Soroptimists all over the world are working on water related projects.

To celebrate SIGBI’s 75th anniversary year, 2009-2010 SIGBI President, Jackie Mosedale, set a challenge to all Clubs to raise £75 towards assisting a total of 75 WaterAid projects worldwide. The fund closed in December 2010, having exceeded all expectations. A staggering £36,129.53 was raised over the 12 months of the project, which has helped 174 WaterAid projects.

Clubs in
SIE (Soroptimist International of Europe) currently have a particular focus on water through President Eliane’s biennium theme "Safe water = Safe life".

SIE’s Programme Executive, Suba Parthiban and
SIE President, Eliane Lagasse, recently returned from a trip to

Mali where they visited a number of Soroptimists water projects. These projects focused on water supplies in rural areas and the linked problem of effective sanitation. Safe water and adequate sanitation provision is still a major problem across Sub-Saharan Africa, affecting rural and urban areas alike.

Here are some of the highlights from Suba’s reports:

“SI/E President Eliane Lagasse and I had the delight to visit West African Soroptimists’ impressive projects in

Mali. Prior to attending the 22nd General Assembly of the Future African Federation in

Lomé,
Togo, we travelled across

Mali to witness first hand Soroptimist work at the grassroots level. We were amazed by the incredible results and Soroptimists’ tireless efforts.

We first visited SI club Bamako Lumière’s project in the rural

village of
Difémou, in the  circle of Kati. We saw a number of projects such as the maternity ward, the latrines for the school, a well, and a multifunctional mill. The construction of the maternity ward in the village, financed by SI Liestal,

Switzerland, tackled the problem of horrendous long drives along poor roads during labour.

In order to address the hygiene problem at the Difémou school, reduce illnesses amongst pupils, improve study conditions, and avoid girls dropping out of school at the onset menstruation, SI club Bamako Lumière decided to build four latrines (two for the boys and two for the girls) to have a proper sanitation system in the school.

Before this project came about, there were no toilets in the school, and the pupils were forced to relieve themselves behind the class rooms and in the bushes. Thanks to these latrines, 202 students have access to clean sanitation which in turn has a positive impact on the whole village’s population.

The drilled well and the multifunctional mill were additional evidence of the great work done by local women and Soroptimists in Difémou. We were very pleased to witness that the rural women are actively taking part in the projects, playing important roles in negotiation and maintenance of the project. Moreover, the focus on women as an effective development approach was explained to men in Difémou in order to increasingly involve women in the development of projects as well as in the decision-making processes of the village.

After a fruitful discussion with the Minister of Social Development where we presented Soroptimists’ work in

Mali, SI/E President Eliane inaugurated three wells in the villages of N’Tangala, Kouloulabougou, and Moutougoulabougou and one mill in the village Soukoulabougou. Austrian Union President Gertraud Pichler also joined the celebrations. These projects were implemented under the leadership of club SI Bamako Espoir.

We also visted Timbuktu and some projects in the surrounding villages. In the villages of Toya and Koriomé were again in line with SI/E President Eliane’s biennium theme: safe water = safe life. Firstly, Toya is a village situated 20 km from

Timbuktu and as all other rural villages faces difficulties due to the absence of clean drinking water. There was only one well for a population of 16,000 and the surrounding river

Niger was polluted as it is used for domestic tasks as well as sanitary purposes. SI Alliance Tombouctou, in partnership with local NGOs, decided to sink a new well, train the local population on the management of public goods, and will be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the project. The project is still in the process of being implemented. Additionally, to stimulate economic development in the village Toya, Soroptimists have also planned truck farming and reforestation projects.

The 600 inhabitants of the village Koriomé, same as the Toya inhabitants, use the river

Niger to cover for all their need as well as for open defecation which results in contamination of the water sources. Women and girls are extremely vulnerable to water-borne diseases. SI Alliance Tombouctou decided to improve the water and sanitation situation of the village. They drilled and built a well which is now fully functional. The ongoing project aims at the construction of toilets for the village and the school, combined with information sessions to raise awareness on hygiene and sanitation among women and girls. The two toilets for the school and a few toilets for the households have already been constructed.”

 On World Water Day, Soroptimist International congratulates all the clubs involved in the life changing work in Mali! Many thanks to
SIE for this wonderful report.