KIMWODA and COBIHESA to promote environmental health in Mishenyi district

Capacity building efforts  to mitigate the increasing environmental threats in Mishenyi district , Kagera region will receive a ‘push ‘ through a partnership between 2 indigenous Tanzanian NGOs concluded on August 9, 2011 in Dar es Salaam.

In a memorandum of understanding signed between  COBIHESA and KIMWODA, the two organisations will initiate the development of a training programme on environmental health issues for ward and village level actors in Mishenyi district , in collaboration with the district council and local NGOs, CBOs and FBOs.

COBIHESA will avail facilitation materials on environmental health, while KIMWODA will facilitate the organisation of the training workshops at ward and village level . Both partners will also jointly   mobilise the needed resources for organisation, implementation and evaluation of the trainings.

KIMWODA , a women and child rights organisation , has been implementing various development initiatives in Mishenyi district, in collaboration with grass root communities, including an intervention for vulnerable children. According to Ms Leocadia Rugambwa, the Director of KIMWODA, the training on environmental health for ward and village level executive officers and extension workers is urgently needed to build the capacity of local governments to address the growing threats to the environment in the district.

The training will be based on five modules:

• ·Module1: Community mobilization for environmental health( Uhamasishaji Jamii Juu ya Afya ya Mazingira).
• ·Module 2: Protecting Natural Resources for All (Tuhifadhi Maliasili kwa Manufaa ya wote).
• ·Module 3: Solid Waste Management (Usimamizi wa Taka Ngumu).
• ·Module 4: Building Toilets and Effective Use (Ujenzi wa Vyoo na Matumizi Yake).
• ·Module 5: Management of Toxic Wastes and Chemicals( Usimamizi wa Taka na Kemikali zenye Sumu).

The package has been adapted and translated into Kiswahili by COBIHESA from the Community Guide to Environmental Health , a comprehensive handbook for development workers developed collaboratively with input from actors in over 30 countries, and published by Hesperian Foundation.

A coalition on water integrity in Tanzania in the pipeline !

A consultative workshop on integrity in the water sector was successfully conducted on12 July 2011 at SNV offices, Msasani in Dar es Salaam. The workshop, held under the auspices of the International Water Integrity Network –WIN, with members in over 30 countries including Tanzania, brought together 10 organisations with the aim of  collaborating  to strengthen water integrity in the water sector in Tanzania.

The workshop enabled participating organisations to develop a common understanding of WIN and its approaches, discuss how WIN can help to promote water integrity in Tanzania, and map out areas where WINs regional initiative could link up with local activities. The organisations represented included SNV Tanzania, GIZ, TAWASaNET, DARAJA, Policy Forum, WEPMO, ACRA, Transparency International, Water Aid and COBIHESA.

The workshop facilitated by Janek Hermann-Friede from the Thematic Programmes, and Monitoring and Evaluation , at the Water Integrity Network Secretariat in Berlin, Germany,  received many  important inputs from participants. COBIHESA Programme Officer, David Katusabe articulated the need to :

• ·         Provide training support to indigenous NGOs to increase their capacity to participate more effectively in promoting integrity in the water sector and development of the water sector as a whole,
• ·         strengthen TAWASaNET which was identified as the most suitable home for the envisaged water integrity forum in Tanzania,
• ·         help develop a baseline on corruption in the water sector and ,
• ·         provide support for conducting a public expenditure tracking survey (PET)for the water sector as none has been done.

The workshop was an important stage in the unfolding process of WINs engagement in Tanzania, following other meetings with the Ministry of Water officials and key water stakeholders.

A conspicuous missing conclusion at the workshop was on Sanitation, as noted by a participant from SNV, raising fears that it is still a grey area for interventions and funding despite its central role in the achievement of several  MDGs. The status of not clearly falling under the direct responsibility of either the health or the water sector, heightens its status as a crosscutting issue that deserves to be mainstreamed in all sector programmes.

COBIHESA has been an active WIN member since 2009, having participated in the process of expanding WINs international steering committee, evaluation of WINs programmes, and has, provided input in WINs processes whenever required. At local level, COBIHESA is currently finalising two research proposals: ‘Perceptions of Water Users in Dar es Salaam and Coast Region on Corruption in DAWASCO’; and ‘Assessment of the Magnitude of Unmet Water and Sanitation Needs in Primary Schools in Rufiji District and their Impact on Teaching, Learning and Health Outcomes’ .

