Episcopal Relief & Development
Contact

(0) My Cart

Gifts for Life Donate Now
menu
search
  • What We Do
    • Priorities
      • Women
      • Children
      • Climate
    • Integrated Approach
      • Agriculture
      • Asset-Based Community Development
      • Clean Water
      • Disaster Resilience
      • Gender Equality & GBV
        • 16 Days of Activism Toolkit
        • Ending GBV in Liberia
      • Global Goals
      • Malaria – NetsforLife®
      • Maternal & Child Health
        • Early Childhood Development
      • Micro-finance
      • Sanitation & Hygiene
    • US Disaster Program
      • Emergency Responses
      • Long-term Recovery
      • Understanding the 3 Phases of disasters
      • What Can I Do During Disasters?
      • Resource Library
    • Ukraine Crisis Response
    • COVID-19 Pandemic Response
  • Where We Work
    • Africa
      • Angola
      • Burundi
      • Democratic Republic of Congo
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Liberia
      • Malawi
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • Asia
      • Myanmar [Burma]
      • The Philippines
      • Sri Lanka
      • Vanuatu
    • Latin America & the Caribbean
      • Brazil
      • Colombia
      • Cuba
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Haiti
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
    • The Middle East
    • United States
  • Who We Are
    • Mission and Mandate
    • History
    • Financials and Annual Reports
      • Financials Archive
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Board And Staff
      • Board of Directors
      • Staff
    • Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
  • What You Can Do
    • Give
      • Donate Now
      • Sustainers Circle
      • Planned Giving
        • Matthew 25 Legacy Society
      • Other Giving Opportunities
        • Corporate Matching
        • Honor and Memorial Gifts
        • Gifts of Stock or Securities
        • Combined Federal Campaign
        • IRA Charitable Rollover Gifts
      • Our Pledge to Donors
    • Stay Informed
      • Stories
      • Sign Up
      • Newsletters
        • Seek & Serve – Newsletter
        • US Disaster News
    • Volunteer
      • Become a Ministry Partner
        • Congregational Recognition Program
      • Great Ideas to Help Make a Difference
    • Pray
    • Careers
    • Faith Formation
  • Press & Resources
    • 2023 Press Releases
      • Episcopal Relief & Development Offers the Opportunity to Double Your Gift this Spring to Help End Global Hunger Crisis
      • Episcopal Relief & Development Receives Research Grant from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to Study Early Childhood Development Work
      • Supporting Partners in Türkiye and Syria after the February 2023 Earthquake
    • 2022 Press Releases
      • Supporting Humanitarian Response to the Crisis in Ukraine
      • Episcopal Relief & Development Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic
      • Haiti Earthquake Response
    • Stories
      • Finding Peacemakers in the Holy Land
      • Giving Hope, Building Resiliency in the Face of Disaster in Louisiana
      • Help for Ukraine: One Year In
    • Photo + Video
    • Online press kit
    • Media contact information
  • Church in Action
    • 2023 Lenten Meditations
    • Abundant Life Garden Project®
    • Church Resources
      • Worship Resources
      • Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday
      • Pray
      • Bulletin Inserts
      • Materials
    • Faith Formation
      • Educational Resources
      • Abundant Life Garden Project®
      • Coloring Book
      • Lectio Divina
Home | Stories | Village Strengthened by Community-Led Sanitation Process in Angola

Village Strengthened by Community-Led Sanitation Process in Angola

share

In this story, you will meet Domingos and Rosa, a couple with five children living in Quimussungo, Angola. Discover how the Maza yi Moyo (Water Is Life) program has strengthened their community through a method called Community-Led Total Sanitation. The Community-Led Total Sanitation process is a tool introduced to communities to encourage latrine construction and use. This multi-step method involves community mapping, a transect walk to see areas of open defecation, discovery of disease transmission and a planning phase during which program participants make a commitment to build latrines and become activists for this new healthy lifestyle.


When the Maza yi Moyo (“Water is Life”) program came to Quimussungo, a rural community in northwestern Angola, Domingos was one of the first people to volunteer for the local Water & Sanitation Committee (WSC). As one of the enthusiastic early participants in the Community-Led Total Sanitation process, he came to recognize how his household’s practice of open defecation negatively impacted the health of his community, and he set out to build a sturdy, sanitary mud-brick latrine near his home.

Domingos’ wife, Rosa, says: “He did not rest until our own latrine was ready.”

a8e04c1dd98806eb2cde7431dcab7b83

Domingos and Rosa have five children, and big families are common in Quimussungo. Keeping children safe and healthy is the top priority for any parent, and the lack of adequate sanitation was a huge challenge in this community – in rural Angola, diarrheal disease accounts for 15% of child deaths under age five. “Sometimes my children were afraid to ease themselves because they were afraid of going into the bush,” said one mother. “We learned that going to the bush was what was making us sick,” said a child.

4a3071ee48ffc9a7de9fbb4c83c29791

Maza yi Moyo is a program of the Anglican Diocese of Angola, supported by Episcopal Relief & Development and USAID. The program team works with traditional leaders and local authorities to recruit individuals for community-level WSCs, who guide their communities to improve structures and behaviors for water, sanitation and hygiene. At least 50% of the committee members are women, which is key since women often bear primary responsibility for collecting water and managing the health of their families.

c86739db08422ba0d888370d3bf491dd

During the first year of the program, 20 communities joined Maza yi Moyo. According to the local committees, nearly 60% of households were practicing open defecation at the start of the project, but with the continuing work of the WSCs to raise awareness about sanitation and help their neighbors make healthy decisions about hygiene, 233 families like Domingos and Rosa’s decided to construct household latrines.

3a5639ecde5804925d7a2bc526430806

When Domingos got the idea to build their latrine, Rosa encouraged him to complete it and is overjoyed with the result. “I never liked going to the bush but had to live with it because that was the only means available,” she said. “Normally when you go to the bush, you see feces from other people, and that spoils your appetite for food. Now that the latrine has been constructed, I can keep the dignity that I want.”

Read more about Community-Led Sanitation.


Article written by Faith Rowold and Idris Buabeng.

faith-rowold

 

Faith is the Communications Officer at Episcopal Relief & Development.

 

 

20a24736c054b05fcbc916d62e0ca85c  

 

Idris Buabeng is a Program Officer for International Programs at Episcopal Relief & Development.

 


Image Captions: Top, Joy and Augusto standing in front of their family latrine in Quimussungo, Angola (photo by Idris Buabeng); Middle 1 and 2 show the construction of latrines from digging to brick laying; Middle 3, Workshop on how open defecation causes illness; Middle 4, Domingos and wife Rosa standing by their latrine.

Sign up for News
Order Gifts for Life!

Read the Latest Stories

Quick Links

Prayers for Those Affected by Disaster

The Episcopal Asset Map 

Resources & Learning

Click below to access our Resource Library and learn more about our efforts around the world.

Discover

LENTEN MEDITATIONS

THIS LENT, WE INVITE YOU TO REFLECT
ON THE QUESTION, “WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?”

Read More
Episcopal Relief & Development
QUICK LINKS
  • Who We Are
  • Sign Up
  • Stories
  • Contact Us
Connect With Us
  • 1.855.312.4325
  • info@episcopalrelief.org
© 2023 Episcopal Relief & Development
  • Privacy Statement
  • Sitemap

Sign up to receive the latest stories.

15987