“My grandchildren now have good habits and know when to wash their hands”

Mrs. Maimuna Machozi is a widow and the mother of 4 children. She is 81 years old and lives with her 4 grandchildren in Lumbulumbu.

«  I rely on agriculture to support myself and my grandchildren. I have lived in this house since the death of my husband several years ago. I never went to school but learned a lot from my husband who was a shopkeeper. Since his death, I live a difficult life, with farm work I can barely cover my needs. »

How did things change?

« It was thanks to Julienne, the president of  the Lumbulumbu CODESA ( the health area development committee), who used to visit me at my house, that I got in touch with Tearfund and the SWIFT project. When she visited me in September 2017, along with other members of the committee, it was to make our household aware of better hygiene practices. Since I knew her well, she asked me if I could spend some time with her to share some information about hygiene and sanitation. The theme developed that day was “How can we avoid contracting waterborne diseases?”. After this meeting, we agreed on another meeting on “the routes of transmission of fecal-oral diseases and the importance of using a hygienic latrine”. »

What has changed?

« From that day, I began to improve my knowledge of hygiene and sanitation and got a hygienic latrine. The toilets I had before were far from meeting the hygiene standards of the SWIFT programme.
Before Tearfund’s intervention, my grandchildren had frequent episodes of diarrhoea. But today there is a significant reduction of diseases in my household. Previously, before eating, my grandchildren neglected to wash their hands, but thanks to the many outreach sessions of the community relays in my household, the children have acquired good habits and know when to wash their hands. This positively impacts their health and it allows me to save money on medicine. »