1988-2008 CREPA is listening to you Testimonies about 20 Years of Actions
Warning The opinions expressed in this document, co-ordinated by CREPA cannot be the opinions or the official policy of the institution or its technical and financial partners.
Texts : Elisabeth BASTEMEIJER Layout and pictures : Olivier CORNELISSEN Printing : Studio Yipin Créations Editing Co-ordination : Sié Offi SOME Translation in English : Albert S. HIEN © : Regional Centre for low cost drinking Water and Sanitation (CREPA) March 2009
ISBN 978-2-917070-09-3
CREPA
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CONTENT
Pages
Adress of the General Director of CREPA
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Acknowledgements
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Introduction
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CREPA must prove to the world that Africa needs humane projects with long-term goals
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CREPA is very good in knowledge Capitalisation and Capacity Building 14 Sensitisation and follow-up for a real change in the long term
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CREPA plays an important role in the promotion of low cost technologies
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CREPA knows how to adapt and be practical
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Without Sanitation, there is no water for all!
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CREPA launched the participative approach in Togo
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In Benin, the Government does not deal with wastewater
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CREPA is an important source of reference
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We cannot solve the beneficiaries’ problems for them but we can help them solve them
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Giving water is like giving life!
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CREPA can give Sanitation a higher place on the ethical agenda of African countries
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It is important to be there, to be there for the people!
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As an imam, I can influence people in my village and show them good examples
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A physically challenged person only looks for someone to lift him up 40 The arrival of ECOSAN has ÂŤtaken a weight off our shoulders !
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Output was so good that the owner took back his land
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With the ECOSAN fertilizers, my tomatoes are bigger and grow faster than before 46 It is a great honour to see people from all parts of the world visiting my farm 48 It is important to increase the rate of public latrines in Togo
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The environment we live in represents our health
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We no longer suffer from Cholera in our area
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CREPA has come to enlighten us
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We, the first women domestic garbage pre-collectors
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CREPA is like the rain!
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I am one of the first bricklayers trained by CREPA
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CREPA relieves us of our misery!
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In a Community, school constitutes a pillar of development
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It is our school, which will benefit!
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Our situation is far better than it was
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I am proud and happy with my latrine
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CREPA has contributed to improving hygienic, sanitation and drinking water conditions of the people
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CREPA must be made a REAL network!
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Map
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THESE TESTIMONIES ARE AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO BOOST CREPA EFFORTS This book takes stock of the 20 years of the existence of CREPA. It is an excellent initiative of Elisabeth Bastemeijer, an admirer of our efforts. During a trip to our member States countries, she discussed with stakeholders, beneficiaries and especially, with leaders of local communities as well as partners of the CREPA’s network. The interviewed people accepted to give their views, perceptions and comments on activities, the role and support of CREPA in their personal, professional, associative or community live. These testimonies were recorded while CREPA, which has currently Representation Offices in 17 States from West and Central Africa, has just turned twenty (20) since its existence. All these symbolic testimonies are an encouragement to boost our efforts of adequate technical and technological research, strategies and activities in the field of WASH on the continent. As you go through the pages, you will find the comments and pictures of about thirty people, men and women, young and old. These comments and pictures testify the relevance of the creation of our Institution in 1988. Midway to 2015, deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals set up by the United Nations, most of the speeches contained in this book strengthen CREPA in the choice of its strategic development policies and serve as reference and resource centre in the field of WASH. Moreover, these speeches are an incentive package for CREPA, supported by its technical and financial partners, to continue its support to African States, for the achievement of the specific goals in this domain. My prayer is that, the reader of this book convince us further about the soundness of the commitment of CREPA, to work for improving the living conditions of the most underprivileged categories of African populations from rural and peri-urban areas through drinking water supply, and to hygiene and sanitation.
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The General Director of CREPA El Hadj Cheick Tidiane TANDIA
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been a great honour for me to produce his book, thereby, contributing to the 20 years celebration of CREPA. The production of this book would not be possible without the support of the employees of CREPA and the testimonies of all those who accepted to talk about themselves and their vision for CREPA. I am most grateful for their availability and openness. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation, especially to the following persons: Azad Sawadogo for his inspiration and his flexibility [Editor’s note: unfortunately, he will not see the fruits of this work, because he passed away in June 2008, after a short illness], Cheick Tidiane Tandia for offering me the good opportunity to produce this book, Olivier Cornelissen for his vision and creativity, Ewen Le Borgne, for his support and attention, LÊocadie Bouda and Fode Abou Camara for accepting to organise interviews with beneficiaries and finally directors of National Representations (NR) of CREPA in Niger, Togo and Benin, for their warm reception during the assignments that lead me to their countries. Thank you so much! Elisabeth BASTEMEIJER
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INTRODUCTION CREPA has thousand faces: it is sanitation, hygiene and low cost potable water supply, sensitisation and popularisation, information and trainings, technology and communication, expertise and knowledge; but it is above all about lives. Lives which CREPA has enriched and improved; lives filled with hope. It is such lives and hopes that have offered to give their testimonies in this book. This book was written in the framework of the celebration of CREPA’s 20th anniversary. Throughout the speeches of professionals from the field of water and sanitation, representatives of donors, partners and particularly beneficiaries, you will make a voyage in the pass, the present and the future of CREPA. You will travel to many African countries. You will be taken through times and cultures, and the mission, vision and action of CREPA will be your logbook. Stakeholders who testified in this book were selected and interviewed in order to show as well as possible, the diversity of the CREPA network: diversity in its countries of intervention, diversity in its projects and diversity in the personal and institutional relations that CREPA has. The stories are based on interviews in which all the stakeholders were happy to take part. These men and women tell you with enthusiasm what link them to CREPA, what CREPA brings to them and what they think of CREPA and its role in the future.
Now, let us find out ‌
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Elisabeth Bastemeijer
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CREPA MUST PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT AFRICA NEEDS HUMANE PROJECTS WITH LONG-TERM GOALS I am a scientific collaborator at the EPFL (Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne) and I have worked with CREPA for 25 years. Right from the creation of CREPA, the SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) in Switzerland proposed to CREPA a 5-years convention with the management of the EPFL. Since then the SDC has supported CREPA and as the SDC is too busy, the EPFL still serves as an interface. We have always considered people of CREPA as remote colleagues. Right from the beginning, there has been excellent co-operation between the EPFL and CREPA. Almost all collaborators of the EPFL and many of our Environment Institute’s students went to see CREPA in Ouagadougou and we too have received many African PHD students in our country. This has changed mentalities and forged very strong links with the people of CREPA and our students. I would finally say that perhaps it is the richest contribution of the Co-operation. This co-operation, which initially was a development project for the people from the South, has ended up training people from North and South. Our students will always continue to refer to what they learnt during their stay in Ouagadougou. CREPA has immediately experienced a great success, thanks to a concentration of competences at the right moment and at the right place. The CREPA approach corresponded to a lot of expectations because it did not exist before. At that time, there were only small development projects or big projects brought by Europeans who came with their huge means. The creation of CREPA was painstaking. But Cheick TourÊ, who was the first Director of CREPA, was a very creative person. He quickly succeeded in creating and making the organisation function, by establishing strictness, making people responsible and offering scholarship packages to his colleagues. In my opinion, the strength of CREPA is that, despite the fact that CREPA receives money from donors, CREPA is still an African and independent institution. The CAR (The Regional Board of Directors) which takes important decisions regarding the progress of CREPA is composed of only Africans.
