Research project: implementation and results

Research project: implementation and results

In October of 2007, with financing from the Lions, we began the SODIS project in Hopley Farm and Epworth to offer the people there a way to treat their drinking water.

Strategy of the project and procedure

The researchers divided the project districts into subdistricts and used different promotion strategies in different subdistricts so that they could compare the effects of the strategies. They implemented 5 different promotion strategies over the course of 21 months and evaluated their effectiveness. Apart from the first two, which were general strategies, all of the others were adapted to the situation and to the specific needs and characteristics of the subdistrict in which they were used. For example, where the level of knowledge about how diseases are transmitted in contaminated water was low, the researcher applied a strategy for raising this level of knowledge. If the problem was that many participants in a subdistrict often forgot to use the SODIS method, strategies such as memory aids were used to create new habits.

Results

The analysis of the promotion strategies has shown that one information event on its own only had a success rate of about 10% of users of the SODIS method. Working with motivated and respected promoters increased this number to more than 90% regular users within two months of the promotion. In other districts, where the researchers used a "pass it on incentive" (a small number of promoters tried to get the people interested in telling others about the SODIS method by giving out vouchers for bottles), only about 30% became regular users. This shows how important the commitment of promoters is if the SODIS method is to be spread successfully. But memory aids also play an important part in reminding people to use the SODIS method regularly and create new habits, i.e., "keep users motivated". In another district, teaching background knowledge created a large number of irregular users. So help was needed here to turn the SODIS method into a habit.

These days, about 100,000 people in the slums of Epworth and Hopley Farm use the SODIS method. It has been noticed that the people themselves are passing on information about the SODIS method outside of the intervention centres. Regular use of the method is between 10% and more than 90% depending on the promotion strategy. Many of those surveyed say that the SODIS method has become a habit for them, that it is important for them and makes them healthier.

Problems and solutions

1) The unstable political and economic situation hinders and delays promotion, but it also increases the need for a water treatment method like the SODIS method.

2) At the beginning of the project, the people often said they could not use the SODIS method because there were so few bottles available. In order to improve the supply of PET bottles, we set up 5 bottle centres in the project district. In the first few months of the project, the bottle centre received financial assistance from the project. But after the demand for bottles increased and the managers of the bottle centres received basic management training, the bottle centres began to operate independently.

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