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Wanawake maji salama!

Twenty women … dressed in their blue wWw tshirts … in a coconut leave thatched hall in Bagamoyo…

“Wanawake Maji Salama!” … “Wanawake Maji Salama!” *
*Safe water women

Photo: two Women Water Watch (wWw) women monitors practicing with their phone

Enthusiastic shouts echo through the hall. It’s the first day of the women Water watch mobile water monitoring training. Enthusiastic crowds make for enthusiastic presenters. After an introduction by Cretus (AFO) and a courtesy and encouraging introduction by the ward community development officer, Doreen (Mzumbe university) invites the women to think about the importance of water … for their health, the health of their children, for the economy and the environment.
After discussing the importance of enough, reliable, accessible and safe water, the women are introduced to the monitoring tool created through the mwater platform. Last night, the women teams – four women per village- were provided with mobile phones for monitoring the water sources in their village. After the unavoidable technical hassles (creating accounts, passwords, privacy settings, mobile credit, …) the phones are operational, the women are ready to use it and the monitoring form ready to be used.

Photo: mobile data entry training

In the afternoon, the women monitor teams practice the water testing. Sanitizing the hands, taking a water sample from the water source, taking the 1 ml sample to put on the dry plate, adding the substrate to the water sample and doing the ‘swirl’ and noting down the location, date and name of the water source… we first practice in theory by going over all the steps together. Afterwards, the teams went out towards nearby water points and sources to practice the testing. Each village team practiced doing the different steps of the water test. All women monitors were very committed and precise in doing the different steps of the water tests.

Photo: Women monitors practicing the water quality test

Upon return to the training hall, we were welcomed by the beats and singing of a local drum group. Bagamoyo is famous for its musical and cultural scene. The group of men and women used a drum, and even a shovel and fork, to make the beats bounce. Their dancing was amazing and inviting, so the women water watch monitors and teams started joining the dances.

The next day, we again started the day with music. The women first were introduced to the water song (Mwaji), a song made by a team of Mzumbe students to teach young children about the importance of water for health. The singing and dancing made us feel really awake and ready to proceed with the more technical issues of the day: practicing the data collection, the reading of the water results and preparing for the village meetings. These are meetings in which the entire village is invited to come to listen to the monitors to present the results of their tests and explain what this means and how water can be treated to avoid contamination.

Finally, the training was closed by the certificate ceremony. Each monitor received their Women Water Watch monitor ID and the training certificate. It was certainly well-deserved!

Photo: Twenty women monitors received their certificate after a successful training


Wanawake maji Salama!

by Nathalie Holvoet, Sara Dewachter, Doreen Kyando, Cretus Joseph, Elija Lushiku, Ezekiel Blasio, Monicah Ngao, Leah Mahenge, Marco Mashauri, Atujuani Mikidadi, Neema Isaka, Nuru Nasoro, Silasudi Said, Roda Lameck, Amina Salum, Josephine Edward, Zaituni Mohamed, Hawa Adamu, Rehema Goko, Khadija Ally, Fatuma Ally, Modesta Peter Dongola, Husna Ramadhani, Rosa Malima Chidaha, Tatu Mohamed Mrisho, Sharifa Hassan Mrisho, Zulpha Suleyman Rashid, Furaha Mrisho

The pilot Women Water Watch takes part in COESO.COESO has received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (2014-2020) SwafS-27-2020 – Hands-on citizen science and frugal innovation, under Grant Agreement No.101006325.”

 


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Sara Dewachter (15 novembre 2022). Wanawake maji salama! Women Water Watch. Consulté le 18 juin 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/vtco


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