WaterLife in The Dominican Republic

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the Bateyes, Dominican Republic

Project Proposal

Introduction

The Batey Relief Alliance (BRA Dominicana), a local NGO working to bring people together, alleviate suffering and save lives, was established in 1997. BRA Dominicana has been active in several sectors, including: delivering services in primary health care, HIV/AIDS prevention, education and treatment, child development, improved water and sanitation, shelter reconstruction, micro-credit projects, legal aid and education.

Recently, BRA has been trying to secure funding for water and environmental sanitation (WES). WES is crucial not only to improving the health of the population in the region, but also to the overall development of the bateyes, some of the poorest communities in the country. In order to improve the current situation, a WES project is being undertaken in the area. Join the Rotary Club, BRA Dominicana and WaterLife in co-funding this project. Funding for the initial phase of the project, including the feasibility study and proposal was provided by WaterLife and BRA.

Current Situation

The bateyes are communities that originally belonged to the sugar mills and were under the jurisdiction of the CEA (State Sugar Council), prior to 1989. The people, mainly of Haitian origin, used to work primarily in sugar cane plantations or mills. Seventy percent of these families now define themselves as Dominican. The bateyes are now under the tutorship of the state, but not of the local municipal councils.

The people living in the bateyes are among the poorest of the poor. In 1992 there were about 375 bateyes, three quarters of which were under the CEA. These comprised around 163,200 people living in 31,000 homes. The average of 5.3 people per home is greater than the average rural family which consists of 4.3 people per home. In addition, 34.5% of all adults over 15 years old were illiterate, compared to the national figure of 15.5%.

In the bateyes, 70% of homes do not have a latrine, compared with the national average of 32.5%. Of these 70%, approximately one-half practice open-defecation and the rest use public latrines or those of neighbours.

33% of homes in the bateyes have a water connection. A further 24% use public standpipes, while the remaining 43% use water from sources of unknown quality such as wells, rivers, canals, trucks, vendors and rainwater. Nationally, 50% of the population have house connections and 35% use public standpipes. Therefore 85% of the general population have access to safe drinking water, whereas only 57% of the population of the bateyes have access to safe drinking water.

Solid waste is collected by the municipality in only 10% of batey homes. The rest dispose of the waste improperly by either burning it or throwing it away. Nationally, solid waste is collected from 83% of homes by municipalities.

In Dominican Republic, diarrhea is one of the leading causes of infant mortality and is a major contributor to malnutrition. The prevalence of diarrhea is 29% in children. However, in children between the ages of 6 and 23 months the prevalence is much higher, at 40%. The prevalence of diarrhea is higher among those who do not have a latrine than those who do, 31% vs. 25%. Half of BRA's general medical consultations are for diarrhea.

Only a combined and holistic approach to water, hygiene and sanitation will significantly decrease fecal and water borne diseases. Improvements in health can be achieved through improved access to adequate quantities of potable water and access to appropriate sanitation facilities, combined with hygiene promotion. Hardware alone is not sufficient for a sustainable project.

Objectives

Goal: To improve the health of the population of the bateyes by increased access to potable water supplies and appropriate sanitation facilities.

Specific objectives:

Improve access to potable water.
Increase access to appropriate sanitation facilities.
Increase demand and awareness, and improve hygienic practices through hygiene promotion.
Reinforce community organization with water and sanitation committees.

Results

Every member of the population in a given batey all have access to at least 7 litres of potable water per day.
Water and sanitation committees are established in each batey covered by the project.
Household latrines are constructed, kept clean and used even by small children.
Latrines are built in all schools in each batey covered by the project.
Training sessions are held for the village masons on construction of latrines.
Training sessions are held for hygiene promotion volunteers.
Training sessions for the water and sanitation committee are held.
A hygiene promotion campaign is organized by the volunteers.
Families in the batey adopt hand washing.
Infiltration pits are built where necessary to prevent grey water pooling.
Composting and garbage pits are built in each batey covered by the project.

Project Description

There are three bateyes (communities) in which BRA works that do not have a source of safe water. The batey of Cojobal, where BRA's mobile clinic is located, has been selected for the First Phase of the project. Further funding will ensure the project is extended to other bateyes.

Initial Phase (First six months) The initial phase of the project will consist of education and hygiene promotion. The aim is to have the population take ownership of the water system in order to improve the sustainability of the project. The campaign will teach people how to keep the water clean during transport and use and how to differentiate water use according to its source (for example, surface water for animals, clothes washing etc., clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing babies).

BRA has trained local promoters in the past, who will be involved in the hygiene promotion. Using PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation), the promoters will motivate people to change their habits. The PHAST approach helps people to feel more confident about themselves and their ability to take action and make improvements in their communities. Feelings of empowerment and personal growth are as important as the physical changes, such as building latrines. During these initial six months, the promoters will also collect a community contribution for the water system to ensure the community feels ownership of the system, leading to sustainability in the future.

Activities in this component include:

Identifying the specific needs in the batey, using participatory techniques
Doing formative research to identify existing beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and practices, identifying target audiences, channels best suited to these audiences and positive messages to pass
Weekly promotion, education and training

Weekly visits by local promoters to the households of the batey will touch the following topics:

Training of local batey promoters to complement the work of the visiting animators. This will ensure that after a year, when the project is finished, these local animators will continue their work
Promoting hand washing, and facilitating the construction of local hand washing facilities using gourds or plastic bottles
Promoting safe excreta disposal (even for babies)
Promoting rational use of water: different sources for different uses, how to keep the water clean
Establishing a water and sanitation committee that will keep the source surroundings clean
Promoting latrines, increasing demand to own and use one, and to pay for them
Educating people on the relationship between dirt, germs and disease

The local promoters will be supervised by a facilitator from BRA Dominicana who will visit them once a month.

