Tom made a visit to Mpumiro village to teach about borehole ownership, sustainability, as well as safe water chain.
When he arrived in the village, he found when the committee members were present at the meeting place. Tom initially they thought that the meeting was only for the water user committee yet it was meant for The the whole community. There was just a communication error when the chairman thought the meeting was meant for the committee alone.
On realizing that only the committee members were present, Tom encouraged the chairman to also get some other village residents who were available in their homes. The chairman was able to get a few people to come and join the committee members.
During the meeting, they learned and discussed about borehole ownership and sustainability. Under this Topic, they discussed about ways the community fells ownership as well as the factors that lead to sustainability.
The community mentioned that its very important to own the well or to feel they have full ownership of the well. Tom emphasized that even though the borehole was drilled by Kibo, its not or will not be owned by Kibo but rather the community themselves. Tom mentioned that Kibo went to Mpumiro village to create a lasting relationship with them through the activities kibo brings and that Kibo’s intention is to impact the village and residents positively through the program that kibo brings.
Therefore it’s important for the village to own the well and set up procedures that help keep the borehole functional and well maintained.
Tom also mentioned that lack of ownership from the village residents puts the borehole at risk especially at times when it’d broken because of the village does not own the well then they will not fix it but rather look to someone else to fix for them.
On the Topic of sustainability, the residents mentioned that some of the ways they can achieve sustainability for their borehole is to have an active water user committee as well as set up bylaws that will govern the borehole.
On the issue of safe water chain, the village residents leaned about how clean and safe water can get contaminated as well as how contamination can be prevented. They mentioned that some of the ways water gets contaminated is through collecting and storing it in dirty containers and one of the best ways to control contamination is to use, collect or store water in clean containers as well as boiling the water.
Tom also mentioned that it’s very important for them to be present and to mobilize each other for the next meeting which will be about the enacting of the bylaws.
Tom also encouraged the residents to be mobilizers for the whole village.
Next Visit
2021-04-26 - Purpose: Enact bylaws that will govern the boreholes maintenance and management