203257 Tanzania Well Initiative: A collaborative community based intervention

Monday, November 9, 2009

Anne Bonsall Hoekstra, MA , Center for Social and Behavioral Research, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
Gale E. Bonsall, BA , Trapp & Associates Realtors, GMAC, Cedar Falls, IA
Lack of sustainable access to safe drinking water is recognized as a chief global public health issue and is predicted by the United Nations to be the single biggest cause of conflict and war in Africa in the next 25 years. Approximately 1.1 billion people or 18% of the world's population lack access to safe drinking water (WHO/UNICEF, 2005). The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for halving by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. In response to this growing global public health crisis, we developed a collaborative community based partnership between the private sector and nearly 20 non-profit groups across the state of Iowa in order to raise money to drill wells in rural Tanzanian Maasai villages. Ongoing for three years, the community based partnership has raised over $100,000 and has drilled five wells, each serving over 2,000 Maasai villagers. An additional three wells are slated to be drilled in 2009. An analysis overall impact will be presented, in addition to the specific impact access to sustainable clean water has on women in remote villages. The project will be discussed in terms of implications for future development of community based public health interventions, lessons learned, and expansion of provisions for maintenance and long-term sustainability.

Learning Objectives:
Describe a collaborative community based public health intervention aimed at providing sustainable access to safe drinking water in remote Tanzanian Maasai villages. Analyze overall impact of the intervention, as well as the specific impact access to sustainable clean water has on women in remote villages. Discuss implications for future development of community based public health interventions, lessons learned, and expansion of provisions for maintenance and long-term sustainability.

Keywords: Water, International Public Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Anne Bonsall Hoekstra spent time in rural Tanzania in 2005. During that time she visited cultural and environmental sites, worked with local prisoners to construct a church in a rural Tanzanian village, experienced and intensely studied Maasai culture, worked closely with HIV/AIDS patients and HIV/AIDS crisis, and studied the Swahili language. Following her time in Tanzania, she helped facilitate the development of the Tanzanian Well Initiative, a collaborative community based partnership between the private sector and nearly 20 non-profit groups across the State of Iowa. Bonsall Hoekstra has given several presentations to community and academic groups on the topic of access to sustainable clean water in Africa and across the globe. She currently serves as Maternal and Child Health Project Coordinator at the Center for Social and Behavioral Research at the University of Northern Iowa. During her studies at Wartburg College and Minnesota State University, Mankato, she conducted extensive clinical and social science research, including work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis. Prior to joining the Center for Social and Behavioral Research at the University of Northern Iowa, Bonsall Hoekstra spent time working in the private sector. Ms. Bonsall Hoekstra holds a BA degree from Wartburg College and a MA in Clinical Psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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