Madagascar > Activities by Sectors
Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene (WASH)
The lack of access to clean water and sanitation infrastructure combined with the absence of knowledge about basic hygiene creates a disastrous situation in a poor country like Madagascar. These problems are severely aggravated by the contamination of clean water points whenever cyclones hit the island.
Millions of work and schools days are lost every year due to water-borne diseases. According to a recent health survey, diarrhoea is the country’s second-ranking cause of child death, behind malaria and ahead of acute respiratory infections. Cholera outbreaks are a risk after every cyclone.
Emergency Relief
During the cyclone season, Medair’s main WASH activities include re-establishing access to clean water by disinfecting open wells; distributing emergency water kits; ensuring hygiene education; and promoting long-lasting vulnerability reduction through the construction of new water points and strong capacity building within the community and local authorities.
Medair has the emergency-preparedness capacity to respond without delay to any crisis. This capacity includes a complete stock of emergency materials, skilled staff, and key partnerships, notably with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and Helimission.
Rehabilitation
Access to clean water for a community
Medair is providing improved access to safe water, latrines, and hygiene promotion, along with disaster preparedness and mitigation work in cyclone-prone areas. We have introduced very inexpensive and simple drilling techniques to the remote villages of the region. For instance, by using the rota-sludge technique, a water point can be drilled in a day or two, without requiring an engine. Moreover, by using a Canzee hand pump, the water point becomes sealed and safe from contamination, and maintenance needs are limited and can be partly ensured at the village level.
Medair supports public-private partnerships and the development of appropriate technologies for the WASH sector. In this way, effective tools are placed in the hands of local government and private businesses, allowing them to improve the WASH sector in these areas independently from international NGOs.
The hygiene promotion team focuses on ensuring that people understand the risks of contamination around wells, water points, and latrines, so that the new infrastructures will bring lasting benefits to the health of the population.
The disaster preparedness and mitigation activities consist of longer-term work to decrease community vulnerability, linking preparedness, mitigation, development, and emergency interventions in order to reinforce local capacities and to improve the existing infrastructures.
There is an overall emphasis on capacity building to ensure that Medair is working with the communities, not just for the communities, so that improvements will be longer-lasting and sustainable.
Shelter & Infrastructure
When populations are temporarily displaced from their homes due to flooding or cyclone damage, they require shelter and support.
Emergency Relief
Medair provides plastic sheeting for temporary roofs, and construction materials for people in need. We also distribute essential NFI (non-food items) such as WASH kits (comprised of water purification bottles, buckets, jerricans, soap, and cups).