Exhibition Green Partners

Maureen is nine years old. She has always wanted to be a nurse when she grows up and has already visited to local clinic to find out more. However, where she is from, in Monze, Zambia, relied on traditional shallow wells that became overran as the population grew and could not cope with the demands of the village. When WaterAid started working in her village, it installed very deep, solar powered boreholes to ensure everyone in the village has reliable access to clean water. 

As Maureen says: “It feels very good to have a water tap within our premises so that our neighbours can also benefit. I feel good seeing out neighbours on our premises. There are a lot of people who come to collect water from us.” 

Saida Mugaba works as a midwife at Nkondo Health Centre III, Buyende District, Uganda. Before WaterAid began working at the health centre, staff admitted that they were not adhering to infection prevention and control techniques or adequate hygiene practices. The health centre lacked adequate PPE, with inadequate levels of surgical gloves and facemasks, with waste management taking place without gumboots or heavy-duty gloves. WaterAid intervened at the facility to train staff on hygiene behaviour change, the importance of using protective gear and segregating medical waste. As Saida mentions “this way we are not only protecting [patients] from acquiring infections, but we are in fact preventing the spread of infections in the hospital.” Since sanitation and hygiene services have improved at the hospital, there has been an increase in the confidence of expectant mothers to return to the hospital for antenatal services, with numbers doubling within a month. Saida reflects that “this can be attributed to the general improvement in the cleanliness of the hospital; these days our toilets and bathrooms are always clean, and we are providing drinking water to patients to take their malaria medicine whilst they are here."