During the second semester of 2015, Islands of Peace and its local partners (Oikos East Africa and Longido Community Development Organization) conducted an in-depth analysis on the problem of access to water in the 15 targeted villages of the Maisha Bora Programme. This analysis allowed the project team to get a good understanding of the situation and to foresee possibilities of improvement of the current situation by rehabilitating or constructing water sources.

Based on this diagnosis, the water engineers of the 3 organizations worked together to elaborate technical solutions for rehabilitating the existing water sources in each of the targeted villages. The solutions were presented to the communities and District Staff during a workshop in Longido and Simanjiro District in February. The workshops allowed all relevant stakeholders to prioritize and select together (Communities, District and Project Team) the villages where rehabilitation projects are necessary and relevant.

Following these meetings, Islands of Peace and its local partners will organize workshops in order to discuss the rehabilitation projects with the communities and select the most relevant one. Ludovic Joly, regional coordinator for Islands of Peace, emphasizes the importance of such a participatory approach. “We want to make sure that we select the most relevant projects and propose solutions that reflect the expectations and the needs of the community.”