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Again, I respect the methodology of work of CREPA very much; it is well defined. The interventions of CREPA in the field are different from the interventions of other organisations because of the alliance that CREPA established with people who studied the Social Sciences. With that humane side, CREPA is aware of all the work that should be done so that beneficiaries appropriate the technologies. To ensure that people use these proposed technologies, there is a lot of work of preparation to do and of course this takes a lot of time. CREPA has often been criticised for that but in the end the method of ‘humane’ work of CREPA has become a real reference! Unfortunately, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals has now become fashionable among donors. People want to see concrete results as quickly as possible and the method of work of CREPA, which is slower, has become less popular. That is why it is important that the CREPA head office continue to do a good job in stimulating co-operation among the different NR (National Representations of CREPA) and giving them as much means as possible, in working as a network conductor and in investing a lot of energy in the capitalisation and the study of impact of the projects that have been carried out over the last 20 years. CREPA must prove to the world that Africa needs humane projects with long-term goals! Jean Marc Froelich, scientific collaborator at EPFL Country: Switzerland City: Lausanne
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CREPA IS VERY GOOD IN KNOWLEDGE CAPITALISATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING I work for the IRC (International Water and Sanitation Centre), an international development organisation, which focuses on information management on water, sanitation and hygiene. I am a senior programme officer, responsible for the co-ordination of the IRC’s programmes in West Africa. We have successfully worked with CREPA for almost 20 years. There are three important reasons why we work with CREPA. The first one is the fact that CREPA is a regional organisation and as such, makes it possible for us to reach several African countries at the same time. The second reason lies in the similar vision and outlook CREPA and IRC have on development. The third fact that made IRC decide to work together with CREPA is CREPA’s high level of professionalism. Until today, our co-operation with CREPA has mainly been focusing on information management and dissemination. Successful things we have been working on together include Sources Nouvelles (an information bulletin about water, sanitation and hygiene in West Africa) and training courses. We have also been supporting CREPA in its internal information management among others by helping it to further develop its website. At the moment, we are starting to work together on some action/research management. According to most people CREPA‘s most important role is capacity building. But in my eyes, CREPA also has an important role to play as a knowledge innovator in the sector. That is one of the reasons why in the future we plan to co-operate in the Washcost programme and the development of more practical knowledge so we can have more impact than we do today. Even though the governments of African countries are really positive about CREPA’s actions and impact, to me it is still not completely clear how CREPA’s actions have influenced the conditions of the helped populations. Still, I think that CREPA’s projects such as Ecosan and Sources Nouvelles have been particularly successful. CREPA is very good in knowledge capitalisation and capacity building.
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Patrick Moriarty, senior programme officer IRC Country: Netherlands City: Delft
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SENSITISATION AND FOLLOW-UP FOR A REAL CHANGE IN THE LONG TERM We work for PROTOS, a Belgian non-governmental organisation, active in nine countries in the world. As time goes on, PROTOS has moved more towards the Water sector. Here in Benin, we practise integrated local water resource management, in partnership with other organisations. We work with CREPA in Service delivery on request. For example, we request CREPA to train bricklayers for us. Our programme has three phases. In the first phase, we study the behaviour of beneficiaries; in the second phase, we put in place an appropriate strategy for the behaviour of people in the districts and in the third phase, we implement the project. Our role is mainly to carry out long-term sensitisation on Water. Like CREPA, we believe that a change of mentalities contributes more to development than for example, the building of many latrines. We work directly with beneficiary districts and we think that it is very important to make a follow-up. Districts often face three major problems. First, inexperience, second, lack of human resources and third, lack of financial means. Working with a method that meets the needs of the districts may bring a real change. With CREPA, we are the rare organisations that have understood the principle.
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Philippe D’Aout, Resident Representative of PROTOS and Anne-Sophie Aublet, agricultural engineer in charge of the AEPHA programme of PROTOS Country: Benin City: Cotonou
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CREPA PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PROMOTION OF LOW COST TECHNOLOGIES We are currently in Niger for an assignment aimed to support the Ministry of Water, by ensuring a financial support from the Danish government. The support implementation has two components. First, we have to ensure that it helps building the capacity of the Ministry and secondly, we ensure that it helps drill boreholes in the Zinder and Djifa regions. The programme has begun this year and is scheduled to end in 2009. We have known CREPA for a very long time now. CREPA plays a very important role in promoting low-cost technologies. It is of a paramount importance that CREPA be known for its skill in meeting the needs of the people and its ability to support Government. Thus, CREPA can work so that donors inject more money in technologies and projects that are well tailored to meet the needs of the local population. CREPA has always had local specialists whom foreign stakeholders and cooperations can call on and can therefore, play the role of facilitators and communicators among the different actors in the sector. It is a very useful structure! Not only as a projects executor but also and especially as a resource centre.
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Thomas de Beyer and Nestor N. Loko, technical assistants of the Component 1 of the support programme to the Water, Hygiene and Sanitation sectors of the Ministry of Water. Country: Niger City: Niamey
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CREPA KNOWS HOW TO ADAPT AND BE PRACTICAL I live in Niamey and I work for Eau Vive, which is also active in Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Togo. We have worked in partnership with CREPA for a long time. The reflection of CREPA and the way it sees things are very useful to us, especially in environmental sanitation. We are currently working together on four different projects. The first project began 5 years ago and it is carried out on a site in the Comambagu region. Refugees with very precarious situations come here to seek fortune. With CREPA, we build public latrines and drinking water points and we carry out sensitisation in the region. The fruit of the project is manifesting in concrete terms: the rate of diseases has decreased considerably and people have become more conscious of the need for an appropriate sanitation system. The second project in which CREPA and Eau Vive co-operate is a drinking water and sanitation programme which has just taken off in Torodi. In this project, Eau vive seeks the expertise of CREPA in Sanitation. The third project in co-operation with CREPA will began in 2008 and will last 4 years. PEADD (Water, Sanitation and Sustainable Development Programme) programme will take place in 12 different districts. It is a big decentralisation project financed by the European Union in which, we have succeeded in involving mayors and other locally elected representatives. Its objective is to make the districts aware of their responsibilities in order to make them independent. We hope that this programme will have a snowball impact and will bring total independence to other districts in Niger. Finally, the last project which is a civil society mobilisation initiative, with the aid of the Blue book, which is financed by Canadians. This project aims at organising the civil society so that it can take a more critical look at sanitation and the real situation in our country. Co-operation with CREPA has always been good and we are happy to continue to work in partnership on different projects. Generally and normally, water and sanitation are things that should be dealt with by the Government. But unfortunately, many African States do not have enough means to take care of water and sanitation and are not able to train people in their own neighbourhoods, in staying close to the reality of beneficiaries.
