The voice from communities
Voices from communities is a blog where we post stories from the field around the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) from anywhere in the world that have been sent for the IRC Story contest.
Setting up and funding Regional WASH Resource Centres in Nepal
15 May 12
The Change The Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW), the lead ministry for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector in Nepal has since 2011 allocated budget for Regional WASH Resource Centre (RC) in Surkhet and decided to establish Regional WASH Resource Centres in four other [...]
Water and Sanitation Competition; Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu
02 Apr 12
“Our lives and our livelihoods depend on this water. If we don’t have it, we don’t have anything.” These were the words of Zaphe Kani, one of the most respected members of the community. He was a teacher, and his words were followed by a startling silence that seemed to reverberate around the room. The [...]
World Water Day…where do we stand in the celebration?
30 Mar 12
By Mustapha Sesay, Sierra Leone. Water is an essential in our daily activities and a basic right for all to access it at affordable rate. It is unfortunate that as the world continues to celebrate World Water Day, most developing countries including Sierra Leone suffer from acute water shortage to millions of its population. The [...]
Ecological Sanitation in post-earthquake Haiti
27 Mar 12
Just two years ago the city of Port-au-Prince collapsed. In a matter of minutes hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives as this proud city crumbled to the ground. In remembrance and mourning, we ask that you take a moment of silence to honor the dead and share the suffering of more than 500,000 [...]
“We are dying of Cholera”: residents of Clara town cry for help
17 Feb 12
Clara town located on Bushrod Island, a suburb of Monrovia, Liberia became famous for being the birthplace of Liberian football star George Oppong Weah. Clara town, founded by a Methodist missionary 40 years ago, is attracting global attention in recent years, as its inhabitants are burdened by the effects of poor, inadequate and over stretched [...]
2011 in review
03 Jan 12
To kick off the new year, we’d like to share with you data on blog’s activity in 2011. You may start scrolling! Crunchy numbers A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 45 trips to carry that [...]
Nepal: Women can lead toilet construction work and support their family
05 Aug 11
The Kamalamai Integrated Water Sanitation and Hygiene (KIWASH) improvement project in Kamalamain Municipality in Sindhuli District, in the Janakpur zone of central south Nepal has envisaged adhering equity and inclusion prospective in project activities. The Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD) has been working there in partnership with WaterAid in Nepal (WAN) since 2005 to [...]
Tamil Nadu: eco‐san toilet promoter Sridharan
05 Aug 11
Varadharajapuram is a village on the banks of River Kaveri in Thottiyam Block of Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu, India. Being a water‐logged area because of the closeness to the river, people in the village cannot construct low‐cost toilet models. Except five families, the remaining families were practicing open defecation on the river banks and on [...]
Everyone has a story to tell
11 Jul 11
Before starting the story of our community, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Chedorlaomer Villa I am 34 years old, and live in The Maelstrom, small town of Pance, Cali, Colombia. I work as plumber and I am responsible for carrying out maintenance at the drinking water plant (PTAP) and the wastewater [...]
Nepal: EcoSan toilet promotional campaign spreads in Nagarkot
05 Jul 11
Ms. Nanu Maiya Giri, principal of Chuna Devi Lower Secondary School appreciates the effort of her community people proudly. She claims that it’s their dedication that turned the catchment area of school into a total sanitation zone. According to her, after prolonged dedication the Magar tole, Danda Gaunt tole, Kuwa Pani tole, Ghising tole and [...]
