Community stories
Most implementing agencies and country policies put the full burden of operation and maintenance of water systems on the community. Sometimes this works out well, but very often communities struggle with the technology and management. That is why communities need some (post-construction) support to sustain their water services. Support is a crucial element of the Service Delivery Approach and the Life-Cycle Cost Approach, the two guiding IRC concepts for achieving sustainable WASH services at scale. The stories in this section show the struggle communities have in trying to keep their water services going. Not just their creativity and commitment, but also their confusion and despair. We publish these stories to support them.
Spirit of togetherness, respect for traditional authority and a sense of responsibility
06 Mar 12
Dudu Mnisi, an engineer of one of the regional offices of Mvula Trust in South Africa interviewed Mr J Makgoka, chairperson of the Village Water Committee of Mohlajeng in the Republic of South Africa.
The work of Miguel
06 Mar 12
Water assembly meetings can play a useful role in allowing people to clarify their own duties and those of other people as shown by a workshop in Ceylan, Colombia. Miguel, the water engineer, reports to workshop participants, “I am happy that the administrators and everyone else recognises that my work is difficult and involves great responsibility on my part. I see that I have made serious mistakes."
When a child is at fault
06 Mar 12
The water supply systems of Nyen and Mbemi, Cameroon are connected to the same water source. This has been a cause of many disputes, and has paralysed the functioning of the water committee. A meeting is organised to discuss the problems. Tension is high as members from Nyen and Mbemi enter the hall. Nobody speaks.
A cycle of despair
06 Mar 12
The committee in charge of the water system in Belén, Guatemala dedicated itself to collecting the fees, presenting accounts to the revenue administration and selling new connections. At first, since the system was new, there were no problems. Maintenance consisted of cleaning the distribution tank and, occasionally, the collection tank. Three years after it had been constructed, the system developed many problems.
Mr. Tassi starts to laugh: “You ask people to pay for water?”
01 Mar 12
Preparations for Tad Market in Nyen, Cameroon start a day early. Women prepare for market. They clean the bars, cook food to sell, wash their clothes to look neat, wash the bottles for the sale of palm wine, and prepare corn beer. For all this they require water. Water shortage would be a disaster because this is one of the few chances the women have to make an income.
Kiveetyo, Kenya – multiple systems, no coordination
01 Mar 12
The Athi Water Project was operated by the Kenya Department of Water. It served only a part of Kiveetyo. This supply became unreliable due to high costs of pumping and water treatment .The source was surface water from the Athi River which is heavily contaminated and carries high sediment loads. Due to this unreliability the community installed the gravity fed Kiveetyo/Kathyioli Water Supply, which even though it has very low water yields gives a steady flow of water which is rationed to the three main lines Kiveetyo, Kathyioli and Mutitu in rotation during the day.
Complex problems can be broken down into less complex ones
01 Mar 12
Seven communities in Aguacatan, Guatemala, all use the same water source: El Pericon. A 17 kilometre long conduction pipe serves all seven communities with water. The system breaks down frequently because of landslides caused by over-intensive agricultural cultivation on the slopes or because people just break the pipes to drink water. The service gets interrupted frequently and this makes people unwilling to pay for it which results in empty accounts and no money to repair the breakdowns.
"This man is dangerous"
01 Mar 12
The village of Nkouondja in Cameroon constructed a water system with the help of a Swiss agency. Two years after construction the village water committee planned an extension of the system to be paid from collected household fees. The committee contracted a consultant to supply materials and hire a group of technicians. But things went terribly wrong. They set a meeting to talk.
From employee to volunteer – now goodwill is not enough
01 Mar 12
Nyen and Mbemi are two communities in Cameroon sharing the same gravity water supply system that was started in 1974 and completed in 1980. It is a big scheme with all kinds of good facilities. It comprises the following components and facilities: five spring catchments, one storage tank with a capacity of 9000m3, one interruption chamber, three public fountains and one flushing fountain at the Fon’s palace, one shower house with an attached office, eight washing places and 28 stand pipes. Mr. John Muno was the first caretaker of the system.
Reading and writing make not a leader
27 Feb 12
It was taken for granted that someone who cannot read or write could not aspire to leadership. However, Tresia Mutisia from Yanthooko, Kenya saw in herself the wisdom that age brings with life experiences and maturity. She had the leadership that time brings. She saw the lack of clean and acceptable water and the high prevalence of diseases as a real life problem, and not an essay writing competition.
