Relief Society of Tigray (REST)


Senaele and Seglamen Surrounding Rural Water Supply, Hygiene and Sanitation Development

Phase One FY 2011

Project Period of the Project: December 2010 through June 2011

Submitted to;A Glimmer of Hope Charity: Water

August 2010.

Project profile

A. Project Title

/ Senaele and Seglamen Surrounding Water supply and hygiene and sanitation

B. Project Type

/ Rural water supply and hygiene and sanitation
C. Project Implementing Organization
Name: / Relief Society of Tigray (REST)
Contact person: /
  1. Ato Teklewoini Assefa

Address / REST: P.O.Box 20
Tel. 251 034-4406300
Fax 251 034-4406714
Email:, ,
D. Project Location
Region / Tigray
Zones: / South Eastern, southern, eastern, western andcentral
Districts: / Hintalo-Wajirat, L/maichew, Tanqua-abergelle, Alaje, Adwa, E/mekoni, Ahferom, T/maichew, T/koraro, and D/tembien

E. Beneficiaries information

No. of households: / 6,999
No. of Beneficiaries: / 33,407

F. Project Duration

Start date: / January 2011
End date: / June, 2011

G. Project Budget

/ ETB / USD
Community contribution: /
  • 509,398.08
/
  • 37,566.23

REST contribution: /
  • 843,363.79
/
  • 62,194.97

Donor organization A Glimmer of Hope: charity: water /
  • 10,843,344.97
/
  • 799,656.71

TOTAL: / 12,196,106.84 / 899,417.91
  1. INTRODUCTION

Water and sanitation are fundamental for human life. Potable water is an absolute necessity for life and adequate sanitation contributes to a tolerable life situation. In addition, clean water and sanitation hinder occurrence of life threatening diseases like diarrhea, intestinal worms, typhoid, cholera etc. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, reduce the risk of water-related disease.

Small holder and rain-fed, agriculture is the dominant for the economy of the project Woredas and the project area in particular, making the area one of the most food insecure and drought prone. Erratic and uneven distribution of rain fall is the major limiting factors to food insecurity in Senaele. Farming practices are still rudimentary in the proposed area and the natural resources are overexploited in some cases severely affected, because of repeated faming for a very long time. This ecological imbalance has led to the depletion of common sources of drinking water such as streams, springs and shallow wells. Rivers run intermittently or have dried up completely and the problem becomes worst during drought season. Safe and accessible water supplies have disappeared from many rural communities due to inadequate rainfall and lengthy dry spells and almost all of the traditional sources of water are not clean, low yielding, very seasonal and are located at a great distance from village settlements.

The aim of having safe water and sanitation programme is to promote good personal and environmental hygiene. Hygiene promotion is defined as the mix between the population’s knowledge, practice and resources. To avoid risky hygienic behaviors, the key factors are a mutual sharing of information and knowledge, the mobilization of communities and the availability of essential materials and facilities. However, simply providing sufficient water and sanitation facilities will not, on its own, ensure their optimal use or impact on public health. In order to achieve the maximum benefit and utilization of sanitary facilities, it is important to ensure that the targeted people have the necessary information, knowledge and understanding to prevent water - and sanitation-related disease, and to mobilize their involvement in the design and maintenance of those facilities.

Water that is safe at the point of delivery can not guarantee for not re-contaminated during collection, storage and drawing. Steps that can be taken to minimize such risk include improved collection and storage practices. That is using clean and appropriate collection and storage containers, treatment with a residual disinfectant, or treatment at the point of use. Water should be routinely sampled at the point of use to monitor the extent of any post-delivery contamination.

