TANZANIA PROGRAM
The Isamilo community consists of approximately 5,000 members and is located in a rural area near the shores of Lake Victoria, roughly 40 kilometers outside of the major city of Mwanza. Isamilo is one of several villages located in close proximity that together are known as the Idetemya Ward.
The first two implementation trips within the community were to construct toilets at the Bulolambeshi Primary School. The school serves approximately 1,300 students and currently had only 6 toilets available for the students to use. These toilet facilities are in poor condition. The project team traveled to construct urine diverting dehydration toilets in February 2018. We traveled again in September 2024 to construct a simplified pit latrine and alter the Phase I design as well. The EWB Tanzania team applied lessons learned and community feedback in the redesign for Phase II. We are actively working towards a Phase III trip which could include additional toilet facilities, classrooms, and/or a teacher’s office. Through the provision of adequate sanitation facilities for the students, school staff and the surrounding communities will benefit from improved overall health, academic attendance, and sanitation habits. The latest design for the sanitation facility can be viewed here: Bulolambeshi UDDT Design
We are currently fundraising for construction for Phase III. We also continue to monitor the performance of the first set of latrines with the assistance of the community and our local NGO partner. We are always looking for motivated individuals with any level of experience that want to be a part of creating positive change for this community in Tanzania. We could especially use any sanitation and/or structural engineers with five or more years of experience. Anyone interested in helping out is encouraged to contact the program lead, Matt Pollard ([email protected]).
PROGRAM MILESTONES:
November 2015 – Tanzania Program officially approved by EWB-USA
April 2016 – Tanzania Team awarded $3,520 grant from 214 Philanthropic Foundation
July 2016 – 4 members of the Project Team traveled to Isamilo for the first assessment trip
November 2016 – Tanzania Team awarded $4000 grant from Bechtel Corporation
November 2016 – Isamilo Community chose urine diverting dehydration toilets as their preferred alternative
April 2017 – Tanzania Team awarded $7,500 grant from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
April 2017 – Tanzania Team submitted their urine diverting dehydration toilets design to EWB-USA for review
June 2017 – Tanzania Team received technical approval from EWB-USA for their urine diverting dehydration toilets design.
August 2017 – Tanzania Team received approval from the Misungwi District Council for their urine diverting dehydration toilets design.
February 2018 – First Implementation trip, constructed one set of urine diverting dehydration toilets.
September 2024 – Second Implementation trip, constructed one pit latrine toilet structure.
PROJECT PHOTOS: