SOLVATTENPROJECTQUARTERONEREPORT

ByRonaldKefa

Opera<onEyesight-Kenya

6thOctober,2018

I. INTRODUCTION:Morethanabillionpeoplelackaccesstocleanwaterathome,mostofthemwherethereisalack of infrastructure. Not only are germs transmi:ed by unclean water, but they can alsospread when people don’t have clean water to wash their faces, hands, clothing or otherbacteria-carryingsurfaces.Luckily,therearewaystopreventinfec@onsfromgerms.

Solva:en and Opera@on Eyesight Universal are working together to improve health andhygiene,preven@ngthespreadofbacterialinfec@onsliketrachoma,ablindingeyedisease.Ourco-lab is takingplace inNarokCounty, Kenya,where there is a highprevalenceof trachoma.Throughstrategiccollabora@on,we’refocusingonhealth,renewableenergyandempowermentofwomen.Webelieveinbuildingstrongandsustainablepartnershipswithprivatecompanies,NGOsandthepublicsectortoachieveasustainablefutureforall.

In July, 2018, Solva:en donated 432water purifiers toOpera@on Eyesight for distribu@on tohouseholds invillageswhereOpera@onEyesight is implemen@ngaprojectaimedtoeliminatetrachomafromthetargetareasinNarokCounty.Thisamountstofocusmoreonensuringfacialcleanlinessandenvironmentalsanita@oncomponentsofSAFEstrategy.WearestronglypuVngoureffortstowardsbuildinglatrinesasameasuretopromotepersonalhygienebyensuringsafedisposalofhumanwaste. It is tobenotedthatmanyvillageshaveno latrinesandmo@va@ngthe families/ communi@es to build and use latrines is an arduous task. OYen we have toconvince,mo@vate,pleadandcajolepeopletochangetheirsanita@onbehavior.Solva:engivesusanothertooltodeployinourefforttomo@vatebehaviorchange.Intherepor@ngquarter,wehave distributed 253 kits to the communitymemberswho have successfully constructed thelaterines.Thishasmo@vatedothercommunitymemberstoconstructthesameandweaimtodistributetheremaining179kitsinthenextquarter(Q2).

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II. BACKGROUND:Narokiswater-stressedcountyandsanita@onlevelsarequitelow.Shortageofwaterandpoorsanita@oncombinetocondemnthemostlypastoralistcommunitytowater-bornediseasessuch

L:BeneficiariesposewiththeirSolva:enwaterpurifiersduringthedistribu@on.R:TrainingofusersinNarok

asTyphoidandother infec@ousdiseases suchasTrachoma.Narok isoneof the12 trachomaendemic coun@es in Kenya andOpera@on Eyesight has been implemen@ng theWorldHealthOrganizaton’sSAFEstrategytheresince2004.Whilewehavesignificantlyreducedthebacklogof Trachomatous Trichiasis, from 4,011 to 971 (according to an impact survey conducted inMarch, 2018), limited access to water and poor sanita@on means the prevalence of ac@vetrachoma(TrachomaFollicular)iss@llhigh.

III. CASESTUDIES:Werecentlyspoketosomeoftherecipientswithregardtotheeffec@venessandbenefitsoftheSolva:enwaterpurifiers.Whatfollowsareaccountsoftherecipientsweinterviewed.

Case1:NomaliMosankaisamotherof4childrenaged9years,5years,3yearsand2monthsrespec@vely. Nomali and her young family live in Olboma Village, right on the edge of thefamousMaasaiMaragamereserveinNarokCounty,Kenya.

Nomali’sisoneofthehouseholdsthatreceivedadona@onofaSolva:enwaterpurifierinJuly,2018. She uses Solva:en to purify drinking water, for cooking and bathing the children andherself.“Iuseittwoorthree3mesdaily”saysNomaliwho,un@lrecently,usedtotravelfartofetchdrinkingwaterfromacommunitywaterpoint.“Idon’thavetotravelfaranymorebecauseIcannowpurify thewater I fetch fromthenearbystream.Thishelpsa lotbecause Ihaveaninfantthatneedsmyundivideda>en3onroundtheclock.”

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NomaliposeswithherSolva:enwaterpurifieroutside

Case2:32yearoldJaneKaiseiye’sfamilyof6receivedtheSolva:enwaterpurifierinJulyandshehasnothingbutpraise for it.“It is3meandenergy-savingall inone.My3mespent fetchingfirewoodhasreducedandIdon’tuseasmuchfirewoodasbeforebecauseIuseSolva>entopurifyourdrinkingwaterandtoheatbathingwater.”MsKaiseiyeadds“Myyoungerchildrendreadedbathing3mebecauseIusedtobathethemwithcoldwater.Nowtheyalllookforwardtobath3me!”

In the threemonths she has been using Solva:en to purify drinkingwater; Kaiseiye has no@ced thatnoneofherfamilymembershascomplainedofstomachailments.Shedisclosesthat“Previously,weuseto drink raw water. We simply didn’t have the 3me and firewood to boil drinking water.” Kaiseiyees@mates that her family would oYen spend KES 3,000 (USD 30) onmedical bills alone whenever afamilymemberfellsickwithtyphoidorotherwater-bornediseases.

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Case3:CeciliaTago,a36yearoldmotherof6fromKanunkavillagesaysherfamily’spersonalhygienehas improved because warm water is readily available for hand and face washing. Like most other

Kaiseiyebathingherbabywithwaterheatedusing

beneficiaries, Cecilia says purifying drinking water with Solva:en has helped reduce incidences ofstomachailments.“Itissavingusmoneyweusedtospendinhospitaleverynowandthen”shereveals.

WhilesheusesherSolva:enwaterpurifierexclusivelyathome, ithasnotescapedCecilia’smindthatthe portability of the Solva:en kit comes in handy for pastoralists. “When our men go in search ofpasturefarfromhome,theyneedtocarrywiththemSolva>enbecauseofitsbenefits”saysCecilia.Sheusesthekitthree3mesadayandsaysitsavesherthetroubleofligh3ngfiresevery3mesheneedshotwater.“Besides,Iuselessfirewoodnowadays,whichsavesme3mebecauseIusuallyspendlonghoursfetchingit.”

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IV. CONCLUSION:Sofar253Solva:enkitshavebeendistributedandareinuseandtheremaining179areinsafecustody.We’llcon@nue leveragingSolva:enwaterpurifiers inthesecondquarter (OctobertoDecember)andwearehopefulwe’llhaveissuedouttheremainingkitsbythe@meofournextrepor@ng.

The users are happywith Solva:en and the common benefits cited are related to improvedpersonal hygiene, reduced incidences of water-borne diseases, energy efficiency and @me-saving.Theeconomicbenefitsaccruefromreducedhospitalbills,savedman-hoursandreducedfuelexpenses.Thespinoffisconstruc@onanduseof33newlatrinessincewepromisedtoissue

OneofCecilia’schildrenwashesherfacewithwarmwater

akittoeachhouseholdthatconstructsone.Transformingthehygieneandsanita@onsitua@onof communi@es requires innova@ve and integrated approaches. Solva:en’s dona@on helps agreatdealtowardsthisgoal.