Hold Each Other

ISSUE:
We are addressing the social issue of violence against women and children caused by a lack of water in our community. The root causes of this issue are: children arrive at school too late caused by spending many hours collecting water because of a limited number of water taps in our community. Children end up getting beaten and abused at the water points and end up dropping out of school and sometimes become street children. When women spend too much time collecting water they have no time for other responsibilities. Poor hygiene is also a trigger for diseases and then women must stay home to take care of their kids. Also there is an issue of overpopulation because people are ignorant about reproductive health and family planning.

MISSION:
To eradicate violence against children and women in our community.

THEORY OF CHANGE:

• We believe that if women have full access to water, use birth control to limit the number of children they have to take care of and men have a good understanding of the importance of sharing tasks from gender balance training, it will help with reconciliation among family members and work toward eradicating violence.
• We believe that if men support women, they will be able to accomplish more and save time so a woman becomes a solution instead of a problem, and this will help decrease domestic violence. We will provide training in gender balance to 100 households; we will provide training in family planning.

SOLUTION:
We will install a standpipe in our community, which will serve 4200, directly targeting 1050 households, with a minimum of 4 people per household. We will organize monthly public workshops on hygiene and water treatment, including how to clean water before using it. We will organize house-to-house visits twice a month for 5 months. The workshop will be held at the water standpipe. We will provide sensitizations on the importance of children's education once a month. We will offer an inspired workshop on sharing family responsibilities between women and men. We will provide training in gender balance to 100 households twice a month for 3 months and we will provide training on family planning.

12-MONTH GOALS:

• After one year, 85% of households will no longer face violence
• After one year, 75% of the population living in Nyaburiba will have access to clean water
• After one year, 80% of couples will have knowledge of birth control and be able to use it
• After one year, 60% of children will be able to attend school
• After one year, 80% of women and men will have knowledge in gender balance