Imrans own case story
Imran, a twelve year old girl student attending Garbi first cycle elementary school in Kebribahay district Imra is one of the beneficiary of the school WASH activities funded by EU and Save the children, an active member of the School WASH club. Imran is narrating her story as
My colleagues and I used to visit nearby houses to respond the nature’s call during the school hours and sometimes, we used to go home missing the school. In addition, I did not have the confidence to use the school latrines since there whereon running water for cleaning and washing. The project has changed our situation for the better whereby I am able to access latrines with dignity. Likewise, most of the school attending children do not practice open defecation which was the norm before the project especially for boys. Finally, I personally thank for UNISOD, Save the Children and the Donor (EU) as well as the local education office and authority for the project.
Imran, is one of the active members of the school WASH club that was established and supported by the EU WASH project in the school. The club members prepare messages into different forms and teach their fellow students about the importance of good hygiene and health.
Naimas own story
Naima, 17 year old is a grade eight student at Jirri full cycle elementary school in Dambal district of the Somali region the School has an enrolment of 350 students out of which 170 are girls. The school was supported through EU funding by the Save the children and implemented by UNISOD to solve some of the WASH in education related problems in certain schools in the Somali region by constructing new facilities and renovating those non-functional ones. Naima is narrating her story as follows:
Before this project’s interventions, the schools had no latrine and water supply. As a result, many children were forced to practice an open defecation inside and around the school compound. Similarly, children used their school break time to go out into the village and surrounding areas in search of drinking water so that we used to miss some classes and sometimes go at home to get access to latrines and water for drinking as the result, some of my friends has became drop outs and left education for ever. I am one of the luckiest girls in school by getting access to the project support and able to continue my education with dignity. I hope such support will be extended to other remote schools whereby poor children are attending so that they will have similar opportunity in future
Naima is also one of the active members of the school WASH club that was established and supported by the EU WASH project in the school. The club members prepare messages into different forms and teach their fellow students about the importance of good hygiene and health.
Communities in Somali Region
Rukia Abdulahi, 40 year woman is one of the beneficiaries of the Water Sanitation, Basic Infrastructure, and Hygiene Promotion project for Pastoral and Agro pastoral communities in Somali region implemented in Goldahanley village in Kebribeyah district of the Somali Region supported by Save the Children through EU funding. The village has a total of 500 inhabitants. Crop production and livestock rearing are the main livelihoods and source of sustenance to the community in this district. However, livestock comes first in terms of contributing to household consumption and income. The district characterized a very harsh environment with little rainfall and very dry climate. Drought occurs frequently in the areas, and climate change has worsened the situation. Rukia is narrating her story as follow:
I am one of the beneficiary of the project and able to access water easily from the Birkad constructed by the project in my village. I used to spend several hours to collect water and also firewood from the nearby the bush in the water points. Currently, I spent not more than 20 minute to fetch water from the birkad and thus saved my time for my household chores and attending other family issues such as caring, feeding and managing animals. My health status is also improved through saved energy, time and reduced work load. I appreciated the support and the same for many of my neighborhoods. Similarly, I access more water which has enhanced my personal hygiene and that of my family as well as sanitation. I wish if more sustainable water schemes are constructed in the area.
The water committee established by the local community in the village is responsible for the overall management of the water Birkad. The committee in consultation with the community has developed a bylaw that will enable people to economically use the water in the Birkad. As indicated in the bylaw, water sharing is done based on the size of the family. Each family in the community can fetch up to 80liters of water/day.
Mohamed Maydane – Dambel District of Somali Region
Mohammed’s story in his own words
My name is Mohammed Maydane. I am 60 years old. I have seven children out of which four are girls. I have lived my whole life here in Jirri village. Three of my children are currently in the school. I wish that all of them could finish their education and do better in their future lives.
Before, we used to suffer due to lack of forage for our animals, but now, thanks to the project, we are able to rehabilitate the vegetation in the forest and able to get enough forage to feed the animals during the dry season. In the past we used to have many livestock including camel. However, five years ago we lost most of our livestock due to the drought in the area and only now recovering from our losses. This place is known to be very dry and the amount of rain that we receive is very minimal.
Four years ago, when the rangeland rehabilitation project started here, we were very suspicious about the program. This is mainly because when we were asked to enclose the rangeland, we thought that they wanted to take the grazing land from us. As a result, we were very worried that we may lose the grazing land. But after we saw the changes, we were very thankful to those people who helped us protect the land from open grazing and helped to rehabilitate the natural vegetation.
Since the last three years, we were able to maintain the natural vegetation and rehabilitate the environment. By doing so, we have now been able to get enough forage for our livestock, especially during the dry season. As a result, we no more need to travel long distance in search for pasture for our animals.
So far we have been able to enclose more than 14 hectares of rangeland in Jirri village. We want to further expand the coverage and enclose more rangeland in the future. This time, more than 60 households have benefited from the area enclosures by cutting and feeding on the grass from the rangeland. Now, more people are requesting to be beneficiaries of the area enclosure.
