Clean Hands Save Lives Our Commitment To
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Small WorldISSUE 65 WINTER 2017 Clean hands save lives A pull out feature on our Safe Pair of Hands campaign: Working with communities in Kisumu to reduce the spread of deadly diseases Our commitment to you Putting supporters at the heart of everything we do Small World 1 Dear Supporter, Join the In this issue conversation Happy New Year! Welcome to the winter issue of Small World. Share your thoughts and views with us online: As my first year at Practical Action facebook.com/practicalaction came to a close, I was already feeling a sense of pride by the work that your kind donations have helped twitter.com/practicalaction to achieve. Add to that our Safe Pair of Hands work in 4 8 Kisumu, Kenya was successfully selected for the Department instagram.com/practical_action for International Development (DFID) Aid Match scheme; I finished 2017 feeling inspired that we will be able to do so flickr.com/photos/practicalaction much more. The UK Aid Match scheme means the UK public has a say in how the aid budget is spent, helping the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. For every pound you donate to our campaign, the UK Government will match your donation; helping our much needed project go even further in changing and saving lives. 9 11 With your support, this is an ideal opportunity for Practical Action to extend our impact, and look at how water supply, sanitation and hygiene provisions improve the lives of people living in poverty. As you will read in this issue, we are partnering with local communities to target children under-five and their caregivers living in the slums of Kisumu. Contact us Continuing the theme of providing safe water and sanitation Practical Action facilities, this edition also features stories showing how your The Schumacher Centre ongoing support has helped bring a positive change in other Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby 13 15 16 countries we work in: schools in remote parts of Peru now Warwickshire CV23 9QZ have adequate sanitation and water-points and toilets are T: 01926 634 400 being constructed in the slums of Choudwar, India. W: practicalaction.org E: [email protected] Contents I hope you will feel proud as you read how, thanks to Small World 65 Healthy schools 4 supporters like you, Practical Action is working with poor Fashion blogger sees life without sanitation 5 communities around the world to help them meet their basic Practical Action Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales KG, KT, GCB An interview with Farida Bascha, East Africa Director 6 and important needs! Reg Charity No. 247257 Safe Pair of Hands 7 With very best wishes, Front cover: Woman washing her hands in Kisumu, Meet Makena, a local health champion 9 Kenya. Front cover photo by Patrick Meinhardt Absolute Support - our media partner 9 © Copyright Practical Action Community-led solutions - triggering the demand for change 10 Where there’s muck, there’s brass 11 Our impact in numbers 12 Our Supporter Promise 12 Farida Bascha Simon Reeve presents Radio 4 charity appeal 14 East Africa Director New Year fundraising ideas 14 Remembering Simon Speirs 15 P.S Our supporters are at the heart of everything we do - do go to page 12 to read our Supporter Promise, which Spoonfest – a novel way of supporting Practical Action 15 tells you about our commitment to you. With love, always 16 2 Small World Small World 3 PERU INDIA Fryda Caytuero Valenzuela and Healthy schools her students Fashion blogger “Please, may I go to the toilet?” sees realities of life without adequate sanitation must be one of the most common questions asked in primary school In Choudwar, a city of 51,000 in Odisha state, India, diarrhoeal disease classrooms! Photo: Frank Medina is rife because of poor sanitation. But for the 46 children who attend Tupac Amaru Photo: Zoë De Pass The project is also installing rainwater harvesting Primary School in Apurímac, Peru, access to a toilet technology in schools, hospitals and other local services wasn’t an option. to collect water for hand-washing. We are working with the authorities to implement a City Sanitation Plan. Headteacher Fryda Caytuero Valenzuela explained how through access to energy services, safe water, sanitation The plan will ensure any future government investment important it is to teach good hygiene habits in primary and information technology. Greater opportunity to reaches those who need it most, benefiting around school and the difficulties of doing this without offering access technology will improve educational prospects, 45,000 people in Choudwar alone. basic facilities. Both children and teachers in her school leading to a brighter future for these communities. used to miss lessons because of sickness caused by We are always looking for new ways to get people contaminated water. To add to the problem of lack of involved in our work and through our partnership with sanitation, where taps existed, they often froze in winter, “The introduction of information the H&M Foundation, we tapped into the fashion world, making hand-washing impossible. inviting social media blogger @dresslikeamum (real technology makes me very excited, name Zoë de Pass) to join a trip to Chowdwar and share because we are quite behind in the area” her experience with her 88,000 Instagram followers. “How do you expect children to learn maths or history without Working with teachers like Fryda is key to the project’s Zoë with children in the slums of Choudwar minimum standards of water, success and she is keen to collaborate in all aspects. “It was such a privilege to be able to see first-hand the fantastic work sanitation and hygiene?” Water facilities and toilets that are being installed have Like most of the towns in Odisha, there is no sewerage been specifically designed for remote areas like this system in Choudwar. Many households discharge their that Practical Action is doing with the in the High Andes. These are easy to maintain so that Poor educational achievement is a key factor limiting waste directly into natural drains and waterways. Some H&M Foundation in India. I found it so the community will be able to manage the facilities development in rural Andean communities. Many areas use septic tanks, but these often leak out into the themselves. interesting to learn about the challenges lack basic services and have high rates of teacher and environment and any faecal sludge that is collected is disposed of indiscriminately. Those living in slums have and obstacles the Practical Action student absenteeism, resulting in students with low A school without clean water or sanitation is now just no option but to defecate in public spaces. learning outcomes. Communities remain isolated from a distant memory for Fryda. Children at Tupac Amaru team have to overcome in order to many of the advances in modern education leaving School finally have the facilities they need and Fryda is Practical Action, with the generous support of the make projects like this happen. I now students at a disadvantage in continuing their secondary looking forward to seeing their educational achievement H&M Foundation, has been working with communities and higher education. improve - thanks to our supporters! have even more respect for them and on the Swachh Samudai (Healthy Communities) their dedication and commitment.” Now, along with seven other schools in the region, Tupac project. A key part of the project is the construction of Amaru pupils are part of a project to improve learning To find out more about this project visit water points and community toilets. It also works with practicalaction.org/healthy-schools government and local partners to develop a sustainable During the visit Zoë was really waste management system that takes faecal waste moved when she met Sunita from communities to a treatment plant. There are Photo: Ananta Prasad who, like her, is a mother of School children brushing plans to sell the biogas as a sustainable and affordable their teeth at Tupac Amaru young children. Sunita is in clean fuel. her late thirties and works as a home help. In her village, the The H&M Foundation is a non-profit global foundation, community has to go to the Sunita privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders toilet outside. For women, this and main owners of H&M. Its mission is to drive long- Photo: Frank Medina lack of privacy puts them at risk of sexual assault. lasting positive change and improve living conditions by She told us that having proper, safe toilets would make investing in people, communities and innovative ideas. life much easier and safer. The Foundation was already aware of Practical Action’s previous work and identified the Swachh Samudai Read more about this project at project as a further opportunity to extend its support for practicalaction.org/choudwar India’s water and sanitation sector. Small World 5 FEATURE SAFE PAIR OF HANDS An interview with On 8 November, the Safe Pair of Hands campaign The campaign, spanning three months, includes, press, launched with support from the UK Government. Every community promotion and a partnership with Europe’s pound donated by 8 February 2018, up to a total value largest, privately owned media group, Bauer Media. These Farida Bascha of £5 million, will be matched by the Department for are exciting times, as Practical Action’s work is promoted International Development. It’s the ideal way for you to to hundreds of thousands of people across the country, have a say in how the UK’s international aid is spent and, many of whom will be hearing about it for the first time.