Project Background

Water, sanitation and hygiene are prerequisites for child survival and development.

Inadequate and unsafe water, poor sanitation and improper hygiene practices are the main causes of diarrhoea that kills and sickens more under-five children than any other disease globally. Poor water, sanitation and hygiene are also among the main causes of malnutrition in children under five, which is associated with more than 50% of all child deaths.

Water and sanitation are important for ensuring the right of all children to a basic education, and are particularly important for promoting greater enrolment and retention of girls in school. Women and girls suffer most when there is a scarcity of water and sanitation. A disproportionate share of the labour and health burden falls on women and girls, especially with regard to water collection.

Tanzania remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than one third of the population living below the basic needs poverty line.

Project Specifics:

By the end of 2009 this project, with donor support and Jo and Gareth Morgan's fund matching, is scheduled to have achieved the following:

• 22 boreholes drilled and hand pumps installed
• 20 rainwater harvesting systems
• 16 shallow dug wells and hand pumps installed
• 1 piped water scheme
• 12 school toilets with hand washing facilities
• 114 local villagers will be trained in maintenance of the wells and hand pumps
• 82 local villagers trained in toilet maintenance
• 294 local villagers trained in water committee management
• 1312 local villagers trained in hygiene promotion

The benefits of having clean accessible water close to a village:

UNICEF undertook a survey in a number of villages in Tanzania that have recently gained access to clean water. The survey revealed that having access to clean water not only has health benefits for children and their families, but has numerous benefits for women:

• Both men and women agreed that access to reliable safe water within easy reach of the village had positive social and psychological effects on the families and the community in general.
• Family relations were improved as women were no longer spending hours sourcing water, and men were no longer suspicious that the long absences of their wives meant that they were being unfaithful. Men had sometimes beaten their wives because they thought they were being unfaithful - this has now been minimised.
• Women could now care for their babies and feed them on time. Before the installation of the wells and hand pumps they had to leave their babies with their husbands, who often expressed feelings of inconvenience, and did not care for the babies very well. This also helped reduce child malnutrition issues.
• Women no longer feared being attacked by wild animals or raped on the way to distant water sources.
• Women now had time to be more social with other women in the village.
• Women now had enough water for bathing the family, cooking and cleaning their homes.
• Women had more time and energy to participate in mutual support groups for farming and other income generating activities such as a local revolving fund system, growing and selling vegetables and other food products, and making local brew.

Donate to our Tanzania Water Project now and double your impact! Gareth and Jo Morgan will match your donations dollar-for-dollar.

Three ways to donate:

Become a Tanzania Global Parent, make a one-off donation online, or purchase a Gareth Morgan Gift that Gives from our online shop.