Promoting SODIS a pro-poor point-of-use water treatment technology in peri-urban Zimbabwe

1. Promoting SODIS a pro-poor point-of-use water treatment technology in peri-urban Zimbabwe Sharon Murinda

2. Background: Water • 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water sources • 1.8 million people die every year due to diarrheal illnesses • Diarrheal illnesses due to contaminated water or improper sanitation and hygiene • WHO: Millenium Development Goal: halve number of people without safe drinking water (until 2015) • WHO supports SODIS as one means to reach the MDGs

3. Project areas: Baseline • N = 878 interviewees • 90% women • Mean age 34 • M = 8 years education • Less than 1$ per day • 4 to 5 people in 1 household • 24% unemployed, 20% vendors, 11% informal traders, 17% housewives • Attitude, convictions, expectations, habits

6. Solar water disinfection: SODIS

7. SODIS is… • … a simple household water treatment system • … point-of-use water disinfection • … affordable • … environmentally sustainable • … socially sustainable

8. SODIS Dissemination • Community Meetings • Bottle Center • Promotion

9. Bottle center • Sources for bottles located (bottle collectors and hotels), connection arranged between them • With a Token, bottle was redeemed for half-price

10. Promotion Promoters(N=43) These are respected local people, leaders and influential people from the community

11. Promoters training • Sensitization on good health and hygienic practices • Capacity building on SODIS and its dissemination • Role play • Duration – one day training

16. Household visits by promoters

17. Flyers used by Promoters Persuasion to do and to talk with pass-on-task

18. Diffusion check • To assess the impact and level of dissemination of SODIS • Division of area in squares, randomized visit of 1 of 9 parts of each square on the map • Short interviews about 5 minutes • Questions about: • SODIS behaviour, intervention check • communication patterns • Reasons to do or not to do SODIS, influencing factors

20. Results • Community meetings attendance was about 20% of the whole population in both areas • Promotion • 43 promoters x 10 households per day x 60 days = 25 800 household visits • 10 000+ flyers were distributed • 6 000 Token distributed • Diffusion check was done in 1023 households (N=1023) after the promotion phase so as to assess the impact of promotion.

21. Diffusion Results • The average household size was 4 (SD = 1.8) persons • The mean number of children under the age of 5 per household was 0.9 (SD = 0.97 • About 20% of the interviewees have heard about Sodis through either the promoter, friends, enumerator, bottle center or the community meetings • And of the 20%, 10% are not doing it and 90% are doing it either regularly or irregularly

22. Source of information for SODIS Information event/community meetings(15.8%)Friend/neighbour (4.3%)Interviewer/enumerator (6.4% )Promoter (38%) Bottle centre (20%)

23. Communication and social interaction factors • Other people are trustworthy and their opinion important, but water treatment is not talked about • Official events or official people have a high credibility and impact factor • Other people‘s behaviour and opinion influences their own behaviour and opinion • Enhance talking about SODIS and thus social influence (e.g. pass-on-task)

24. From the Diffusion check done, Promoters had the greatest influence on SODIS dissemination and uptake because of • Their social status in the communities • The approach they used –how convincing it was • Their attitude towards dissemination of SODIS- e.g looking down upon the household because of an existing diarrhoea case in the household

25. From the Diffusion check, it can also be noted that: • Trustworthy and respected people in society can help in the adoption of a new technology • There is need of constant visits to households when a new technology is introduced • Adoption of a new technology doesn’t happen to everyone at one go. • Some people need to have diarrhoea or cholera for them to do SODIS

26. Results of :Reasons for not doing SODIS? • Bottles not available • Always forget • Shyness • No record of diarrhoea ever experienced in the household • Too easy/simple • No record of efficiency recorded in Zimbabwe

27. Conclusion • With more of promotion activities from the bottle center and the promoters, SODIS has a high potential of being adopted even more

28. Thank you! www.sodis.ch or sharon@iwsd.co.zw