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

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.
