Sport & Teaching	Humanitarian	Nature & Wildlife conservation,	Medical & Health

Mwatate Community Water and Sanitation Project
Project: Water and Sanitation Project Theme: Better life with clean water & sanitation Location: Mwatate , Voi Coastal Kenya Length of placement:;-open Dates Time placement: Any Time Accommodation:: Family stay Preferred languages: English Volunteer groups: Single, partner or more than 5 people Area attractions: Tsavo National park, Taita hills and Taita culture

Email now at: volunteer@malaikaecotourism.com

Project’s Background:
Mwatate Community Group for Water & Sanitation is a Community Based Organisation (CBO) which was started about 10 years ago, with an aim of providing water to the disadvantaged community members in Mwatate village.

This project was set up with the support of the World Bank that funded the construction of water pipelines some years back. This initiative thus enabled the community to access to their need for water, without having to walk for kilometres to reach a water point with sometimes no success. Indeed, the village is located in a semi-arid area, with limited rainfalls.

The community is now urging volunteers to come and unit to them, to uplift the project that has helped a number of community members. The Mwatate people have also started a sanitation program that consists of going to villages to create awareness on home toilet construction. This is to prevent the outbreaks of cholera and other water-related disease.

Volunteer's Role:
Volunteers play a key role of motivation to the community, as well as they lower the gap between the haves and the have nots. The objective is not to turn around the lifes of these under-privileged ones but to make a difference and build a bridge between the North and the South.

The following are volunteers' tasks and roles in the project:

Renovation of the pipes Water system maintenance Searching for new sources of water Data collection on people access to water & sanitation Creativity on new water & sanitation project launching Counselling on fundraising & proposal writing Creating new community empowerment projects Awareness on sanitation aspects in both schools & homes Controlling outbreak of disease Setting a future plan Project beneficiaries: about 1,000 People aged between 1 & 100 years

Important of Volunteer placements:
Volunteers bring with them a different outlook and perspective, as well as knowledge base, which is invaluable to the continued learning and education of the group members and the community. They also help to motivate group members for each activity as well as the community as a whole.

Orientation:
You will receive an orientation at the beginning of your programme in Malaika Ecotourism office in Nairobi, Kenya and then at the project together with the community. It will cover what you can get involved with at your project, how to stay safe and the opportunity to ask any questions that you may have.

Volunteer Programme support:
Throughout your stay in Mwatate, you will have the support and guidance of the community coordinators. They will provide you with competent assistance and help you with anything that you may need. Malaika Ecotourism will also support you with a 24 hour emergency mobile phone number and give you a local sim card line that you can use when you are in the project.