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On the other hand, CREPA is concrete and puts in place low cost services and mechanisms that can be popularised. CREPA is an organisation that knows how to adapt its expertise to each country and the local context where the project is taking place. CREPA is an organisation that trains people in the field, where people live. With projects like those of sensitisation on hygiene in using theatrical companies, CREPA has made a real impact. Yongo Nignan, principal advisor and director of Eau Vive Niger Country: Niger City: Niamey
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WITHOUT SANITATION, THERE IS NO WATER FOR ALL! We are a Togolese organisation whose goal is to provide clean water to people in Togo. But how can one provide clean water if wastewater is not treated or recycled? How can that be possible if people throw their waste anywhere? The existence and the role of CREPA are essential for that. Sanitation services have for a long time, been neglected in our country. An NGO like CREPA, which supports the Ministry, is unique in Togo. Priority is often accorded to Water. But as far as drinking water is concerned, the MDGs cannot be achieved without sanitation. CREPA offers more and more trainings with a longer-term development impact. Many people say they want to help the most deprived segment of the population, but they do not do their best to achieve this goal. On the contrary, CREPA is performing wonders! Since the intervention of CREPA, people put in much more effort towards hygiene and sanitation. Without sanitation, there would not be drinking waterand therefore, no water for all. The people of Togo needs CREPA. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of work to do. There is still not enough latrines and Drinking water. NGOs should come together to achieve this goal which is to help improving the living conditions of the poors. It is our collective responsibility to continue the sensitisation programme to make people aware of their responsibilities, towards hygiene and sanitation!
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Daniel Koffi Anagba, treasurer of Water for All Country: Togo City: Lomé
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CREPA LAUNCHED THE PARTICIPATIVE APPROACH IN TOGO I work in the Sanitation and Environmental Hygiene Division in Togo, as head of the national public sanitation service. My task is to monitor compliance with rules regarding sanitation and solid wastes. Since 1990, we have had a frank co-operation with CREPA. CREPA is our favourite partner. For example, we worked together on a project to promote hygiene in schools. CREPA helps us at different levels. CREPA covers almost all the regions in Togo through sub-branches, thereby, helping us reach out to people easily in villages. We use the technicians of CREPA to execute some works in these villages and we also take a lot advantage of the applied research of CREPA that we try to popularise. In my opinion, CREPA is unique in its ability to develop appropriate, affordable technologies that meet the needs of the entire population. In listening to the wishes of the communities, CREPA builds facilities that did not exist before. It is something that I respect and admire a lot.
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Mad. Akuele Azombakin, head of the national Public Sanitation Service in the Sanitation and Environmental Hygiene Division of the Ministry of Health Country: Togo City: LomĂŠ
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IN BENIN, THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT DEAL WITH WASTEWATER I am the head of the Information and Communication Service of BETHESDA in Benin. BETHESDA was created during a health crisis in the 90s. At the request of the protestant church, we opened a health centre in Cotonou. Because most of the people who visited the centre had insalubrity-related diseases, we quickly decided to deal with the problem at the source, by putting in place a centre for autonomous management of wastes. As a result of the decentralisation, we are now putting the knowledge we have acquired over time, at the disposal of communities. We have called on the expertise of CREPA for about ten years now. Thus, we regularly ask CREPA to offer trainings in solid wastes management and we often invite CREPA to do some expertise work for BETHESDA. With the decentralisation, it is important to put in place permanent structures to monitor the projects. If one just helps once and goes back, projects fall through. It is also in connection with this, that we often consult CREPA. CREPA has a great expertise as far as project monitoring, trainings, latrines, drinking water, chlorination and wastewater management are concerned. In Benin, the Government does not deal with the management of wastewater at all and the existence of CREPA therefore, is primordial for my country! If you are alone you cannot do much to help. In working with CREPA, we make much more impact. In the world of development, it is important to put forces together!
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Mad. Fatoumata Sidibe Sanni, Head of the Information and Communication Service of BETHESDA Country : Benin City: Cotonou
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CREPA IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF REFERENCE I am a sanitation expert. Presently my work is to offer technical assistance to a rural water funding programme in Benin. GTZ and European Union are funders of that programme who started in 2004 and ended in 2008. Access to drinking water, hygiene and sanitation is a priority for many mayors. The goal of the programme is to mobilise local communities to access drinking water, basic sanitation and education in hygiene. We visit districts and we offer them training sessions and technical services. The decentralisation of the districts is very difficult to manage. The districts lack finance and human resources and do not have enough technical expertise. Moreover, the relation between the Government and districts is still much disorganised. It is important to invest much energy and time into it. Even though decentralisation is a difficult process, I think that it is a good step forward. It gives much power to communities and beneficiaries and thus, make them aware of their responsibilities. The expertise, experience and the training programmes of CREPA are very useful to us, as far as our decentralised water project is concerned. At the moment, we are requesting the assistance of CREPA to build the administrative capacity of people in the districts. CREPA is very competent in technical assistance, capacity building, action research, providing low-cost technologies, and adapting communities to social and economic conditions. One project of CREPA that I find particularly successful is the training of bricklayers. These men really appreciate what CREPA taught them. Not only do they learn how to put up facilities, but also how to sell their knowledge. Thus, they market their works and promote sanitation. Bricklayers get good contracts. When they increase their revenues, they earn more money and at the same time, they help us reaching our goal. Drinking water, hygiene and sanitation for all. For that reason, CREPA is a very important source of reference. CREPA has understood that to go forward, investing in behaviours is as important as investing in figures and concrete things.
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Guy Médard Clégbaza, Sanitation expert in the ‘Potable water programme/ Rural Water component at the Water Head Office’ Country: Benin City: Cotonou
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WE CANNOT SOLVE THE BENEFICIARIES’ PROBLEMS FOR THEM BUT WE CAN HELP THEM SOLVING IT I have been working at CREPA since 1993. My work is to assist communitybased organisations, to help them create income-generating activities. My principal schedules include providing information, developing competences, initiating, assisting and motivating. CREPA follows a well structured approach that goes to its ends. I am proud to work for CREPA. One of the most successful programmes I have participated in is the harvesting of domestic garbage, done by women, which started fifteen years ago. We have succeeded in drawing illiterate women from their homes and getting them to manage a project single-handedly up to date. This has been one of the very first initiatives towards domestic garbage collection, which paved the way into the world of sanitation for women, and serves as a source of livelihood for whole families! Another very successful project is that of sensitising schools in small communities, on sanitation and hygiene. It is fantastic to see children, who through this project, have learnt the importance of sanitation on their health and are even able to convince their families to adopt latrines. Convincing people about the importance of sanitation is not always easy. CREPA contributes by buying materials, but it is important that people contribute by themselves so that they can feel responsible. Unfortunately, it is not always that they have the means for that. The standard of living of our target groups is very low. More often, they do not even have enough money to buy food. As a result, mobilising funds for sanitation seems less important to them. But whatever the issue is, beneficiaries are made to understand that sanitation is necessary and they are helped to find the means to establish the systems that they need. We cannot solve the beneficiaries’ problems for them but we can help them solving it. There has been a significant improvement in access to drinking water and basic sanitation in the last 20 years. CREPA has contributed to a change in mentalities. Thanks to training sessions and our support, people are beginning to understand that they have to organise themselves, and this improves every day. This is a significant stride, preparing us for the future.
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We need a future where we shall continue trekking the same path, while making local communities even more responsible. With the decentralisation system, CREPA will only serve as a guide. It will be up to them to do it and take the dignity to do it with their own strength! LĂŠocadie Bouda, sociologist at the headquarters of CREPA Country: Burkina Faso City: Ouagadougou
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GIVING WATER IS LIKE GIVING LIFE! CREPA Congo has existed for the past 10 years. At the beginning, it was just a small office in a hidden house, created by somebody from the Ministry of Water. I took over the management of CREPA Congo in July 2006 after two previous Directors. We were only three: the accountant, a sociologist, and me. Everything had to start afresh. There was nothing left. I asked myself: « What am I going to do? If I am not able to do anything, that will mean the end of CREPA Congo. I have no option. Something must be done! » It was a great challenge and this immediately ignited some enthusiasm in me. Giving water is like giving life! We cannot live a luxurious life in the midst of poverty without doing anything about it. With the assistance of CREPA, many people can cope with the situation. Thus, working for CREPA means that I am contributing my quota, in my own small way, to making the future better. In Congo, CREPA is responsible for advocacy with decision-makers and sensitising beneficiaries, and making people aware of the importance of hygiene and access to drinking water and sanitation. People must understand that health is not only medication, but health also means the environment we live in. Currently we are building latrines, wells and installing impluviums in schools and carrying out sensitisation exercises on hygiene in a pilot region. Besides this, we may adapt and extend our activities, depending on the outcome. In addition, in collaboration with UNICEF we are producing a standard manual on how latrines should be built in schools. We are specialised in action research and reflection. We go to the field and begin from where others left off. Congo has seen recurrent wars. It is a country where dry areas alternate with flooding areas. Solid wastes and wastewater are rarely evacuated. As Congo is endowed with oil, people think it is a rich country, which can stand on its own. But the country’s riches are in the hands of crooks and not in the hands of the poor. CREPA is the only organisation responsible for desilting and cleaning gutters in Brazzaville, to stem the tide of flooding. This is a simple solution, and yet besides CREPA no one cares.
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CREPA invents simple things accessible to all. Low cost solutions appropriate to beneficiaries. CREPA includes a dose of sociology and humanity in whatever it does. CREPA does not decide the need of a beneficiary but consults the beneficiaries to know their problems and find a solution to them. We do not give fishing rods to people but we teach them how to fish. Georgette Ingani, Director, CREPA Congo Country: Congo City: Brazzaville
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CREPA CAN GIVE SANITATION A HIGHER PLACE ON THE ETHICAL AGENDA OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES I am the head of the Water division of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), which has been supporting CREPA since 2001. When I think of CREPA, I think of Ecological sanitation (ECOSAN), dissemination and networking. One of the main reasons for us to support CREPA is the fact that CREPA is one of the few African organisations that focuses primarily on sanitation. It has a lot of knowledge and is able to give Sanitation a higher place on the ethical agenda of different African countries, which is very important for us. Through CREPA’s ECOSAN programmes, resources contained in excreta and wastewater are used for agriculture. To us it is all about poverty reduction and sustainable development solutions, which are environmentally friendly. ECOSAN is a concept that answers both our wishes, on the one hand, by avoiding throwing away wastewater in the nature and on the other hand, by increasing and improving agricultural production. CREPA has a lot of knowledge, does a lot of research and undertakes many development projects. As a regional organisation with representations in the whole of West and Central Africa, it can have a great impact on other important areas. That is why I would like to focus on the role of CREPA as a knowledge disseminator. It is important that CREPA go out to countries and teach how things can be done. Networking means being supported and giving support to those who need it more. Working together with other important stakeholders like the World Bank and African ministries enhances CREPA’s chances of influencing the numerous processes that are going on at the political level. In the end, politicians are the ones who make implementation decisions.
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Cecilia Sharp, head of the Water division, SIDA Pays: Sweden City: Stockholm
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IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE THERE, TO BE THERE FOR THE PEOPLE! I am the head of all the facilitators of Ecosan in 5 areas of Saaba. I underwent 2 training sessions organised by CREPA, one in 2002 and the other in 2003, to enable me to become the head of the facilitators. I learnt how to obtain Drinking water, how the Ecosan latrines function, and what must be done to process human excreta and urine into fertilizers. As facilitators, we sensitise 67 households and make them aware of their responsibilities. These are the 67 homes provided with Ecosan latrines here at Saaba. We educate them on how to keep these coumpounds clean and use their latrines. Two times a week, we visit these coumpounds and we realize that the sensitisation has gone down well with people. Their homes are often very clean. Farming is my real profession. Red sorghum is what I generally cultivate. I used human excreta and urine on my farm and this has improved my yield significantly. This is how I manage to feed my three children. The Ecosan system is advantageous. Fertilizers obtained from these latrines are better than other fertilizers on the market. Market gardeners are also very happy with Ecosan fertilizer. Being a head facilitator does not earn me any money, but the feeling of helping people alone is a great reward. It is important to be there, to be there for the people!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
37
Sylvain Tiendrébéogo, Head of Ecosan facilitators Country: Burkina Faso Town: Sabaa, near Ouagadougou
38
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
AS AN IMAM, I CAN INFLUENCE PEOPLE IN MY VILLAGE AND SHOW THEM GOOD EXAMPLES I am an imam in my village and at the same time a farmer. I have my own farm. I have four wives and many children. Some years back, CREPA built an Ecosan latrine on my compound. All children and adults living here use my latrine. The Ecosan latrine that CREPA built in my village in 2006 has significantly changed my life and that of my family. In the past, when we were going to toilet, someone could just chance on us. Now we are in peace. The fact that there is a lock on the door makes a whole difference. Apart from that, the number of flies has significantly diminished. Odours and diarrhoeas have gone down considerably. I have not yet used the Ecosan fertiliser on my farm, because up to now I do not know how to apply them. I intend going to see CREPA to learn how to apply it. Fortunately, CREPA comes around for the urines of my latrine to use them elsewhere. So we do not throw them away. When people come here on Friday, they ask me many questions about my latrine. Afterwards, they tell people at the mosquee and the market about it. As an imam, I can influence people in my village and show them good examples!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
39
Mahomodou Idrissa, Imam beneficiary of Ecosan latrine Country: Niger District: Torodi
40
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
A PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED PERSON ONLY LOOKS FOR SOMEONE TO LIFT HIM UP I got to know CREPA during the promotion of hygiene and sanitation project at Fana. As I have a garden at home, I participated in a training session on market gardening. With the support of my husband, I put the knowledge I acquired from the training into practice on my banana plants, groundnut and sesame farms. I was surprised by the results. The banana plants grew faster than before and the banana enriched with urine has a better resistance to the weather. Moreover, production has significantly increased. I could harvest 50 fruits from only one groundnut plant! I sell more banana than before and as a result, I can save some money to buy watering and harrowing equipments. In the past, I had to walk for 4 km in search of manure. That was time-consuming. I would be tired but got almost nothing in return. When I learnt that I could produce my own fertiliser, I stopped walking immediately. Now, I have money and time to help others. It is becoming a real business. I have already trained 15 women. This is really great! I am proud and happy with what I have discovered. This gives me a wider scope of life and the world. ÂŤ A physically challenged person (cripple) only needs someone to lift him up. Âť I was the cripple CREPA lifted me up!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
41
Fatimata SANOGO, seamstress and a beneficiary of ECOSAN training Country: Mali District: Fana
42
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
THE INTRODUCTION OF ECOSAN HAS «TAKEN A WEIGHT OFF OUR SHOULDERS»! My family benefited from an ECOSAN latrine in February 2006. During the rainy season in 2007, I was able to use the urine, which I collected and processed it in my manure pit for my maize farm. It is easier for us today to access fertilizers for our farming activities. Ecosan has «taken a weight off our shoulders»! Through the support of CREPA, I have a certain level of knowledge and a wider scope that enables me to assess the value of fertilizers made from Ecosan latrines. Moreover, I am now able to motivate and assist my friends to manage their latrines and the agronomic use of human excreta and urine. My family is happy with the project. The success of my farm has convinced many a family heads in my village. I am proud of this achievement. Everyone envies me. I simply tell them: « Take an Ecosan latrine and the rest will be gained! ».
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
43
Madou Diarra, agriculturist and beneficiary of Ecosan latrine Country: Mali District: Fana district
44
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
THE YIELD WAS SO GOOD THAT THE OWNER TOOK BACK HIS LAND We are a farming co-operative of 16 women and a man. Our co-operative, called GBE TOANAMO, has existed since 5 past years. We cultivate our 100 square-metre farm in order to survive. CREPA supports us with latrines and trainings on hygiene and how to use these latrines. The fertilizers that we use are from neighbouring schools. We visit our farm twice a day to water our crops and apply fertilizers. We use the rest of our time taking care of our children, cooking, and going to the market to sell our vegetables and the fish that our husbands bring home from fishing. We earn a little money from our vegetable sales. We would like to have bigger farms to produce more vegetables and to earn more money. Unfortunately, we do not have enough capital to buy the necessary tools to uproot the palm trees bordering our land. But fertilizers obtained from the latrines are really good. So good that we had to change our farm, because the yield was so good that the owner wanted to retrieve his land. Thanks to the fertilizers collected from CREPA latrines, we are able to live, feed our children and earn our own money. We are independent!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
45
Gbé Toanamo, Women farmers’ cooperative, beneficiaries of latrines and trainings Country: Benin District: Seme-Podji
46
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
WITH THE ECOSAN FERTILIZERS, MY TOMATOES ARE BIGGER AND GROW FASTER THAN BEFORE CREPA has built an ECOSAN latrine in my house. I use the urine from my latrine to irrigate my garden. With the ECOSAN fertilizers, my tomatoes are bigger and grow faster than before. Women from the village sell my tomatoes at the market. This earns me enough money to live. I am very happy with the CREPA project and I will never use other fertilizers apart from those obtained from my latrine.
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
47
Raphaël Tokpoan, market gardener and a beneficiary of ECOSAN latrine Country: Benin District: Seme-Podji
48
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
IT IS A GREAT HONOUR TO SEE PEOPLE FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD VISITING MY FARM I am a 57-year old farmer living in a village called Keur Saib Ndoye, in the Thiès region of Senegal. I am one of the first beneficiaries of the Ecosan latrine in my country. I was trained by CREPA in 2003 on how to use excreta processed as fertilizer, for agricultural purposes. Since my training, I use Ecosan products on my vegetable farm for the cultivation of lettuce, okra and aubergines. Fertilizers from Ecosan latrines have a lot of advantages. They increase agricultural yield and preserve soil fertility. My yield has almost doubled since I started using processed excreta as fertilizer. Moreover, I have realised that fruits and vegetables produced with the Ecosan fertilizer are more beautiful, taste better, are bigger and can be preserved for a longer period than those produced with ordinary fertilizers. The satisfactory yield from my farm has convinced many farmers who were sceptical about the use of Ecosan products. Since 2007, I have signed a partnership agreement with CREPA. CREPA assists me with agricultural materials, and I in turn use processed excreta on my farm to showcase the Ecosan project of CREPA. Thanks to this co-operation with CREPA, I have broadened my scope of knowledge on agriculture. Not only do I learn how to use Ecosan products on my farm, but also how to make a crop nursery bed and how to prepare Ecosan compost by using different and modern agricultural techniques. I have made a lot of friends at CREPA, and it is a great honour to see people from all parts of the world visiting my farm. It is really comforting! Indeed, I wish that this co-operation with CREPA continue, develop and extend to other areas.
