Friday, January 18, 2013

The missing link(donor-beneficiary disjoint of perceptions)

Njia Panda water situation,getting water from a public tap requires queuing.

Would you associate these buildings with a centralised sewerage system?

Hopefully every follower of this patch is Ok.
We hit a snag last week in our application for a supplementary water supply project for Njia Panda settlement near Himo township,Kilimanjaro region.The project is supplementary in that we already did construct a water project there but unfortunately the population grew at a pace completely unpredicted in the project design.Our application for the new sub project included the explanation to that effect and maybe to fill you in,just in case you are not oriented to the project area, Njia Panda is a settlement that happens to lie on the way from Nairobi to Moshi and Arusha,the alternative route from the one via Namanga,the road is under construction and there are huge business potentials there due to the opening up of trade opportunities with neighboring Kenya.
The application process underwent all the necessary procedure and was at the final stages then the unexpected happened.We are required to present,as part of our request,a master plan of an intergrated centralised sewerage system that works so that the increased waste water output that will follow as a consequence of fresh water input is accommodated  In our earlier application we explained that Njia Panda and its neighbouring settlements are rural settings in which pit latrines are the norm but this 'interesting piece of information' shocked some of the reviewers of our application so much they kindly need us to explain what 'pit latrines' are and what they have to do with waste disposal!! otherwise they simply would not be able to fund a water project for a community that apparently has nowhere to discard of their wastes.
My views: Our simple assumption that pit latrines are known everywhere should come to an end quickly,its a new era.
ALSO;to our donors a person whose desk deals with cooperation projects with the third world should travel the world as part of their duty.

No comments: