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Read the environmental case study then answer the five questions in 250 words each. APA 7th edition citations.
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Read the following case study and answer the questions to discuss in the live session.
Case Study: Water for Tonoumassé, a village in Togo
Modified from the WHO, TEACHERS GUIDE ON BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/en/oehbehtgp2-6.pdf
Case scenario
Togo is a long and narrow country in Africa that stretches 580 km north from the Gulf of Guinea.
It is flanked by Ghana on the west and Benin on the east. It has an average rainfall of 100
cm/year which is considerably less than that received in other tropical areas. The United
Nations classifies Togo as a “least developed country”. Tonoumassé is a village of about 100
inhabitants located 50 km or so north of the coastal capital of Lomé. The surrounding area is a
mixture of forested land (teak, mahogany, bamboo) and agricultural land (small farms growing
coffee, cacao and cotton). Regionally, about 18% of the people have access to safe drinkingwater. Fetching water is considered “women’s work”. Women spend 1-4 hours daily in the wet
season (March to July) and as much as 8 hours in the dry period (December to March) in
walking the 15 km to the nearest river. While there, they wash the family’s clothes and carry
about 15 litres of water back to the village.
Climate change forecasts for this region are that
the area will become hotter and drier. Housework,
child care, farming and handicraft production/sale
needs to be taken care of after arriving home
about midday. The water they collect is rarely
safe. Drinking it can lead to a parasitical disease
caused by the guinea worm, as well as typhoid,
hepatitis, schistosomiasis, dysentery and other
intestinal infections. As a result, up to 40% of the
children die before the age of five. Those that
survive miss a lot of school because of chronic
illness. The ability of adults to work is also
affected by parasitic disease and repeated
infections. Not surprisingly, back ailments are
prevalent among women.
During the 1980s, the Government of Togo with the help of Canadian Universities Services
Overseas (CUSO) initiated a rural water supply project. The village of Tonoumassé became
aware of this through a female extension officer and because there was dissatisfaction with the
lack of water, appointed a committee. One of the requirements of the project was that at least
half of the committee members should be women. The men grumbled and predicted failure, but
grudgingly went along with the idea. Although pump installation was free through charity, the
villagers had to agree to clean the installation site from vegetation, provide materials and labor
for the concrete apron, send two people to learn how to maintain the pump, and to pay for all
future repairs. A formal agreement was signed in a public ceremony in the presence of highranking government officials. Tonoumassé villagers chose to set up a collective farm plot and
required each family to contribute a day’s work per week. Sales of produce from this venture
were 10 times more than was needed to cover the pump maintenance costs. Consequently, the
village had a fund that could be used for other community improvements. Effectively this
constituted the first local taxes Tonoumassé ever raised.
The water pump system would be a metal
1000 gallon above ground tank with a solar
powered pump. During the day when the
pump was activated by sunlight, the tank
would be topped up. Once the tank is filled,
a switch will turn off the pump. When the
pump is activated, chlorine would
automatically be added to the water to
hinder microorganisms from growing in the
water.
In eight general meetings for villagers and
project managers (mostly female), rural
extension workers and trained villagers took
time to explain the connection between clean water and sanitary conditions and good health
(including use of covered water containers, curtailment of the soiling of houses and yards, and a
general program to keep the village clean). A reduction in illness became apparent soon after
the pump was installed and the concomitant improvements were made. An interesting aside
concerns respect for religion and culture. After consulting the spirits of the dead, village elders
agreed with the modern-day technicians about the location of the water source and the
placement of the pump.
Questions
1. Meeting basic human needs is consistent with the UN Sustainable Development
Goals which includes gender equality, safe drinking water, food and eradicating
extreme poverty. What obstacles exist in rural Togo to achieving basic human
needs?
2. What factors impact women’s health in Tonoumassé ?
3. Given the many waterborne pathogens in the surface waters of Togo, and the degree
of poverty, how can the people of Togo protect themselves from these pathogens ?
4. How do you suppose the water pump made life better in Tonoumassé?
5. What are some considerations when designing and maintaining this water pump
system in Tonoumassé ?
Selected references
Canadian Universities Services Overseas. Water for Tonoumassé. The story of a village in Togo. Ottawa,
Carleton Local Committee of CUSO, 1988.
Isselbacher KJ, Martin JB, Braunwald E, Fauci AS, Wilson JD, Kasper DL. Harrrison’s principles of
internal medicine, 13th ed. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1994, pp 485-938.
Tin UU, Lun Wai U, Ba Tun U, Mya Win U, Thein Dan U, Than Sein U. “We want water, not
gold.” World Health Forum 1988; 9:519-525.
Our planet, our health, Geneva, World Health Organization, 1992, pp 106-144.
The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. Review of regional and global data (as at 31
December 1983). Geneva, World Health Organization, 1994 (Offset Publication, No. 92).
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