl?

Being a girl means something different to all of us. Perhaps it means to be happy, determined, carefree, feisty or particular? But for millions of girls around the world, to be a girl means something very different.

To be a girl without access to clean, safe water means your role of collecting water can stop you from going to school. It means back-breaking walks carrying heavy containers - often several times a day.

To be a girl without access to a toilet means there’s nowhere private to go to the loo and going in the open leaves you vulnerable to prying eyes.

To be a girl living without access to safe water and toilets means displaying incredible physical and emotional strength, day after day.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

This summer you can be part of something amazing. You can help WaterAid to change the story for girls around the world, giving 130,000 girls the future they deserve.

Visit tobeagirl.org and see how water really can transform the lives of girls around the world.

Until 9 September the UK Government will match every donation made to WaterAid’s ‘To be a girl’ appeal: doubling the difference for girls around the world.

 

Here Solo (Soloniaina Havatiana Rasoambola) introduces herself and her village of Ambohimahatsinjo, Antohobe, Vakinahartra, Madagascar.

 

 

Only one tap for 2,571 people

This is the only tap water that caters for 2,500 students and 71 teachers from Ras Zesilas Elementary and Junior School and it is protected by a wooden box that only allows one person to collect a bottle of water at a time.

Built during Emperor Haile Silasie I’s time and named after one of his lords in the area, the school is one of the oldest formal schools south of the capital, Addis Ababa. Like most schools that started out with a few students, facilities at this 70-year-old compound are too scarce to handle the pressure of over 2,500 daily users. One tap for 2,500 students and 71 teachers, a four-room toilet block for 1,200 boys and another block for 1,300 girls is all they have got. The toilets do not have doors and that necessitated the designation of another room where girls could change sanitary pads in the privacy they need.

The only male students’ toilet

The only female students’ (left) and teachers’ toilet (right) at Ras ZeSilas Primary and Secondary School.

How can a peri-urban sanitation system, such as baffled reactors and small-bore sewers, be adapted for flood-prone zones?

In large cities of the developing world in Africa and Asia, sewerage can often only be found in the centre, leaving large urban and peri-urban areas unserved, including slums / informal settlements. When sewerage exists, it is often non-functioning or leading to poor treatment facilities. As a result, sanitation coverage in developing cities is often low, with widespread health and dignity issues.

In the absence of service provision, residents usually come up with their own solutions, such as pit latrines. In peri-urban areas, there can be the possibility to install decentralised wastewater treatment facilities, especially for new housing developments, or as part of slum upgrading projects. Such facilities allow the use of improved toilets and can be managed at community level.

An example decentralised wastewater treatment facility for 5,000 residents would include:

* Flush or pour-flush toilets (needing 1-2 litres of water per flush) in or near houses.

* Septic tanks or related systems (anaerobic baffled reactors – ABRs) for primary treatment (separating sludge and liquid effluent). These can be shared between houses but then need transport through simplified sewers.

* Solids-free small sewers to transport the effluent.

* Secondary treatment e.g. in the form of constructed wetlands.

 

However, many developing cities are susceptible to the effects of climate change, and especially flooding due to increased rain in low-lying, coastal and/or flood-prone areas. Many cities have seen an increase in rain and flash floods. During such floods, one of the most significant disruptions residents have to face is access to water and sanitation, when toilets are inaccessible, or when treatment facilities cannot work anymore.

This is the case for example in many cities in Bangladesh.

The Challenge

The challenge is therefore to adapt existing technologies, such as the system described above which includes several sub-surface elements, to flood-prone conditions. Notably:

1) How can the system still function during flooding?

2) How can it remain accessible to residents, especially the most vulnerable ones?

3) How can pollution be prevented?

The solution proposed must be appropriate for the context described above, especially in terms of capital and recurring costs, and currently available technologies.

Entry

Teams of up to 3 people, aged 18-35 on 30 September 2014.

The entry submitted by competitors or teams of competitors must be made of:

* A concept design for your proposal on a one A1 poster with a maximum of 1500 words and should include at least two diagrams / sketches.

