Programme in Mali’s Mopti region
With some 1.7 million inhabitants of various ethnic groups, the region of Mopti sits astride the saddle of the nation. The river Niger flows through, ensuring good irrigation, prosperous agriculture and a sound fishing sector. The capital town, also named Mopti, is an important trading crossroads between northern and southern regions, and with neighbouring countries.
Yet the region is also
home to poor standards of hygiene, in particular in rural areas and
poor neighbourhoods, and drinking water is not chlorinated. Further,
some health centres in the region have problems in sourcing adequate
chlorine, and are thus unable to provide decent standards of hygiene
for their patients.
Partnership with Formations Sans Frontières (FSF)
Specialised in the local training of water and
energy engineers, the Malian NGO Formations Sans Frontières Mali
(Training Without Borders) has partnered with Antenna Technologies in a
project to equip 10 health centres in the Mopti region to produce
active chlorine, using their own stand-alone electricity sources.
At the outset, each of the health centres will produce about 10 litres of active chlorine on a daily basis. This will cover the centres’ own needs, and provide the basis for public education of local communities in the use of chlorine for disinfecting drinking water. Given that there is no electricity grid in the region, the centres will need to provide their own power. The fact that the WATA device can operate on solar power was determinant in its selection.
Two-year Action Plan and Objectives
The project has an remarkably novel approach, in combining the
dual dimensions of:
- health, through mitigation of water-borne diseases
- employment, through involving young people in the design, manufacture and maintenance of its production systems in Mali.
The following course of action forms the basis of the work plan:
- Design and test a stand-alone WATA system to produce active chlorine;
- Identify 10 health centres;
- Identify a team of 10 young people (1 per health centre), in cooperation with the national employment agency;
- Technical training of the young people in electricity, solar technology and business;
- Install WATA devices and their solar systems in the health centres;
- Train health centre staff in uses of chlorine;
- Maintenance of chlorination systems;
- Monitor the project and its impact in the community;
- Establish one, or more, businesses to serve the area in the field of hydro power