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
49
Cheikh Faye, Beneficiary farmer of Ecosan latrines and training sessions Country: Senegal District: Thiès
50
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
IT IS IMPORTANT TO INCREASE THE RATE OF PUBLIC LATRINES IN TOGO We are members of an organisation called AEAE (Sanitation, Potable Water, Agriculture and Cattle Breeding). With the support of CREPA, we undertake research in the areas of water and sanitation; we assist the local population, educating them on the functioning of latrines and building facilities to ease access to potable water and sanitation. We are currently working on a pilot project, which began in 2003, at Sossou KopĂŠ, an area with only twenty washtubs. That was not enough to supply all households with water. We therefore decided to build some more washtubs and 8 public latrines for easy access to sanitation. Building public latrines cost less than building latrines in the individuals houses and avoids that people defecate in the street. It is important to increase the rate of public latrines in Togo. The availability of latrines significantly improves the hygienic conditions of inhabitants and cuts down significantly the number of diseases!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
51
Jean Kponzonou and Assiabo Kouglo, members of the AEAE Country: Togo City: Lomé
52
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN REPRESENTS OUR HEALTH We are members of a sanitation association involved in domestic garbage management. We collect domestic solid wastes. Without CREPA, we would have been jobless, because we earn some money from the services we offer. People will only pay us for our services when they realize the need for sanitation. But these people must understand that the environment we live in represents our health. And that an unhealthy environment breeds diseases. That is where CREPA intervenes. CREPA carries out sensitisation exercises in the areas where we work. By dint of constantly repeating the same thing, people end up understanding it. Through this sensitisation exercise, people solicit our assistance to clean up their homes. This is how CREPA helps us earn some money. CREPA is potable water and sanitation. We need experience from CREPA to prevent unhealthy environment and diseases! Many people solicit our assistance. We would like to extend our activities to other areas. Unfortunately, we do not have enough financial and human resources to help everybody. People must understand that sanitation is really important!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
53
Messrs. Doudinka and Konlanwi, members of the AGIROZE garbage collection association Country: Togo City: Lomé
54
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
WE NO LONGER SUFFER FROM CHOLERA IN OUR AREA We are members of a capacity building committee in an area in Lomé called Bekouta. In our area, CREPA has built latrines, put in place a system for domestic garbage collection and carries out sensitisation on hygiene. Now, whenever we see that our streets are filled with garbage, we prevent our children from playing in the street. Following CREPA’s activities, the number of hygiene-related diseases has dipped considerably. We no longer suffer from cholera in our area.
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
55
Tahe Eloi, president of the capacity building committee and Fiagnekou Zouveane, chief of Bekouta Country: Togo City: LomĂŠ
56
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
CREPA HAS COME TO ENLIGHTEN US Whenever I saw latrines in people’s homes, I felt like having one for myself. I had a latrine 5 years ago. To have this, one had to help in building it. One had to be fully involved. Since it had been my dream to have one, that was not a problem! I am very happy with my latrine, built of perpend. In the past, my family used to respond to nature call in the bush. That was dangerous because of snakes. My four children were always sick. Whenever we had visitors and they had to go to toilet, we did not know where to send them. Now that we have the latrine, our lives have changed, because we keep our dignity and health! I thank CREPA for this. What CREPA has done in my village is unbelievable. CREPA has given us a borehole and everyone has benefited from the sensitisation on hygiene. Since then we have learnt to cover our water containers and we do our best to monitor and comply with hygiene rules. The fact of not complying with these rules brings diseases and dishonour to the home! CREPA has come to enlighten us on certain issues. I pray for the grace of God for CREPA to continue to exist and help us for a longer period. CREPA is the image of an immense support in the village!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
57
Pierre KaborĂŠ, farmer and a beneficiary of a latrine Country: Burkina Faso Village: Sabtenga
58
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
WE, THE FIRST WOMEN DOMESTIC GARBAGE PRE-COLLECTORS IN OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO All started in May1993. That year, CREPA launched a domestic garbage pre-collection project with us. Today, CREPA has stopped supporting us; but we still continue. For the past 14 years3, everyday with a donkey and a cart, we go to collect garbage from the streets and homes in our area. We process this garbage into compost, which we sell to market gardeners for some little money. For the past 14 years, we have carried out daily sensitisation exercises on hygiene and sanitation. Young people do not pay attention. They do not listen to us. There are others however, who have understood that it is better to be clean, they have understood that urine and garbage can drain into our drinking water sources, that stagnant waters attract parasites and destroy our roads. Compost preparation lasts for 3 months. During this period, we turn the compost over every three weeks. It is a difficult task. The donkeys injure us and they are very stubborn. One needs a lot of strength to move them. But we are happy with our work, happy to be able to bring our experience to bear on other women and keep Ouagadougou clean. In many other areas, it is the mayor’s office, which employs women to clean the city. We are lucky to be an independent association. Since we have been in this business for long, with a lot of experience, we are better paid than other women who do the same work. CREPA has done a lot for us and for this town. When we started, we were the only women in those days to collect garbage. Today, thanks to our example and thanks to CREPA women collect garbage in almost all parts of Ouagadougou.
3 Interview recorded in 2007
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
59
Cathérine Kaboré, Justine Koudougou, Virginie Nanema and Henriette Bougouma, collectors of domestic garbage Country: Burkina Faso City: Ouagadougou
60
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
CREPA IS LIKE RAIN! I am the chief of Sabtenga village. As a village chief, I must ensure that people comply with rules and regulations. I am the protector of our tradition. Since CREPA arrived here 6 years ago, the village has been given a facelift. By the kind courtesy of CREPA we have learnt a lot. Today we are reaping the fruits of what we learnt. The number of diseases has decreased considerably. CREPA has done so much at Sabtenga that I cannot enumerate. CREPA has dug a borehole for use on a pilot agricultural farms, with ECOSAN products. CREPA has built impluviums in the school. CREPA rebuilt the toilet at the health centre and CREPA has built walls around boreholes to protect them against insalubrities. What interests me most is the fact that CREPA has built latrines for about 100 households. In the past, we used to respond to nature call outside, near a tree. Someone could jump into you at any time. Now we can keep our dignity. We have even given a new name to the ECOSAN latrines: « Yayandé! », « Quit the shame! » in Moré. In our community, we are used to saying: «You cannot have mayflies (flying insects which are eaten here) to eat and forget the rain » It is when it rains that mayflies come. CREPA is like the rain! It is so big and important that it cannot be forgotten!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
61
Nabaa, village chief with pilot projects of CREPA Country: Burkina Faso Village: Sabtenga
62
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
I AM ONE OF THE FIRST BRICKLAYERS TRAINED BY CREPA I was born in 1953 and I am one of the first bricklayers trained by CREPA. This was in 1990. For 54 days an Englishman named Norman, taught us how to build 20-cubic-metre impluviums. We were six. I passed with distinction. I know how to build all kinds of latrines and impluviums. One needs iron and cement to build them. At CREPA Mali, I trained other bricklayers and I obtained a trainer’s certificate. Today many people know how to build because of me. I thank God for this gift that CREPA has given me, which I can impart to others. I am very busy. People ask me to build one thing or another. I build public drinking fountains for the UNICEF. I work both in the city and in the countryside. I love my work, especially because it permits me to feed my 11 children. I am very happy with what CREPA has done for me. It is as if I have been given gold. I will never forget.
