TOWARDS A BETTER LIFE

A swank new airport greeted us as we landed in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. I remember this being constructed the last time I was here, a couple of years ago. Built with Chinese investment, it was a statement of Mozambique’s economic growth, estimated at around 7%, fuelled by coal and natural gas discoveries. That said, this beautiful country in southern Africa is still one of the poorest and least developed countries, ranking 184 out of the 187 countries ranked on the human development index by the UN.

Visiting the bairro of Costa da Sol along Maputo’s coast was going to be interesting. I had been here five years ago when WaterAid’s team in Mozambique had just initiated a multi-year water, sanitation and hygiene programme. This is a large settlement of about 17,000 families. Inhabited largely by the fishing community, this neighbourhood was visibly very poor. Thatched houses were a common site. Women struggled to get safe water. A powerful image that troubled me on my last visit was the trek that women made to a pit, a few metres deep a little distance from their homes to collect water, dirty water, scooped out of the sand laden pit, their only ‘reliable’ source of drinking water.

Estamos, a national NGO started working in the neighbourhood with WaterAid’s support. The funding for the programme came from the European Union. The initial phase was on hygiene promotion with the help of locally identified and trained motivators or animators. Their role was to go from house to house and promote messages of washing hands before eating and after going to the toilet. Messages on protecting the water used for drinking were promoted. And more importantly, discussions were held with households on the need to stop defecating in the open and for improved latrines, appropriate for the area. This was very important since cholera was one of the most common illnesses. At the start of the programme, there were 371 reported cases of cholera, as per the local health authorities.

Having been convinced about the need for a toilet, the next task was to encourage families to construct improved latrines, with an appropriate cement slab, that would ensure that human excreta is safely collected. Where there were ‘unimproved’ latrines, i.e. latrines that could potentially be a health hazard, the task was to convince people to discontinue the use of these latrines and replace them with the improved latrines.

To ensure the quality of the slabs, Estamos had set up a slab production centre. Various models appropriate for the location were demonstrated. The slabs were distributed free of cost to those who were identified as needy and poor. But these had to be transported to the construction site by the families, who also had the responsibility of digging the pit and constructing the superstructure at their own cost.

Availability of water was a key challenge. This required Estamos to work closely with Agua de Mozambique (AdeM), the water utility. As part of the programme, water kiosks were constructed which were operated mostly by women identified and supported by the community. There was a pre-paid billing system based on which water was purchased by the operator, for selling it onwards to the local community. The rate typically was 0.5 metical for 20 litres, which was just half the cost of what private providers were supplying in the area. For those who could afford, AdeM were persuaded to provide household connections with a deposit of 2,500 metical and a minimum rate of 250 metical for 10 cubic metres of water per day. This was later found out to be high and unaffordable. It was thus decided to reduce the minimum consumption slab to 5 cubic metres, costing 145 metical.

Meanwhile, the community association that was formed, grew in strength. With regular hygiene promotion, family based interaction and their involvement in the production centre, their confidence and profile grew. Responding to a call for bids by the municipality for solid waste collection, the association bid for and won the contract to collect and dispose solid waste. It is now an enterprise that employs 15 local youth.

It was fascinating to hear this story on my return back to Costa da Sol after 5 years. Many houses had moved to household connection thus reducing the dependence on the kiosks. While that meant that the business in the kiosk shrunk, it was positive from the access point of view as more families had water taps in their courtyards, saving time for the women in particular. It was also a matter of dignity to have a household water connection !  The association had a reasonable business. The women motivators were still active. With most houses having improved latrines, demand for slabs was low and business was down. But the production centre has now become a demonstration centre for the local municipality, schools, other NGOs and communities who constantly visit the centre to learn and understand various sanitation options.

But the biggest change was the significant reduction in incidence of cholera. From 371 in 2004-05, the rate had fallen to a mere 21 in 2008-09. There is still a challenge to eradicate it completely. There are newer families who are moving in and with each new entrant to the community, the hygiene work needs to be taken to them. But there is confidence that the killer disease is now under control – a combination of better hygiene awareness and access to water and sanitation facilities. This has been recognized as a major success by the Maputo municipality and the local health authorities as well. Perhaps, as a result of this, the houses also look very different – better constructed houses, more sturdy and durable.

Getting access to water and sanitation is still a challenge in Mozambique. Only 70% of the urban population have access to water and 47% to sanitation. The Mayor of Maputo, David Simango, is keenly aware of the migration into Maputo and its impact on the water and sanitation services. As he said, “There are challenges for Maputo. But there is a master plan in place for providing water and sanitation services and for solid waste management. Some things are changing. Local communities are participating more actively, people are contributing to local projects and their maintenance, people are more aware….and incidence of cholera is reducing’ !