To address the substantial problem of clean water and hygiene and sanitation in the project area it is planned to construct 61 hand dug wells, 37 shallow boreholes, one deep borehole, 18 spring and rehabilitation of 12 hand dug wells, one shallow bore hole and 6 springs. In relation to hygiene and sanitation, construction of 10 blocks of latrines at 5 schools and capacity building activities on hygiene and sanitation are planned to be implemented. Through implementing the above activities with the financial support of AGlimmer of hope 5 Schools and 33,407 people found in Senaele and seglamen surrounding will be benefited. To complete the recommended activities so as to solve the existing water supply and sanitation problems A glimmer of hope charity: water will fundUSD 799,656.71 equivalent to ETBirr 10,843,344.97. In addition, REST and communities of the project area will contribute, as a matching fund, in labor and local material which amounts to USD 37,566.23 (ETBirr 509,398.08) from the community andUSD 62,194.97 (843,363.79 ETBirr)from REST. Hence, the total budget required to execute the project will be USD 899,417.91equivalent toETBirr 12,196,106.84, including Donor, Community and REST contributions.

  1. ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Relief Society of Tigray (REST)

The project implementer, REST is an indigenous NGO established in 1978 with a vision of combating the root causes of poverty and promotes self-reliance through people led sustainable development in Tigray. Initially REST has started operating with the displaced 160,000 Tigrayan refugees in the Sudan in 1984, REST’s cross-border operation was the sole means of access to the drought and war affected population outside of the then government controlled areas. Since its establishment REST has implemented many successful projects of water supply, irrigation development, environmental rehabilitation, agricultural development, livestock, health, education and other livelihood activities to alleviate poverty. To implement these diverse projects REST work with many international NGOs, and bilateral agencies such as the Development Fund /DF/, USAID, EU, AGOH, charity: water, WPI, Trociare Cafod, Norwegian Church Aid /NCA/, and Pathfinder, are some of the many.

REST is now unique vibrant and effective African organization with over 700 employees, the necessary systems, equipment and experience of managing numerous million birr projects simultaneously in many districts of the region.

The Water Resource Development Department (WRDD) is one of REST’s operational departments with a wide-coverage in the delivery of water supplies to rural communities. The systems provided include hand-dug wells, spring development, boreholes (shallow and deep), roof rainwater harvesting. In the area of potable water supply REST currently have two drilling crews of type R-50 which has been drilling for the last 13 years while the other two are FS-250 with high powered rotary drilling rig; over 50 hand-dug well technical teams; and over 12 spring development crews. For effective service and maintenance of all water well equipment, REST maintains static and mobile water workshops. This capacity enables effective care of equipment and adds to their longevity and ultimately program sustainability. At all stages of the development of water resources, communities play an essential role and are ultimately owners of the schemes.Similarly REST Health Department has multiple experiences on implementing health projects. The department is equipped with experienced experts who have the capability to implement hygiene and sanitation projects.

The principle of the people’s ownership of and full participation in the development process is still the cornerstone of all REST policy, strategy, and activities. For REST, participation comes from recognition of “the centrality of people’s ownership of and involvement in their own development process, without which no sustainable, equitable, or appropriate development can succeed”.

2.2 The partner

A Glimmer of Hope charity water is one among the major donors and supporters of REST since 2005. A Glimmer of hope charity water has granted fund to fulfill the demands of the rural community on livelihoods. The many projects funded by A Glimmer of hope charity water are providing services to the communities. REST, the regional government and the community at large delightedly welcomes A Glimmer of hope charity water’s grants with special joy due to the fact that AGlimmer of hope charity water and other partners intervene in livelihood and infrastructure development of social services where the government lacks capacity to act up on. Another peculiar issue of AGlimmer of hope charity water support is that more than 95% of the whole support is directly channeled to beneficiary communities with accountable and transparent manner.

