Overview:
Our partners have been working with and living alongside the poorest village people in southern Laos for over twenty years. Entrust is funding the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) part of a large project in this area, in addition to health volunteer training. This provides 5 villages, over three years, with a sustainable source of clean water, latrines for most households and hygiene education and training in maintaining the latrine and water system. These villages were selected because water borne infections are most prevalent here and the water and sanitation equipment is the least developed.
Why support this:
Our partner is working with the village community leaders and provides a water expert to assist the village in needs assessment, planning and construction work. The community is involved at every stage of the project. A committee of four, including two women, is formed and then trained throughout the project. These leaders set up an accounting system in the village, organise the construction work, and learn about maintenance. Similar projects have been implemented already in the same province with great success, especially in terms of ownership by the population. A further aim is to train up a village health volunteer and traditional birth attendant for each village.
Budget: This is a 3-year project with a total budget of $116,500. The budget for year 3 is $31,000.
The Need:
Due to remote access and bad road conditions, these people are forgotten in the process of development. When our partners did a preliminary survey of this area, the main problem mentioned by the population was the lack of a functioning water and sanitation system.
Life Change:
