Improvement Of Hygiene Conditions And Access To Drinking Water In Rural Areas

Inadequate access to water services and sanitation associated with poor hygiene practices continues to kill millions of people in developing countries. Access to safe drinking water has a great influence on health, economic and good life of the people. But meeting this need is a major challenge facing the rural communities in Bossangoa. The variation of water resources in the world is linked to climate change and population growth. Pollution also has adverse effects on the quality of drinking water in the world. Central African Republic is also facing this problem of having sanitary drinking water because of poverty, war and poor technology. The recent civil war of 2013 destroyed all available existing drinking water infrastructures and the population of the rural area of Bossangoa is the most affected. 70% of households in Central African Republic do not have access to sanitary water supply whereby their water supply are from open source such as rivers, water ponds and wells that are most contaminated by disease causing microorganism. Most rural people are engaged in agricultural activities with low incomes living in small scattered settlements with poor supply of sanitary water. Government interventions towards water supply in rural Bossangoa are through the provision of boreholes and wells. These sources of water are little especially in dry season and sometimes are subject to frequent breakdowns; leading to water crisis and shortages. This situation obliges households especially women and children to spend more time walking long distances in the dry season to fetch water mainly from unprotected water sources(lakes, river wells and springs) channeling it for domestic purposes. Water supply in Bossangoa has not being able to fulfill the growing demand.Despite of Government efforts, about 100,000 people do not have access to safe drinking water. Government launched a program to provide access to sanitary water for all households and stop water shortages by 2020. The average water usage per person in a day is about 20 liters of drinking water and other domestic activities.There are two challenges which face the population of Bossangoa on water supply and are categorized as follows; Lack of access to drinking water and water for household use, which remains a luxury for a large segment of the population, with a rate of access to drinking water from 31.8% in urban areas and 27.6% in rural areas. The country does not reach half of the set objectives for sanitation with less than 10% rate of access to hygiene and basic sanitation; hence the situation is more serious. If the current trend continues the ruling government will not be appointed at 2020. There are many consequences of consumption of questionable water quality on the health of the population. Consumption of poor quality water is the cause of several cases of water-borne diseases such as malaria, cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid fever. In Central Africa, 70,000 people which are 5% of the population are annually affected by water-borne diseases.It is in this context that the present study entitled ’’ Improvement of Hygiene Condition and Access to Drinking Water in Rural Areas: Case of Bossangao(Central African Republic) was conducted. The paper’s goal is also to improve knowledge and practices in Water, Hygiene and Sanitation. The specific objectives of the paper are: Assessing the relevant literature dealing with the objective links among ‘water ‘(quality and quantity), ‘sanitation & hygiene’ and the health and nutrition impact. In this regard, we focus on the effectiveness of priorities, separate interventions versus integration attempts and the recent advances on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, reviewing the current challenges and gaps in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector. We further attempt to find a sustainable solution, investigating the potential of options beyond Water Sanitation and Hygiene by linking “agriculture” to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and thus identifying the research gaps and suggesting the way forward. The paper does not address the different settings but rather an integrated approach that would work relatively better.The other objective of this study is to provide the public with information on good practices of water supply, hygiene and sanitation for sustainable environmental management in their respective municipalities for the improvement of their living conditions.Specifically, the objectives for this study indicate several significant fundamental aspects which are;(1) Sanitation(disposal of human wastes), the quality of water, personal hygiene and household hygiene. Personal hygiene refers to the water used to clean the body, including water for the face, hands and household hygiene refers to the water used to keep the house clean(for example, food and cooking utensils).(2) Appreciate the qualities of water consumed by the population in the rural town of Bossangoa according to standards of the World Health Organization.(3) Describe the water supply system in rural towns of Bossangoa and its municipalities and determine the impact of water use on water-borne diseases.(4) Identify evacuation modes of sewage and garbage from households.(5) Identify local practices related to supply of drinking water during the phases of transport, storage and water consumption.(6) Appreciate personal hygiene conditions and hygiene conditions at all sources of water supply and define a participatory manner to promote good practices in relation to the hygiene of drinking water, personal hygiene(hand washing) and drilling.The study provides an overview of the status of the issue of access to safe drinking water in rural areas of Central African Republic Bossangoa and sub-prefecture in particular. To achieve this objective, the study combined several methodological approaches. An experimental approach was to visit and observe all supply water points. Quantitative household survey and a qualitative approach by organizing group discussions for data collection in both municipalities were also used. The data were processed using Excel and analyzed with descriptive statistics. It is clear from the analysis that: Despite the existence of traditional wells and boreholes, people adopt practices that affect the quality of drinking water. Their social and economic situations leads to alternate different types of water, most of which are polluted by solid and liquid waste; and the consumption of untreated water is the source of waterborne diseases in the city and its municipalities.Unequal distribution of drinking water in the districts of Bossangoa results in difficulties of access of sanitary water. The virtual absence of the sanitation system in the city further weakens the quality of water resources and contributes to poor space management in municipalities. This study was conducted in two towns of Bossangoa which include women, heads of households, traditional chiefs and heads of regional department of hydraulics. The results obtained in the field include: The person activities compromises the quality of drinking water. These practices observed among the rural population are not likely to maintain a safe drinking water. It is worth mentioning that most rural people are not aware of the scope of capital works erected for the supply of drinking water.Given these facts, the government should set new policies in line with the participation of the population of the town of Bossangoa and its municipalities. New and less cost techniques are proposed in this study to contribute to solving health problems of drinking water and the environmental sanitation of the town of Bossangoa, for good health and ensuring sustainable livelihoods. For the poorest households, health is a key factor in the pursuit of livelihoods. Improved water supply and sanitation improves people’s health and quality of life.