Wise Wayz Water Care

Thanks to triple-P (formerly i4WATER) for identifying the Amanzi Ethu Nobuntu (AEN) Programme for Wise Wayz Water Care Project 10 beneficiaries (youth). It has been an amazing journey, especially during COVID-19 challenging times.

For us it has been about doing what we've been doing for the past 4-5 years, which is taking care of our Lower Catchment of Mbokodweni. The AEN Programme support has encouraged us in believing more in what we have been doing for our environment💧😁

Our August 2020 Aquatic Monitoring results showed more improvement of our streams condition when compared to previous recent months. Even waste disposal (calculated through collected bags) into our streams were less when compared to previous months. The more our teams are active on stream, the better our stream conditions become. Their presence also seem to influence the locals behaviors for the better. A sign of good mutual respect😉

Some of the challenges that stood out in this period of monitoring were the informal man-made manholes that were obsessed channeled by pipes into the streams and suspected to also seep into the streams. The channeling of household waste water into stream through trenches was also observed and suspected to adversely influence our clarity results. It is without a doubt that the Ezimbokodweni Community could really use proper sewage system😌

i4WATER Department of Water and Sanitation South Africa Water Research Commission

COVID-19 National Lockdown did also affect some of our test kits such as E. coli swabs. We suspect that their transportation took long and got ruined along the way. However, we had to try and exhaust other viable approaches in getting our results. That's how Water Test was introduced to us by i4WATER in a form of a training that we as Aquatic Monitoring team enjoyed😁💧

The Water Test was used temporarily while we were still waiting for our donated new E.coli machine to arrive all the way from UK🤩🥳

So stay tuned🤓

Water.org Department of Water and Sanitation South Africa

Our Aquatic Monitoring results for July 2020 improved when compared with our June 2020 results. M10 site was one of our standout monitored site that showed remarkable improvement especially in waste disposed in this site/stream.

pH content in some of our streams have not yet improved to neutral/natural water, which means there is a suspected contamination that we have not yet fully identified.

Alien plants invasions in stream were reduced following alien plant clearing in our worked sites. Water clarity on our monitored sites improved which was suspected to have resulted from clearing of waste in these streams.

Credit can be given to our WWWC stream cleaning/clearing teams that worked hard to ensure that these streams are in a better conditions.

Credit must also be given to complying Ezimbokodweni Community members as progress of our work highly depends on their attitude and behavior towards our responsibility (as a community) of taking care of our streams and river.

Hopefully August 2020 results will mark more improvement😁

Very excited to see what this month Aquatic Monitoring (sampling from the 6th - 10th of July 2020) results will be like💧😁

June 2020 results exceeded our expectations, especially after our activities were suspended for 2 months due to COVID-19 pandemic. We expected to find our streams in so much worse condition following the absence of Stream Cleaning and Door to Door, but they were quite better. Even the June 2020 Monitoring results were interpreted to be better when compared to March, February and January 2020 results😀

This can only mean that our Door to Door team is reaching through people's heart and minds, thus, influencing their behavior in a positive way. This also mean that their understanding of what we are doing as WWWC Project is growing🤩

High infestation of Alien Plants is one of the challenges that we encountered. Another challenge in one of our steams was the rare fluctuation of pH content from constant neutral level (7) to slightly acidic level (5). This was suspected to have been caused by the channeling of discharged water from the neighboring community houses into this stream.

Lets wait to see how July 2020 results will be like and hope for much better improved results following our active Stream Cleaning💧

Wise Wayz Water Care doing what they do best, while ensuring that they stick on their Work Plan in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections.

Under the COVID-19 Alert Level 3 lockdown the project is able to activate some of the project activities for Wise Wayz Water Care (namely; aquatic monitoring, stream cleaning and invasive alien plant clearing). Some activities will still be on hold due to their high-risk factors. The resumption of the activities is done with the utmost caution to make sure the project complies with all the COVID-19 related protocols and government regulations and that we minimize the risks of all members being exposed to the virus.

As we move into level 3 and began operating again, health and safety remain as our number 1 priority and stricter measures are put into place. Each and every member is expected to comply to these measures. If we all follow the measures put in place we all stay safe while we are working. In order to ensure that, we decided to provide our SHE Reps, Supervisors with training on safety measures that needs to take place. We will be having these training once in every two weeks in order to ensure that everyone still remembers what needs to be done.

We as WWWC believe that a healthy environment, promotes a better hygiene🤩😁

Mike Ward of Creating Sustainable Value have been active with Wise Wayz Water Care team in helping the project to share their story with the world.

The Evaluation that has been taking place for the past month has came to an end. As we speak, the final report is being cooked😉🍃

We are looking forward to sharing it with you😁