Integrating Water and Health

Improving access to water or sanitation can be worthless if community health practices remain unchanged. Our water components have empowered and strengthened local capacities through the introduction of sustainable, replicable techniques for well rehabilitation, water supply improvement and household toilet prototypes. Meanwhile health behaviour change is enabled through Care Group volunteers,  drama shows and other interactive activities held across the communities. SurfAid has also piloted community-led total sanitation (CLTS), a process to inspire and empower rural communities to stop open defecation and to build and use latrines, without being offered external subsidies. SurfAid looks to make donor funds work harder, with communities required to address open defecation in return for improvements in drinking water facilities.

For an overview of our work in water and saniation pls download our Watsan Report Card for 2008.