08-07-2024 | di COOPI

Somalia. From despair to empowerment: how clean water transformed Fatuma's life

It has been two years since Fatuma Ibrahim Diinow, mother of seven, was forced to flee her rural village due to a severe drought and the constant threat of Al-Shabaab militia. After finding refuge in the Qasab2 IDP Camp in Baidoa Town, she started struggling with the lack of clean water and poor hygiene, since the nearest water source was miles away, and even then, the water was often contaminated, leading to frequent outbreaks of waterborne diseases among her children. Her life changed when COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale launched a two-month water trucking program in the framework of the project “Integrated and Inclusive Humanitarian Intervention in Response to Natural Disasters in the Districts of Baidoa and Dollow in Somalia”, started in August 2023 and of 1-year duration, with funding from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), aimed at improving access to water and strengthening food security for internally displaced persons and host communities in Baidoa and Dollow districts.

Thanks to the activities carried out by the humanitarian aid workers, Fatuma was able to transition from having minimal hygiene practices and having to undertake perilous journeys to fetch water, to disposing of hygiene kits, which were distributed to 900 people in total to enable proper household water handling and treatment, and of 45 liters of safe water per day, that she could access from a temporarily installed water distribution point and use for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. Fatuma further learnt the importance of handwashing, safe water storage and proper sanitation practices, and implemented these good practices at home, spreading awareness among her neighbors. COOPI indeed provided, alongside water trucking, hygiene promotion activities.

I feel empowered now, thanks to the knowledge and resources I’ve gained. With clean water and a healthier environment, I can focus on providing a better future for my children”

As the two-month water trucking intervention drew to a close, COOPI worked with the camp's community leaders to ensure these improvements were sustainable: humanitarian aid workers developed plans to maintain water access and continue hygiene education, fostering self-reliance and resilience among the residents. In total, hygiene promotion sessions reached 3255 people with three contextualized hygiene messages – one on household water treatment, one on proper disposal of human waste, and one on correct hand washing to prevent diseases, such as AWD/Cholera. 18 Community Health Promoters were trained to help deliver the 3 main messages.

Fatuma’s life was transformed. What once seemed like an endless struggle for survival became a manageable challenge. Her story is a testament to the profound impact that targeted humanitarian interventions can have on the lives of those in need.

COOPI has been present in Somalia since 1981, and ever since then it has been conducting emergency and long-term resilience-building projects in the areas of health, food security and livelihoods, water and sanitation to improve the livelihoods of thousands of vulnerable families. Today, COOPI implements humanitarian response and resilience building programs with a multisectoral approach, intervening in Food Security, Livelihoods, Water and Hygiene and Health. To respond to the current drought emergency, COOPI has immediately implemented emergency programs, while integrating development and resilience projects in the most affected regions.