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
63
Pierre TassambĂŠogo, bricklayer and trainer of bricklayers Country: Burkina Faso City: Ouagadougou
64
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
CREPA RELIEVES US OF OUR MISERY! I am the general secretary of the Seme-Podji district in Benin. A district situated between Cotonou and Porto-Novo, with 38 villages, and 150 000 inhabitants. In my district, CREPA builds 50 latrines each year and provides water supply systems. Moreover, a year ago, CREPA offered Seme-Podji local authorities and technicians a very interesting training in 3 modules. One on contractorship, one on contract award, and one on supervision and monitoring. Thanks to this training, understanding between technicians and mayors has improved. Not only does CREPA train the local authorities of Seme-Podji, but it also trains men and women who live in our villages. In order for people to monitor CREPA projects, it is important to train the most disadvantaged. By making them aware of their responsibilities, the inhabitants of the village are more and better able to take over the CREPA projects. The inhabitants of the district have commended the numerous projects undertaken by CREPA. We lack sanitation facilities at Seme-Podji, and we do not have enough facilities in place to drain waste sewage. This is why we would like CREPA to speed up its activities and increase the number of projects, to avoid open air defecation, and offer water supply services for all. The Benin National Water Corporation does not cover our district in terms of water and sanitation. CREPA activities are therefore, very important for us. It is only CREPA that is in charge of building latrines, thereby relieving us of our misery!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
65
Stanislas Juste Degbessou, administrator and general secretary, Seme-Podji Country: Benin District: Seme-Podji
66
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
IN A COMMUNITY, SCHOOL IS A PILLAR FOR DEVELOPMENT I am the chief educational supervisor of Sèmè-Podji in Benin. Here CREPA implements projects in four schools. For the past two years, CREPA has been busy building latrines and organising sensitisations on hygiene for children. CREPA has formed health brigades in classrooms, composed of pupils. In each class, there is a pupil in charge of water, another for personal hygiene and cleanliness of pupils and one pupil in charge of the cleanliness of the classroom. Besides the health brigade, we have the permanent committee, which has nothing to do with the classroom, but the entire school. Pupils who are members of this brigade are involved in garbage collection on the compound and ensure that women who sell food on the compound comply with rules regarding cleanliness, to prevent diseases. Leaders are democratically elected from amongst the pupils. A leader among the pupils feels important and proud of himself. He does not need any other reward. He does it with pleasure. That has no price. Not only pupils but also teachers are involved in promoting hygiene in the school. Each week teachers post one key message on hygiene in the classroom, like « wash your hands before eating » and ensure that the message is practised. At the end of the month, the teacher analyses the impact of the message to be able to change, improve or repeat the same message, if necessary. It takes years to learn to be responsible, but children are more easily influenced than adults. It is easier to teach children to be confident. There has been tremendous progress since the beginning of the project. Children want to be clean and fall sick less often. The health of children is very vulnerable and it is important to take all the possible caution. In a community, school is a pillar for development. By promoting hygiene at school, CREPA develops respect for hygiene in the whole municipality of Seme-Podji!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
67
Mr. Adevijovi, supervisor of schools Country: Benin District: Seme-Podji
68
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
IT IS OUR SCHOOL, WHICH WILL BENEFIT! I am 13 years old and I have been appointed the hygiene officer of my class, class 6. As a hygiene officer, I have a lot to do. At school I sweep, I place the hand-washing bowls at the appropriate places; I wash my hands and also ensure that other children do same. We revise hygiene rules during French lessons. I have been taught that I must wash my hands before and after eating and going to toilet. We are told this is important to prevent diseases. I am the youngest in my home. I have 8 older brothers and sisters. But even though I am the youngest, I have taught everyone the importance of being clean. In my home, everyone washes their hands now. I am very happy to be appointed a prefect. If our school was to participate in a competition, I am sure that it would win!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
69
Johane Tokpowanou, Hygiene officer in a school benefiting from the hygiene sensitisation programme of CREPA. Country: Benin District: Seme-Podji
70
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
OUR SITUATION IS FAR BETTER THAN IT WAS We got to know CREPA through a workshop organised on water and decentralisation in the town hall of our district. In our district, CREPA works in the area of hygiene and sanitation and undertakes researches to support other organisations working in our community. We impart a lot to other districts, what CREPA has taught us. Thanks to CREPA, our district has found partner organisations and has been able to receive 30 millions CFA F. A greater part of this money goes into sensitisation on hygiene in schools and building of latrines in the houses of inhabitants. This is the first time that Hygiene is being mentioned in our municipality. Inhabitants of the villages who receive aid from CREPA are very happy. We did not know anything about the ECOSAN latrines. Through the building of these latrines, there have been significant improvements in underprivileged families. CREPA has really helped us, our situation is far better than it was.
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
71
Mayor of Torodi, Niger. Country: Niger District: Torodi
72
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
I AM PROUD AND HAPPY WITH MY LATRINE For the past one year, I have a CREPA latrine. In order to acquire this, we had to fetch water and make the bricks. CREPA financed and did the rest. I made 500 mud bricks and I am proud and happy with my latrine. All members of my family and neighbours use it. And I make sure that they wash their hands after going to toilet. My wife and I scrub the toilet. We do this in turns. In the past people dug holes all around the house to respond to nature call. This emitted bad odour, which caused nuisance in the whole area. My four children frequently had diarrhoea. Now, my children no longer suffer from diarrhoea and we are no longer a nuisance to the area Initially, it was difficult to understand the way the latrines functioned and it was a bit awful to talk about it. Everyone made fun of it. It takes time to adapt. But now there is no problem. I cultivate millet from fertilizer obtained from the CREPA latrine; The yield is good. We are all farmers in this village. Now, the entire village envies us. People want the same latrines as ours!
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
73
Mr. Boubakar, farmer and beneficiary of a latrine Country: Niger District: Torodi
74
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
CREPA HAS CONTRIBUTED TO IMPROVING HYGIENIC, SANITATION AND DRINKING WATER CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE I have worked with CREPA since 1996. That was during the first meeting aimed at draft amendment of the laws of the national branch of CREPA-Côte d’Ivoire. Since then, I have done a lot of consultancy for the institution. Between 2001 and 2005, I was a member the regional Board of Directors and since August 2005, I am an observer on this Board. Since I knew CREPA, its SARAR/PHAST method of sensitisation and training, its documentation and publication works, as well as its research on Ecological Sanitation (ECOSAN) have impressed me a lot. In my opinion, the uniqueness of CREPA stems from: - the way stakeholders of the WASH sector have succeeded in linking research, training, and support, for the achievement of its goals. - the ability to adapt to specific conditions in each country, especially national and local institutions; - And finally, its ability to finance a greater proportion of its programme through services rendered. Support to local communities and the establishment of links between research and achievements of objectives seem important in the role that CREPA is playing. When we talk about CREPA, what immediately come to mind are low cost, participation, research-training-support, local communities. Since the creation of CREPA as a regional project in 1988. improvements have been very significant, especially in the areas of access to potable water, in rural and urban areas, in water distribution in the rural area, in the area of sanitation, as far as hygienic processing of human excreta is concerned and hygiene in general. From all indications, CREPA has contributed to these improvements, but it is impossible to evaluate CREPA’s contributions, because the stakeholders are many.
1Testimonies sampled through a questionnaire that Mr Langley voluntarily accepted to fill
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
75
The greatest challenge facing CREPA in the future is how to ensure its own funding and at the same time ensure that state structures and organisations of the civil society adopt its methods.
Phillip Langley, consultant Country: Benin City: Cotonou
76
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
CREPA MUST BE MADE A REAL NETWORK CREPA’s advantage is its concrete actions on the field, in a socio-economically, climatically and culturally diversified environment, from West to Central Africa. The most important role of CREPA is the fact that it is championing the course of providing potable water and sanitation for the most disadvantaged in society. At the beginning of the 1990s the WASH experts and institutions from francophone Africa showed no interest in the low cost sanitation systems. Today, methods and technologies being promoted by CREPA have drawn much more attention. This largely results from the number of training activities and promotion programmes in member countries. Can we mention one particular successful project of CREPA? They are many. For example, the community-based management of human excreta initiated by women! Even the green uniform has almost been adopted by many countries, meanwhile in the past blue uniforms were used by workers. Hygiene in schools is another success story. The greatest challenge facing CREPA in the future, in the current context of decentralisation, is the capacity building of rural communities, which do not have adequate funds. To improve the effect of CREPA’s activities, CREPA must be made a REAL network, because, communication among national Representation Offices is almost inexistent, whereas the number of problems regarding technology or approaches and strategies facing certain offices are resolved in others and viceversa.
Testimonies sampled from a questionnaire that Mr Guène voluntarily accepted to fill
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
ACTION
77
Ousseynou Guène, Sanitary engineer, CREPA from1989 to 2001, Currently head of Engineering and Environmental Management Firm (CIME), Country: Senegal City: Dakar
78
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
MAT EUROPE
S
D
L
S - Stockholm, SWEDEN D - Delft, THE NETHERLANDS L - Lausanne, SWITZERLAND
OF
ACTION
CREPA
IS LISTENING YOU,
TESTIMONIES ABOUT 20 YEARS
OF
79
ACTION
WEST AFRICA
Th F
S
O
T
N
LC P
B
Th - Thiès, SENEGAL F - Fana, MALI S - Sabtenga, BURKINA FASO O - Ouagadougou, BURKINA FASO T - Torodi, NIGER N - Niamey, NIGER L - Lomé, TOGO C - Cotonou, BENIN P - Semi-Podji, BENIN B - Brazzaville, CONGO
REGIONAL CENTRE FOR LOW COST WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION - (CREPA) WHO Collaborating Centre Member of steering committee of WSSC
CREPA Head Office 03 BP 7112 Ouagadougou 03 – Burkina Faso Tel. : +226 50 36 62 10 / 11 - Fax : +226 50 36 62 08 e-mail : crepa@fasonet.bf / reseaucrepa@reseaucrepa.org Website: www.reseaucrepa.org
ADDRESSES AND CONTACTS OF NATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE CREPA NETWORK IN 17 MEMBER COUNTRIES CREPA Benin BP 4 392 Cotonou Cel.: (229) 95 56 7083 Tel.: (229) 21 31 10 93 crepaben@bow.intnet.bj crepabenin@yahoo.fr CREPA Burkina Faso 06 BP 9 875 Ouagadougou 06 Tel.: (226) 50 36 40 34 / 50 36 62 41 Fax: (226) 50 36 61 42 rncrepa-burkina@fasonef.bf CREPA Burundi BP 1820 Bujumbura S/c Ministère de la Santé Publique Cel.: (257 ) 79 98 23 92 nkeshimana2@yahoo.fr CREPA Cameroon BP 659 Yaoundé Tel.: (237) 222 34 00 Cel: (237) 753 51 33 Fax: (237) 222 61 77 crepacam2006@yahoo.fr CREPA Central Africa Republic BP 1 481 Bangui Tel/Fax: (236) 61 22 60 / 50 04 96 / 50 78 45 crepa_rca@yahoo.fr CREPA Congo BP 152 Brazzaville Tel.: (242) 551 46 00 Cel: (242) 527 70 36 Crepa_cncg@yahoo.fr CREPA Cote d’Ivoire 18 BP 80 Abidjan 18 Tel.: (225) 21 25 17 58 Cel.: (225) 05 24 14 76 Fax : (225) 21 75 89 89 crepaci@aviso.ci CREPA Bissau Guinea CP 736 Bissau Bur.: (245) 22 34 04 Cel.: (245) 72 00 835 Fax: (245) 20 54 10 crepagb@yahoo.com.br crepagb@mail.gtelecom.gw
CREPA Guinea BP 1 278 Conakry Tel.: (224) 34 01 99 Cel.: (224) 60 55 02 13 crepa-gui@afribone.net.gn CREPA Mali BP E 344 Bamako Tel./Fax : (223) 224 20 24 Cel.: (223) 67 10 128 crepa-mali@reseaucrepa.org crepamali@afribone.net.ml CREPA Mauritania BP 5026 Nouakchott Cel.: (222) 681 22 89 ouldabdy@yahoo.com CREPA Niger BP 2 149 Niamey Tel. / Fax : (227) 20 32 00 11 Cel: (227) 96 96 10 33 crepaniger@yahoo.fr crepaniger@intnet.ne CREPA Rwanda BP 4134 Kigali Tel: (250) 08 46 00 46 08 62 24 49 / 58 55 03 Fax: (250) 58 57 55 jgasarasi@yahoo.fr CREPA Senegal BP 2 041 Dakar Tel.: (221) 832 29 97 Cel.: (221) 630 97 08 Fax: (221) 832 67 29 crepa@sentoo.sn crepa@telecomplus.sn CREPA Chad BP 1 017 N’Djamena Tel.: (235) 52 51 76 Cel.: (235) 629 22 11 crepatchad.toumay@yahoo.fr ; crepa-tchad02@yahoo.fr CREPA Togo BP 3 689 Lomé Tel. /Fax: (228) 22 57 454 Cel.: (228) 90 43 241 crepatg@togo-imet.com crepatg@togoreseaucrepa.org