The Millennium Village Project is extending piped water to residents in Mayange Sector, Bugesera District. The move is aimed at checking water-borne diseases in the area.

This initiative is going hand-in-hand with sensitisation campaigns to educate residents about the need to wash their hands before a meal and after visiting the latrine, according to Donald Ndahiro, the Coordinator of Millennium Village Project in Rwanda.

"We realised that lack of access to clean water has a negative impact on the lives of residents of Mayange Sector and the neighbouring areas,” Ndahiro said during an interview last week.

He said the organisation has connected water to over 90 per cent of the residents in the sector and supported close to 800 hygiene and sanitation clubs to reach out to a bigger population.  

These clubs are helping residents to make hand washing tools, locally known as ‘Kandagira Ukarabe’, in every household and urging them to embrace the culture of washing hands.

Ndahiro has also urged parents to inculcate in their children the culture of washing hands with soap.

"Washing hands with soap prevents diseases like childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea, two of the biggest causes of child mortality in the world resulting in two million deaths every year,” he said.

Millenium Villages Project operates in Mayange Sector but extended its activities to other Sectors in Bugesera District.

According to the Director of Nyamata Hospital, Alfred Rutagengwa, cases of water-borne diseases last year stood at 65,000 in the district.

Ndahiro is, however, optimistic that fighting the use of unsafe water and washing hands before eating and after visiting the latrine will bring the cases down.

He cautioned residents against using stagnant water, adding that it is the main cause of diseases in various areas.

"Stagnant water is contaminated and using it poses a high risk to life,” he said.

Claudine Dushimimana, a resident of Mayange Sector, said access to clean water has been a serious issue in the area.

"This is a landmark in many people’s lives. I have lived in this area for the last eight years but this is the first time I am accessing clean water,” Dushimimana said. 

Jeannette Mukabalisa, the Community Development Coordinator of Millennium Village Project, said the project aims at effectively contributing to the Millennium Development Goals, through interventions to support government in areas of community development.  

"Washing hands using soap should be taught to children when they are still young so that they grow up knowing it’s a must,” she said.

Mukabalisa said the initiative will also reduce on the mortality rate since dirty water had escalated cases of diarrhoea among children. 

Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of death in children under five years, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

It is said to claim 760,000 children under five annually while there are nearly 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoea every year. 

The disease can be prevented through safe drinking water and adequate sanitation and hygiene.