Water, Sanitation, and Education for Health (WASEH II) – Final Report

WASEH II is a follow-on project of WASEH I, implemented from from1999 to 2003. WASEH in full means water, sanitation and education for health. This is because the region is semi arid and subject to severe drought. Most people obtain their drinking water from Lake Victoria, seasonal rivers, streams, and hand dug wells, sources which are all contaminated in one way or another. Women and children walked up to long distances each day to haul water, a task that took up to three hours. The incidences of diarrhea among children under five in this area was particularly high. Latrine coverage was estimated at below 30 percent. Only 50 percent of households in Homabay and 18 percent in Kuria had proper sanitary facilities. In Nyando district, heavy flooding further compounds the problem. High water table and floods make pit latrines a health hazard rather than a solution. Hygiene education was virtually non-existent. 60 percent of the population in rural Nyanza lacked safe drinking water and subsequently 47 percent less than five years old experience diarrhea. The project was targeting 12,896 individuals as direct beneficiaries. WASEH addresses Dak Achana Strategic Objective (S02) of Sustainable improvement in the health security of vulnerable target population in six districts of Nyanza province. This was to be achieved by addressing the following intermediate results: IR I: Improved capacity of local organizations to establish and sustainably manage water and sanitation facilities IR 2: Improved household access and utilization of potable water IR 3: Increased access and use of safe water system (SWS) products by target households IR 4: Increased sanitation coverage, utilization and adoption of appropriate environmental and domestic hygiene practices.