Safe Water for Life

Ms. Dieu Thi Thanh and her three sons live in a degraded house in the mountainous area of Tua Chua district, Dien Bien province. The boys are eight, ten, and thirteen years old respectively, of which the second son is a child with a disability. Currently, two out of her three sons are registered in World Vision International in Viet Nam (WVIV)’s Sponsorship Programme.

Back in 2016,

the only water source was from a mountain stream transmitted through a 4-kilometer pipeline to their house. In the dry season, therefore, Thanh’s family experienced severe water scarcity. In the rainy season, water impurities caused by the lack of a filter system made it challenging for her to keep the family healthy. To make the matter worse, water pipes were sometimes clogged with garbage upstream, or drifted away due to floods.

 

Water storage facility in former times.

 

“On those days, I had to use plastic cans to carry water from nearby villages for daily cooking. Even in ordinary days, my family frequently suffered from dermatological, eye, and digestive diseases caused by the limited and contaminated water,” said Ms. Thanh.

This family is among over 4000 households in Tua Chua district that have put up with clean water shortage for years.

Signification contributions from “Safe Water for Life” initiative

In 2022, World Vision International in Viet Nam and 3M Corporation joined hands to implement the “Safe Water for Life” project in four communes in Tua Chua District, including Tua Thang, Xa Nhe, Muong Bang, and Sinh Phinh communes. The project, with a total budget of USD 50,000, aims at increasing access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene for households with children under five, including the most vulnerable children in Tua Chua district, Dien Bien province.

Since then, Ms. Thanh joined other community members to participate in setting up the village’s water tank, replacing and connecting new water pipes to households for safer water use in her community.

Ms. Thanh is checking the household water filtration and treatment system supported by “Safe Water for Life” project.

Ms. Thanh taking care of her family’s vegetable garden with the safe source of water.

World Vision International in Viet Nam’s staff supported the family to examine their household filtration system.

She also took part in training sessions organized by the District Health Center and World Vision International in Viet Nam. “I have gained practical knowledge on water treatment and safe water storage at home, using simple and inexpensive methods. My family no longer suffers from diseases caused by unsafe water sources,” said Ms. Thanh. “I will share my understanding with my relatives and other villagers so that everyone, especially children, has access to safe water and enjoy good health.”

Her family was one of the first households to apply the water filtration model for daily use supported by the project. Ms. Thanh also joined training sessions on Community-led Total Sanitation - a comprehensive model of World Vision on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), personal hygiene, and child care.

 

Ms. Thanh and her second son, Nghia, enjoyed clean water from the filtration.

“World Vision International in Viet Nam and 3M Corporation have been providing helpful support for local communities, not only in the construction of water tanks but also in behaviour-changing communication about safe water supply, treatment, and storage at community and household levels. These activities contribute to the movement of building new-style rural areas in Viet Nam, especially on the criteria of clean water and environmental sanitation,” said Mr. Lo Van Phanh – Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Muong Bang commune, Tua Chua District.

The Safe Water for Life project, in collaboration with 3M company, is part of World Vision International in Viet Nam's Health and Nutrition Program. The initiative applied a community-based approach to execute its two main outcomes: building seven community water supply systems in the community; and parallelly, raising awareness of the villagers on water source protection, safe water use, and critical roles of safe water in their daily lives.

 

Community-built water tank

After one year of implementation at the four targeted communes in Tua Chua District, 900 households have been able to access safe water sources, and 48-village level behavior change communication sessions on water source protection, safe water use, and community-based management/operation and maintenance of community water supply systems have been organized in Tua Chua District, reaching more than 1266 household representative participants.