Promoting SODIS a pro-poor point-of-use water treatment

technology in peri-urban Zimbabwe

Sharon Murinda

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Background: Water

1.1 billion people lack access to improved water

sources

1.8 million people die every year due to diarrheal

illnesses

Diarrheal illnesses due to contaminated water or

improper sanitation and hygiene

WHO: Millenium Development Goal: halve number of

people without safe drinking water (until 2015)

WHO supports SODIS as one means to reach the

MDGs

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Project areas: Baseline

N = 878 interviewees

90% women

Mean age 34

M = 8 years education

Less than 1$ per day

4 to 5 people in 1 household

24% unemployed, 20% vendors, 11% informal traders,

17% housewives

Attitude, convictions, expectations, habits

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Solar water disinfection: SODIS

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SODIS is…

… a simple household water treatment system

… point-of-use water disinfection

… affordable

… environmentally sustainable

… socially sustainable

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SODIS Dissemination

Community Meetings

Bottle Center

Promotion

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Bottle center

Sources for

bottles located (bottle collectors and hotels), connection arranged

between them

With a Token, bottle was redeemed for half-price

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Promotion

Promoters(N=43)

These are respected local people, leaders and

influential people from the community

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Promoters training

Sensitization on good health and hygienic practices

Capacity building on SODIS and its dissemination

Role play

Duration – one day training

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Household visits by promoters

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Flyers used by Promoters

Persuasion to do and to talk with pass-on-task

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Diffusion check

To assess the impact and level of dissemination of SODIS

Division of area in squares, randomized visit of 1 of 9 parts of each square on the map

Short interviews about 5 minutes

Questions about:

– SODIS behaviour, intervention check

– communication patterns

– Reasons to do or not to do SODIS, influencing factors

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Results

Community meetings attendance was about 20% of the

whole population in both areas

Promotion

– 43 promoters x 10 households per day x 60 days =

25 800 household visits

– 10 000+ flyers were distributed

– 6 000 Token distributed

Diffusion check was done in 1023 households

(N=1023) after the promotion phase so as to assess the

impact of promotion.

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Diffusion Results

The average household size was 4 (SD = 1.8) persons

The mean number of children under the age of 5 per

household was 0.9 (SD = 0.97

• About 20% of the interviewees have heard about Sodis through either the promoter, friends, enumerator, bottle center or the community meetings

• And of the 20%, 10% are not doing it and 90% are doing it either regularly or irregularly

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Source of information for SODIS

Information event/community meetings(15.8%)

Friend/neighbour (4.3%)

Interviewer/enumerator (6.4% )

Promoter (38%)

Bottle centre (20%)

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Communication and social interaction factors

Other people are trustworthy and their opinion

important, but water treatment is not talked about

Official events or official people have a high credibility

and impact factor

Other people‘s behaviour and opinion influences their

own behaviour and opinion

Enhance talking about SODIS and thus social

influence (e.g. pass-on-task)

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From the Diffusion check done, Promoters had the

greatest influence on SODIS dissemination and

uptake because of

1. Their social status in the communities

2. The approach they used –how convincing it was

3. Their attitude towards dissemination of SODIS- e.g

looking down upon the household because of an

existing diarrhoea case in the household

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From the Diffusion check, it can also be noted that:

Trustworthy and respected people in society can help in

the adoption of a new technology

There is need of constant visits to households when a

new technology is introduced

Adoption of a new technology doesn’t happen to

everyone at one go.

Some people need to have diarrhoea or cholera for

them to do SODIS

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Results of :Reasons for not doing SODIS?

Bottles not available

Always forget

Shyness

No record of diarrhoea ever experienced in the

household

Too easy/simple

No record of efficiency recorded in Zimbabwe

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Conclusion

With more of promotion activities from the bottle

center and the promoters, SODIS has a high potential

of being adopted even more

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Thank you! www.sodis.ch or sharon@iwsd.co.zw