Project: Water and Environmental Sanitation Program in East Timor

Aim:

To improve the health of children, their families and their communities in East Timor by delivering sustainable community-managed water and sanitation services

Region:

Aileu & Lautem districts

Project Duration:

FY05 to FY09

Total Public Funds Required:

Project Overview

In 2005, Plan formed a partnership with WaterAid Australia to implement a Water and Sanitation Project. This project commenced in Aileu district in July 2005 and will be expanding into Lautem district in FY08.

Need for improved water & environmental sanitation services

East Timor is the poorest nation in Asia, and one of the poorest in the world. Access to safe water and hygenic sanitation is a significant problem. Much of East Timor’s infrastructure was destroyed following the independence ballot of 1999. This included water supply infrastructure. Exacerbating this situation was the already degraded state of rural water supply systems due to inadequate design, poor construction and low quality materials.

In addition, there is limited access to education which means there is little hygiene knowledge within the community.  Many people don't understand about germs, or the benefits of washing hands and other basic hygeine practices.

This subsequently has a large impact on the lives of people, particularly children. Water related diseases, such as diarrhoea, malaria, and dengue fever represent some of the most common childhood illnesses in East Timor and are significant contributing factors towards the high infant mortality rate of 124 per 1000 live births.

Project Aims

The goal of this project is to improve the health of children, their families and their communities in East Timor by delivering sustainable community-managed water and sanitation services.

Your support will help us achieve this goal by:

1. Completing the construction of infrastructure such as gravity feed water systems, latrines and rain water storage.

2. Undertaking training, capacity-building and mentoring of Plan staff, NGO staff and communities.

3. Providing environmental health and hygiene education to enable communities to develop good hygiene practices, so as to prevent disease and promote positive attitudes towards cleanliness.
   
   

Our Community Partnership Approach

Plan's approach is to work in partnership with the community to gain commitment from families and give them a sense of ownership of the project.

• We require the communities to contribute to our work, for example with a small financial contribution, labour and/or resources in order to maximise local commitment to the project.

• Once projects are completed, families are requested to make a small financial contribution e.g. 25 cents per month, to a maintenance fund (managed by the community water management committees) so that when maintenance is required in the future, the community is prepared.

• We also provide training to community water management committees in the maintenance of infrastructure, so they can manage this themselves.

The Funding Need

This project is supported by a grant from AusAID, the Australian Government Agency for International Development and donations from the Insight Group and the Australian public.

Photo Galleries

East Timor Water & Environmental Sanitation

Plan is supporting a project to deliver sustainable community-managed water and sanitation services & health and hygeine education to target communities in Aileu District.

This album contains 12 photos.

EAST TIMOR: Sarin sub-village water and environmental sanitation case study

Photos illustrating some of the achievements of this project in Sarin sub-village.

This album contains 5 photos.