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The main objective of our team is to ensure that a borehole of acceptable quality is installed in Adu Achi by a reputable company.

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Yang Zhang, zhang33uiuc [dot] edu

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An estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to an improved water supply, and many more drink unsafe water from improved sources. Each year, inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation cause an estimated 4 billion cases of diarrhea and 2.2 million deaths, mostly among young children in developing countries. In addition, waterborne diarrheal diseases lead to decreased food intake and nutrient absorption, malnutrition, reduced resistance to infection, and impaired physical growth and cognitive development.

Many factors contribute to diarrheal disease incidence including: poor sanitation, poor hand hygiene, contaminated water, and lack of sufficient water for personal hygiene, food preparation, and other activities. Programs to provide latrines, soap and handwashing education, clean water, or water supply all help reduce the incidence of diarrheal disease. A recent evaluation has found, however, that interventions to treat water at the household level and interventions to increase proper handwashing have the most impact in reducing diarrheal disease incidence.

The Safe Water System Program

The Safe Water System (SWS) program is an household water treatment intervention to prevent diarrheal disease developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in the early 1990’s in response to the cholera epidemics sweeping across South America. The Safe Water System consists of three elements:

• Water treatment with chlorine solution in the home.
• Storage of water in a safe container.
• Education and behavior change communications to improve hygiene and water handling practices.

CDC, in conjunction with partner organizations, has established pilot and country-wide SWS programs in over 30 countries around the world, completed a substantial amount of research on the effectiveness of the Safe Water System, and written a Handbook describing how to start a SWS program. The Safe Water System Handbook provides a comprehensive discussion of point-of-use (POU) water purification orientated towards large-scale regional or national programs. Free copies of the Handbook in English, Spanish, French, or Arabic may be obtained by emailing safewatercdc [dot] gov.

Purpose of this Guide

This guide, Safe Water for the Community, has come about because of growing interest by small organizations in starting SWS programs. It complements the SWS Handbook and provides specific, detailed information to help community-based organizations determine if an SWS project is appropriate for their community and if so, help them to complete the following steps necessary to implement of a community-based SWS project.

In 1997, IDRC launched its Acacia initiative in an effort to empower sub-Saharan African communities with the ability to apply new information and communication technologies, or ICTs, to their own social and economic development. Now, 7 years later, the Acacia initiative presents this unique and groundbreaking three-volume collection of original research on this important and timely issue.

VOLUME 1: Opportunities and Challenges for Community Development

Volume 1 looks at the introduction, adoption, and utilization of ICTs at the community level. In various contexts – geographical, technological, socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional – the book explores the questions of community participation. It looks at how communities in sub-Saharan Africa have reacted to the changes brought about by the introduction of these new ICTs and, in detail, presents both the opportunities and the challenges that ICTs present for community development. The book will be useful for both researchers and development practitioners active, or just embarking upon, an “ICT for development” program. It will also be a very useful reference tool not only for academics but also for policymakers, decision-makers, and development professionals interested in the issue.

VOLUME 2: The Experience with Community Telecentres

Volume 2 examines the setting, operations, and effects of community telecentres. It describes the telecentre experiences of a variety of local and often rural communities, exploring the management structures and mechanisms that have been established to support these telecentres. The book provides profiles of telecentre usage and discusses the potential and challenges of setting up and maintaining community telecentres in the context of poor information infrastructure and limited human capacity. It will be useful for researchers, policy- and decision-makers, and development practitioners and professionals with interests or active programs in the area of "ICT for development," particularly those with a focus on universal access and universal-service or public-access centres. It will also be a very useful reference tool for scholars, students, and academics.

VOLUME 3: Networking Institutions of Learning -- SchoolNet

Volume 3 documents the processes used, and institutions created, to bring computers and connectivity into schools, as a means of enhancing the use and integration of ICTs in teaching and learning. A range of project, administrative, and cultural settings are explored as are a wide variety of technical solutions. The results, observations, and conclusions presented in this book will be useful for policy- and decision-makers in education and ICTs. The book will also be useful for teachers, researchers, and development practitioners and professionals with interests or active programs in the area of “ICT for development.” Information technology professionals looking to service the potential education market will also find this book valuable.