Construction Phase (Months 6 to 12)
The construction phase will encompass:

Construction of water system
The water supply component aims at substantially improving the quality of drinking water. There are two springs in the area. Based on further investigation, the springs may be tapped and pumped to the batey. This will be used in combination with enhanced rainwater harvesting, which is already practiced in the batey. About 10 boreholes have been drilled in the area with no positive results. Although boreholes are the most commonly used technology in the area, it is not appropriate for this batey.
Construction of remaining latrines and hand washing facilities
Latrines will be upgraded where necessary to a design that is safer and easier to clean using a raised latrine with a concrete seat because the water table is high in the area. Where demand is present, households without a latrine will be assisted in building a latrine. The specific latrine design will be based on the latrines already used in the area.
Simple, low cost hand washing facilities for each latrine and for the school will also be built during this phase of the project using technology that is already present in the batey.
Instruction on traditional soap making
A group of women will be trained in how to make traditional soap. They will be given moulds and ingredients for a first batch. This will ensure that bateyes have cheap soap made from local materials, because washing hands with water alone does not remove fecal pathogens. This will also help women start a small business selling soap to others.
Grey water removal
Infiltration pits will be dug where grey water removal is a problem. Spilled water at standposts or reservoirs can form pools, which become breeding places for several disease-carrying vectors, such as mosquitoes. Proper solid waste disposal will also be incorporated into this phase of the project. This includes training the population in composting and construction of a garbage pit with canvas protection sheets.
Hygiene Education and Promotion
In this phase of the project, hygiene education and promotion will continue on from the initial phase of the project. Promoters will continue to promote safe hygiene practices, increasing demand for the system and creating a sense of ownership of the system. They will also ensure, once the population has access to safe water, that the water is kept clean until it is used and that people use safe water rationally and use other sources for their less hygienic needs.

Consolidation Phase (one year +)
In this phase of the project, hygiene promotion will continue to ensure that the majority of the population adopts proper hygiene practices and that the practices become engrained and sustainable. Forming and consolidating hygienic habits in the majority of the population is the goal of this follow-up phase.

Project Evaluations
In addition to continual monitoring by BRA, WaterLife will conduct an evaluation at the end of the project, as well as another two years after the project. The evaluations will ascertain whether the population has continued the use of hygienic practices taught in the hygiene promotion, as well as whether the water and sanitation committee has continued in its role.

Perspectives

Project extension to other bateyes will occur in the second phase of the project. With additional funding, the project can be extended to two additional bateyes: Proyecto Velásquez and El Caño. The extension should occur once the project in Cojobal is on-going.

Activities

Output	Activity	Timeline

Initial Phase
Community sensitization	Facilitator's visits	Six Months
	Community Self selected criteria and selection of very poor, poor and not poor, payment for system accordingly
	Promoters'work
Community management	Water Management committee training
Hygiene promotion	CAP - communication research study
	Promoters' and hygiene committee's training
	Promoters' work
	Facilitator's visits (transport, salary)
	Teaching materials
Water system design	Selection and design of technical option
Construction Phase
Water system	Spring protection, pumping and transportation system	Six Months
Water system	Rainwater harvesting improvement and education
Latrine construction	Training of masons, supply with materials, moulds
	Upgrading of existing latrines
	Construction of new latrines for households
	Construction of latrines for schools
Hand washing facilities	Construction of hand washing facilities at all latrines
Hand washing facilities	Construction of hand washing facilities at schools
Soap-making	Workshop on traditional soap-making, supply with materials, moulds
Infiltration pits	Construction of infiltration pits where required to avoid pooling of grey water
Solid waste disposal	Training in composting techniques
Solid waste disposal	Construction of garbage pit
Hygiene promotion facilities	Facilitator's visits
Hygiene promotion facilities	Promoters continuing previous work

Budget

Activity		Cost $USD	Total Cost $USD

Initial Field visit and study			$5,700

Administrative Costs
	Project coordinator (WaterLife Volunteer - airfare, expenses for 6 months)	$27,000
	Local support staff	$3,800
	TOTAL		$30,800

Office Costs
	Rent,electricity, water, etc.		$3,300

Local Transportation Costs
	Vehicle maintenance and repairs	$300
	Gasoline (120 km @ 10.9 km/gal)	$1,600
	TOTAL		$1,900

Direct Project Costs
	Capacity building workshops	$5,300
	Capacity building within the batey	$0
	CAP study	$500
	Hygiene promotion	$18,800
	Promoters	$5,200
	Installation of water system	$31,000
	Latrine construction	$3,200
	Compost and solid waste pit construction	$6,800
	Training in traditional soap making (including materials and moulds)	$150
	TOTAL		$70,950

Monitoring and Evaluation
	Supervision (BRA USA)	$1,000
	Final evaluation	$3,000
	Two-year evaluation	$3,000
	TOTAL		$7,000

TOTAL Project Cost			$119,650
	Community and WaterLife Contributions		($30,700)

TOTAL Requested Amount			$88,950

The project has already begun with the collection of samples for physico-chemical and microbiological tests at the two spring sites. Funding of $4,300 is required to continue with the initial phase of the project. While the initial phase is on-going, the partnership needs to locate the funds, approximately $84,650 (USD) after taking into account volunteer time and donated materials, to finish the project, and a further $190,000 to improve the situation in the two other bateyes.