W.A.S.H
Access to Water
Rwanda is among the African countries that use water at a relatively low scale. Statistics show that an average Rwandan uses about 670 cubic meters of water annually, compared to up to 4,000 cubic meters in some other African countries. In rural areas, rainwater remains one of the main sources of water. The Northern and Western provinces where forests and volcanoes dominate receive abundant rainfall, yet many communities still lack adequate water supply systems.
Due to insufficient rainwater harvesting and water infrastructure, Rwanda faces recurring disasters caused by heavy rainfall, including soil erosion, floods, landslides, destruction of homes and crops, and loss of lives.
To reduce these challenges and improve access to clean water, the Rwandan government, together with civil society and development partners, promotes rainwater harvesting systems.
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
Our Impact:
HAND IN HAND FOR DEVELOPMENT supports this effort by conducting awareness campaigns on rainwater harvesting and training youth groups in ferrocement tank construction. In addition, the organization constructs community water supply systems (water pipelines) in areas where access to water is particularly difficult, ensuring that vulnerable families and rural communities can access clean and reliable water sources.
Access to Adequate Sanitary Facilities
Proper sanitation facilities (toilets and latrines) promote health because they allow people to dispose their waste appropriately. Throughout the developing world, many people do not have access to suitable sanitation facilities, resulting in improper waste disposal. Absence of basic sanitation facilities result an unhealthy environment contaminated by human waste. Without proper sanitation facilities, waste from infected individuals can contaminate a community's land and water, increasing the risk of infection for other individuals. Proper waste disposal can slow the infection cycle of many disease-causing agents since the improper waste disposal contribute to the spread of many diseases/conditions that can cause widespread illness and death. Without proper sanitation facilities, people often have no choice but to live in and drink water from an environment contaminated with waste from infected individuals, thereby putting themselves at risk for future infection.
Inadequate waste disposal drives the infection cycle of many agents that can be spread through contaminated soil, food, water, and insects such as flies. Often poor or marginalized communities are the most exposed to the consequences of inadequate sanitation due to the lack waste disposal facilities. In Rwanda about 4.5 million don’t have access to adequate sanitation and 600 children under five die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation in Rwanda.
Our Impact
To overcome issues related to poor sanitation, improper sanitation facilities and inadequate human excreta disposal, Hand in Hand for Development trains communities and youth groups on micro flush toilet construction.
Micro flush toilet is an off-grid, sustainable, environmentally friendly, low cost, odor- and fly-free toilet that reuses the small amount (1 cup) of grey water from a previous user’s hand wash to isolate waste and flush the toilet.
In the Micro flush toilet, a user’s flush of waste directly falls into a filter-digester where the solids and liquids are rapidly separated. The solids are composted in an aerobic process enhanced by simple earthworms (e-fetida) found everywhere in the world. The small filtrate volume is processed naturally in a soak hole. There is no dislodging of sludge or transportation to a waste processing plant. Every 2 years, the rear cover is removed and organically rich compost is harvested for use in agriculture.
Access to Clean Water
Lack of access to water supply and sanitation has significant health impacts. According to WaterAid, more than 3 million people in Rwanda don’t have access to clean water; 4.5 million don’t have access to adequate sanitation in Rwanda and 600 children under five die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation in Rwanda.
Our Impact
To contribute to reduction of the huge number of communities members without access to clean water and reducing consequences related to the use of unsafe water, Hand In Hand for Development in collaboration with its partners distribute water filters to households and schools especially to families of women and children living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable families.