  1. AREA OVERVIEW

The project Woredas are found in the southeastern, eastern, western, southern and central zone of Tigray national regional state. The Woredas constitute mid-climate, warm climate, and cold climate where the altitude rages from 1400- 2350 meters above see level. Rain fall is mono modal, mainly from June to end of August. The average rain fall ranges from 220 to 700 mm per annum, usually the highest being in July. The topography of the project Woredas is characterized with a scenic landscape of undulating mountains alternating with plains. The average population density ranges from 96 per square kilometer in lowland areas to 180 in the highlands. The population density per hectare of cultivable land in most of the weredas is similar i.e. 2.68. The feature of agriculture in these zones is similar in many respects with the rest part of the region.As in most parts of the region, the project Woredas are characterized by high infant and under-five mortality at 67 and 106 per 1000[1], respectively. The economy of the districts is entirely agricultural with small holder cultivation of cereals and pulses mainly characterized by subsistence farming mixed with livestock rearing. Oxen are the only source of traction power and among the main indicators of poverty and inequalities among farmers. The main source of money for the purchase of grain is livestock sales and off-farm employment mainly wages employment. In total about 27% of the farmers use off-farm income as a source of cash for the purchase of grain.

3.1.Project beneficiaries

The rural community:

The project will be implemented in the poor communities of Tigray region where there is demonstrated evidence of real demand for improved water supply and hygiene and sanitation intervention. The project intends to benefit a total of 33,407 rural poor people and 13,239 livestock in the project Tabias through the implementation of water supply and hygiene and sanitation projects. After the project, the water coverage of the project areas will be 91%. Out of the total 64,130 population of the project Woredas, 58,196 will have access to clean water as per the WASH regional standard. The rest 9% of the community will not have access to clean water as per the standards because of geographical, geological and settlement nature of the area and communities.

Adi azequa, one of the water scarce villages found in Tabia Hadush Tekli of Wereda Tanqua Abergele impressed charity water supporting guests during their visit to the area on June 2010 and recommend addressing from the seglamen Deep borehole budget. Accordingly, to alleviate the existing potable water problem in the area it was planned to construct 7 shallow boreholes, 5 hand dug wells and one spring development to benefit 4136 people and 575 livestock.

The rest water schemes recommended in the other Woredas are from 15% of the budget allocated to Senaele and seglamen their surrounding.

School community:

Schools, particularly in rural areas of the project, often completely lack drinking-water and sanitation and hand washing facilities; alternatively, where such facilities do exist they are often inadequate in both quality and quantity. To alleviate water supply, hygiene and sanitation related problems, the project intends to benefit 5 schools with water supply, hygiene and sanitation and dry latrine construction.

Women's Empowerment

Women have proven leadership and managerial capacity through planning and setting agendas, conducting their meetings, book keeping/records and taking actions. More women now feel their status in the household and in the community has improved.Within the categories of low-income farmers, it is recognized that women headed households face additional constraints because they are labor poor often the most food insecure and with low level of household asset and income.

The project activities designed for the participation of women have instilled in them a sense of confidence through increased mobility and interaction around the community and increased access to productive activities. The hygiene and sanitation education and the active participation of women in water and sanitation committee (50%) have provided an effective forum for women to discuss their ensuing problems, build confidence to organize for cooperative actions, provide them with skills to enhance economic independence as well as improved awareness and practices in personal and environmental hygiene and sanitation.

Fig1. Over all map of A glimmer hope charity water/REST project areas

Fig2. Map of Senaele and its surrounding

Fig3. Map of seglamen and its surrounding

Table 1: Project districts population and recommended water schemes

# / Cluster / Proposed no. of water schemes / Expected Beneficiaries from the water points / Population
Human / Livestock / Male / Female / Total
1 / Seglamen and its surrounding / 51 / 14,924 / 2,592 / 16,473 / 17,146 / 33,619
2 / Senaele and its surrounding / 50 / 13,847 / 1300 / 12,619 / 13,135 / 25,754
3 / Tanqua-Abergelle/ adi-Azequa / 14 / 4,136 / 575 / 2,331 / 2,426 / 4,757
Total / 33,407
1 / Hintalo wajirat out of senaele surrounding / 3
2 / Alaje / 5 / 879 / 2895
3 / E/mekoni / 2 / 427 / 1345
4 / Adwa / 2 / 220
5 / D/tembien / 4 / 732 / 1737
6 / T/koraro / 1 / 390
7 / Ahferom / 5 / 817 / 2795
Total / 137 / 36,372 / 13,239 / 31,423 / 32,707 / 64,130
10 / Schools / 5

NB: The water schemes in schools are included in the total sum

Source: projected based on Cen2007 taking 2.5 population growth index for Tigray region.

