Water, sanitation and sustainability: lessons from a community project

This paper captures the lessons learned from the implementation of water supply and sanitation interventions in Mayiwane community in the rural northeastern region of the Kingdom of Swaziland, relating to water system rehabilitation, water quantity and quality improvements, and the promotion of latrine construction. The issues examined include both the dimensions of implementation efficiency and project effectiveness: first identifying the inputs, activities and final outputs and, then, tracking the entire project cycle, from design to implementation and monitoring. To draw meaningful lessons for the sustainability of similar interventions, project evaluation involved extensive fieldwork, water sampling and testing, review of documentation, and interviews with community members and officials of governmental, civil society and collaborating external agencies. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.