Work has recently started in the small community of Tsito Tife, of which all funds have been raised by HOPE UK.
Like other recent HOPE projects, this 18-month project will contain five components of development work:
building a spring capped, gravity-fed water system, making local access to clean water a daily reality for all 1,632 community members
providing health, hygiene and sanitation education to each household and in focus groups across the community
facilitating entrepreneurial and basic business skills to 160 women in self-help groups (of 20 women in each) so they might start their own income generating activities, after borrowing money from their groups’ weekly savings
training for 220 local farmers (and women from the self-help groups) to improve agricultural productivity for improved food security, including the provision of vegetable seeds and 3,200 fruit trees
facilitating terracing and a community-built gabion stone-check dam, plus the planting of 2,000 trees, to prevent further landslides and severe erosion further to increased unpredictable rain in the area
HOPE believes that responding to a community's perceived needs should come directly from its primary users or members and is vital to achieving the desired and relevant outcomes. Therefore, HOPE analyses the viability of the proposed action by consulting and involving community representatives, women, religious leaders, elders and local government administration officials. The Tsito Tife community - including women, young people and the local government - are all being involved in the project's planning and implementation to ensure the voices of those often marginalised are heard and considered from the start. This also enhances the community's sense of ownership of the project and helps to ensure that it continues to have positive long-term impacts.
Even though everyone in Tsito Tife is being engaged, women are specifically being targeted in the community capacity development activities and self-help groups of the project because of their pivotal role in using clean water supply, and promoting hygiene and sanitation within their families.