3.2.The Approach

Progress in water supply and sanitation should not be viewed just in terms of achieving the specific water and sanitation of the MDGs. Access to improved water supplies and sanitation facilities, coupled with improved hygiene practices such as handwashing, are prerequisites for achieving most of the other MDGs, particularly those on child mortality reduction, achieving universal primary education, combating diseases and promoting gender equality and empowering women.The problem of clean water supply and sanitation in Tigray are wide spread and still major source of infectious and non infectious diseases. As part of the sub Saharan Africa water and sanitation coverage in Tigray are in the lowest rates and are not on track to achieve MDGs. In recognition of the deficit on water supply and sanitation and hygiene, the project intends to implement water supply and sanitation projects.

The new approach to be followed on the water and sanitation projects of A GOH charity: water is selecting start area and spinning to address 25000 needy people by phases and continuing similarly to address the problem of water supply and sanitation regionally. Following this approach makes Tigray to be on track to achieve the MDGs on water and sanitation with the financial support of A Glimmer of hope Charity: water. As we can see from the figure Senaele and seglamen are the start points and spinning Adi-mesno, Bahra tseba, Tsehafti, and Adi-keyh Tabias from Senaele and its surrounding and Dura, D/birhan, Medego, Dereka, Natka bilae and Kewanit Tabias from seglamen surrounding in the first phase (Fig2 and fig3).From the figure the map for Senaele deviates to the west side since the eastern part is Afar regional state. With regard to Senaele the map shows the exact clustering of the tabias which addressed western, northern and southern with some limits to eastern this is because of the geographical nature of the area which is difficult to address with in short period of time. In addition, the eastern side which mostly is Naeder Adet woreda needs further time to select water points with geological problems. This site will be addressed on the next phases selecting sites on dry season to minimize risk of dry up so as to have better performance. The problem of water supply and sanitation in Tigray is widespread and to address the problem, 85% of budget is allocated to Senaele and seglamen surrounding communities and the rest 15% is allocated to the other needy Tigray districts.

  1. Project justification

In Tigray, Significant progress has been made over recent years in helping people gain access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. These positive trends correlate to a decrease in diarrhea prevalence and have had a significant impact on the health of the children. However, overall coverage rates of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) remain among the lowest in the world and not on track to meet the MDG sanitation target. It is estimated that, less than 50 percent of health facilities have access to safe water. Ministry of Health estimates that about 15 percent of the total diseases are due to Diarrhea, Intestinal worm infestations, Bilharzias, Cholera, Giardia, and Typhoid. Low WASH coverage is one of the determining factors for low school net enrollment rates, particularly among girls. High level of worm infestation hampers both nutrition levels and the learning capabilities of children.

Despite the many strides, as a result of poverty and poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions, prevalence of diarrhea is high in Tigray. According to the DHS (2005), Over 19% of rural children under 5 years old had diarrhea in the two weeks preceding the survey; 6% of those had blood in their stool. Children in the Tigray region prevalence of 5.4% bloody. Of children who had access to unimproved sources, the percent with bloody stool was higher (7%) as compared to those with access to improved sources (5%).

Similarly, water supplies are at critically low levels in the project Woredas. The majority of rural families are surviving on a strict ration of less than 5 liters/ person per day. This is due to protracted periods of drought; sever environmental degradation and poor land and water management practices. With the disappearance of natural forests and vegetative cover, accelerated soil erosion has come accompanied by a severe decrease in water infiltration rates necessary for refilling aquifers. This has caused rivers and springs to dry-up and has led to a severe decline in the underground water table.