One of the four aims of WIN’s Global Strategy 2011-2016 is to ‘help forge, encourage and support coalitions and facilitate programmes to increase integrity in the water sector and deal with corruption in a concerted and solution oriented way’.

The Community Guide to Environmental Health in Kiswahili gaining momentum….

The third and fourth modules of the Guide to Environmental Health in Kiswahili is ready for preliminary use, bringing the total number of modules to 4 in the package which Geofrey Nangai, a journalist with New Habari Corporation has described as “a versatile tool for community facilitation on environmental health issues in Tanzania”.

Module 3 titled Usimamizi wa Taka Ngumu deals with Solid Waste Management, a key unmet need in most of rural and urban areas in Tanzania. Empirical evidence shows there is so much waste mismanagement, resulting in loss of considerable economic benefits, while turning the resource into a health hazard. Through the module, users will learn about :

• A community waste management plan;

• Important steps in safe solid waste management and associated opportunities;

• Meaning of toxic wastes; and

• Dealing with common hazardous wastes.

 Module 4, Ujenzi wa Vyoo na Matumizi Yake, is about building toilets and their effective use. It provides detailed elaboration and illustrations of different sanitation technologies appropriate for different groups such as low income households, women, men, children and those in emergency situations. The common sanitation related diseases in Tanzania and the associated risky behaviours are discussed.

The fifth module in the package, Usimamizi wa Taka na Kemikali zenye Sumu (Management of Toxic Wastes and Chemicals) is being finalized.

The guide produced by the Hesperian Foundation, the publisher of  another important community health handbook , Where There is No Doctor or Mahali Pasipo na Daktari, is strongly recommended for NGOs and other institutions working or intending to work with communities on environmental health issues. As a package of 5 modules, It constitutes a tailored course on pertinent environmental issues for communities in Tanzania.

We would like to collaborate with all Envaya members and other institutions working on environmental health issues in scaling up the application of the Guide nationwide to increase the quality and impact of their activities in communities. Please contact us at cobihesa2003@yahoo.com.

Rolling out the Kiswahili Community Guide to Environmental Health !

The first electronic drafts of Module 1 and 2 of the internationally acclaimed Community Guide to Environmental Health in Kiswahili is ready for those with urgent need !. Contact us through cobihesa2003@yahoo.com

Module 1 titled Community Mobilisation on Environmental Health  is heavily illustrated   and has a total of 44 pages. Module  2 titled Protecting Natural Resources For All, with the same typography has a total of 122 pages. The other modules in  Kiswahili   –module 3 and module 4 being finalised are Management of Toxic Wastes and Chemicals; and Sanitation.

We welcome   contributions , donations or proposals to print and distribute the Guide to end users, throughout Tanzania and the rest of East Africa, who may not be able to access these ‘humanity and environment sustaining materials’ online.

The translation and adaptation of the Guide from English into Kiswahili has been undertaken with a seed grant from Hesperian Foundation, the publishers of another internationally acclaimed community health handbook, Where There is No Doctor.

Mr Nurdin Babu, Kilwa district commissioner , handing over worktools to community environment group members in Kivinje involved in environment cleaning activities initiated by sensitised community members under the CFP1 project.

Solid Waste Management in Kilwa town

A technical report on solid waste management for Kilwa town  was presented to  Kilwa district leaders on 27/01/2011. The study was conducted by a ReCoMaP consultant, as part of technical support to the district under a just ended project on environment health promotion in Lindi  coastal zone, implemented by COBIHESA in partnership with Kilwa district council and Lindi town council. 

 The District Commissioner Kilwa district, Mr Nurdin Babu, and  Executive Director, Ms Annunciata Lyimo  thanked ReCoMaP for the support.The Director said the  District team members would study the report and possibly include some  short term components of the solid waste management strategy recommended in the report in the 2011/2012 budget. The report was presented in Kilwa by the consultant, Mr Hamad  Juma, an environmental  engineer from Zanzibar, Mr Baraka Kalangahe, ReCoMaP NICZM Officer Tanzania, and Mr David Katusabe , Programmes Officer , COBIHESA. 

Lack of effective solid waste management in Kilwa town and peri urban areas often contributes to dumping wastes , including plastic debris , in the adjacent Indian ocean,  poor waste disposal and contamination  of drinking water sources, and health risks including cholera outbreaks.