* The submission should include the name(s) of the participants their date of birth and contact details.

* Three copies should be provided.

* Additionally the competitors should also supply a CD or memory stick with a pdf version of their submission.

Submissions must be received by 1st September 2014.

Please send your entries to: Edward Clarke/ SoPHE YEA, C/O Arup, 13 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 4BQ

The Award

An in-country technical visit to verify the applicability of the design.

Additional information can be found on the SoPHE website http://www.cibse.org/society-of-public-health-engineers-sophe/sophe-young-engineers-award-2014

 

Cleaning the water in Yiganda

This is what happens to the water from Lake Tana in Yiganda when stored for a while.
The kebele chief added some chemical to bring the dirty particles together quickly and the particles gathered and settled at the bottom.
Once the dirty part settles inside their jerrican or clay pots, the community carefully takes the cleaner looking top part to another container and uses it.
However, not everyone afford the chemical and the cleaning-with-time process can take a day or so. Yiganda, Zege, Bahir Dar, Amhara.

Cyclists get on their bikes for WaterAid

Cyclists from Yorkshire Water saddled up to take on teams from across the water industry in the first Water Cycle Challenge in aid of WaterAid.

Two teams of cyclists from the Bradford based company and its partners went up against more than 70 other riders over a 76-miles course starting at Thuscross Reservoir that takes in some of the Tour De France Grand Depart route in Leeds.

The 'Gran Fondo' route was a huge test for participants from Wessex, Northumbrian, United Utilities, Anglian, Affinity, Severn Trent, Thames, Southern, Portsmouth, Dwr Cymru, Sutton and East Surrey and Yorkshire Water with the hot conditions and tough terrain making it a real battle of endurance.

Ultimately it was Thames, Northumbrian and Southern who were victorious and presented with awards by chief executive Richard Flint.

At the same time, other Yorkshire Water colleagues took part in the ‘Sportive’ a 27 miles ride taking in the Washburn Valley.

The top three riders to cross the line were David Longbottom, Daniel Bridgeman and Simon Woodhead.

Emma Noble, one of the organisers from Yorkshire Water said: “It was a great day from start to finish. It was fantastic and the weather made the Yorkshire route shine.

“Some of the feedback we have had back from the companies has been amazing with some saying it was one of the best cycling events that have taken part in.

“The Water Cycle Challenge has really taken off this year. Thames now have the challenge cup and will host it next year.”

It is hoped the event will have raced in the region on £10,000 for WaterAid.

Dave Hilliard from WaterAid started the ‘Gran Fondo’ ride. He said: “"It was a tremendous honour to start the first inter-water company cycle challenge on such a prestigious route. The weather was superb and Yorkshire Water's organisation was excellent; we were delighted that so many cyclists from across the Water Industry took part.

“A huge thank you to everyone! The money raised will help us to reach even more communities with access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene and we hope that next year's event will as successful as this one!"

People can still sponsor all the individuals who took part in the Water Cycle Challenge by texting SAFEWATER to 70300 to donate £3 to WaterAid.

WaterAid supports UN’s call to end open defecation

WaterAid today welcomes a new UN campaign championed by UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson to end the practice of open defecation.

Over 1 billion people around the world relieve themselves in bushes, in fields or at the sides of roads or railway tracks for lack of even a basic, shared pit in the ground. This is 14% of the world’s population, or one person in seven.

Where there is open defecation, pathogens spread quickly, causing diarrhoea, cholera, bilharzia (a freshwater worm) and other diseases.

More than 1,400 children die each day of diarrhoeal diseases linked to a lack of safe water, basic sanitation and good hygiene. Some 165 million children under 5 have also had their growth and brain development irrevocably stunted by malnutrition, much of it due to diarrhoea.

WaterAid is campaigning for everyone, everywhere to have access to safe water and basic sanitation by 2030. Some 748 million people in the world are without safe water, while another 2.5 billion are without adequate sanitation.

