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To introduce you to Jiton here are profiles of two key people

Kaleb Tessougue - Village water supply co-ordinator

When I started working in 1993 SOS Sahel managed the well digging. We soon noticed that when there was a problem with a well villagers called on SOS Sahel to repair it and did not use their own means or initiative.

Since 1995 we have worked in partnership with villages, giving them the skills to manage the well digging themselves. In 1998 the choice of which villages were to benefit from wells was handed over to the traditional community associations as they understand local realities, and we wanted to build their capacity for democratic decision making.



Over the last 9 years I have remarked that:

Literacy has improved. About half of the water committee become literate and a third are capable of developing a simple budget. These people have gone on to take up many different responsibilities in the village including becoming themselves, literacy teachers, managers and several were elected as local government counsellors in 1999.

Funds are managed well and transparently. This is due to the training which gives them the skills to manage funds from SOS Sahel, and the importance of the project to the village.

The committees remain very active in the daily management of the village water supply in the long term. They enforce good hygiene around the well, and make necessary repairs. In 5 villages the committee has planted trees around the well, and certain committees have undertaken repairs on existing traditional wells. The committee in Doundé installed a pump in partnership with another project. In Yabatalou the committee developed a proposal for a second well to present to a tourist who wanted to fund another well having spoken to the committee.

Women have played an increasingly active role following the request by the project that there should be at least 2 women in the committee. Women have occupied important posts such as president, treasurer, and supply manager a post which requires travelling to Mopti (100 –150 km) to buy materials. This goes far beyond being a secretary, the traditional post reserved for women.

To sum up, with the old approach, for the local people the wells belonged to the project. The local people did not know how much the well cost, where the cement and iron came from, how to monitor the work site, or how to develop a simple budget. Today they have the skills to undertake all of these activities, skills that can be used for many more development activities outside the digging of a well. Our role as project staff is to accompany this process giving advice and technical support where necessary.

Salif Guindo - Head of Barahogon traditional association.

SOS Sahel recognised that we understand better the realities of our villages, so since 1998 we have managed the process to choose which villages receive wells. A representative of each community association attends a meeting each November. SOS Sahel staff are present to support us at the meeting but we manage the meeting and take the decisions.

Due to the water supply crisis in so many villages the choice of only two each year is very difficult.  Even with the strict criteria we have developed, we often find ourselves with 3 or 4 villages in critical need of a well. We try to decide by consensus but in 2001 it was necessary to vote.