Barbara Frost, Chief Executive of WaterAid, said: “It is time to break the silence on open defecation. It is incredible to think that in this day and age, people must still risk their health and dignity for the lack of a basic toilet. It’s even more difficult for girls and women who risk harassment or worse, every time they go in search of a private place to relieve themselves.

"Safe water and basic sanitation has to be a top priority in effectively tackling extreme poverty. We call upon world leaders to set aside their discomfort in talking about open defecation and to take action.”

Without basic toilets, girls are more likely to drop out of school, and adults are less able to care for their families or to work, exacting huge social and economic costs.

WaterAid programme officers see daily the impact of open defecation, including water pollution and ill health.

Genetu Addisu, 58, a father of eight living in Yigatsu, on the Zega peninsula in Ethiopia, knows it too well. “We are all sick. I once went to a clinic and was diagnosed with four types of parasites – hookworm, giardia, bilharzia and another amoeba. I remember asking the doctor if I would really survive all that dose of medicine,” he told WaterAid researchers. In an informal study, forty-six of the 48 children in the local school tested positive for at least one parasite; his neighbours are constantly ill and talk about how their clothes smell after being washed in the faeces-contaminated lake.

Some facts about open defecation:

· Nigeria has seen its rate of open defecation rise from 10.3% in 2000 to 14.6% in 2012.

· India has seen its rate of open defecation decrease from 21.6% in 2000 to 12.3% in 2012, but remains the country with the largest number still relieving themselves in the open, 48 million people.

· Ethiopia has made dramatic progress on ending open defecation, down from 76.3% in 2000 to 36.7% in 2012.

· Bangladesh has also made good progress after a name-and-shame programme where communities declare themselves open-defecation-free. The number of people defecating in the open dropped from 19.2% in 2000 to 2.5% in 2012.

· WaterAid calculations based on WHO-Unicef data suggest that at present rates of progress, Sub-Saharan Africa overall will not become open defecation free until 2063. In Southern Asia, it will take until 2044.

The new UN campaign to end open defecation, is expected to continue to the end of next year, as the UN develops a new set of development goals to replace the original Millennium Development Goals.

Among the goals were pledges to cut in half the proportions of people without safe water and sanitation, respectively. Though the target on water has been met, those still without safe water are the hardest to reach; the target on sanitation remains the most off-track.

Time to talk periods: Coalition declares first-ever Menstrual Hygiene Day

WaterAid has joined a coalition of organisations to declare the first-ever Menstrual Hygiene Day this Wednesday, 28 May.

On any given day, more than 800 million women between the ages of 15 and 49 are menstruating. Yet menstruation remains a taboo subject.

Myths that in some cases date to Roman times – don’t look in a mirror or it will lose its brightness, don’t touch a plant or it will wilt – persist today in many countries and range from harmless to extreme, including banishment from the family home to an outdoor shed during each cycle.

Barbara Frost, Chief Executive of WaterAid, said: “It’s time for all of us to start talking about periods and bring an end to the stigma that still surrounds menstruation. Taboos surrounding periods can take a heavy toll on the health of girls and women in the developing world. 

 

"Without decent toilets or washing facilities, girls’ health is put at risk and they are likely to drop out of school rather than face the humiliation of finding somewhere private to change. By talking about periods, we can help normalise this natural process and help girls and women live healthier and more dignified lives.”

     Lydia, 16, pictured is a student in Kampala, Uganda at a school in Kifumbira slum which has four latrines for more than 2,000 students. She does not attend school during her period, and fears missing lessons will affect her wish to become a doctor:

“The problems I face – we are sharing the toilets with the boys and we fear when we go to the toilets that the boys will be in there. And so we don’t go to school when we have our periods. Some toilets don’t have doors and so we fear to enter, as people can see or enter the toilets at any time. At the toilets they don’t have water to flush or wash, and so it’s complicated to attend school when I have my period.”

 

WaterAid works in more than a dozen countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to teach women and their families how to care for themselves properly during their periods. School projects range from building private, gender-separate toilets and taps for washing to creating hygiene clubs where girls learn how to sew washable, reusable sanitary towels.