The Problem

Ayu is a 25-year old orang asli of the Jakun tribe. Her village is located deep in an oil palm plantation and she lives there with her husband and two sons, Adanial (9) and Alfoyu (4).

Her village relies on a well for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and washing. At times the water is not enough, especially during the drought season, so she fetches water from the swamp instead. The water there is a rusty, reddish brown; it has a bad smell and taste despite her best efforts to filter it with a cloth sieve and boiling it.

Adanial has been hospitalised twice for severe stomach pain. He threw up everything he ate and fainted from weakness and dehydration. The doctors diagnosed it as parasitic worm infections, likely caused by drinking untreated water.

Knowing this, Ayu still has no choice but to continue using the well and swamp water for her family’s daily use. Every day she is physically burdened with the task of fetching water several times a day. Every night, she is emotionally strained with worry over which of her children will fall sick next.

When asked why she didn’t consider leaving the village, she says, “My mother was born here, my grandmother was born here, and generations of my ancestors were born here. This is where I belong and this is where my children and their children will continue to live long after I’m gone.”

For Ayu and many other orang asli in the interiors of Pahang, water is an issue trapping them in an endless cycle of hardship and poverty. We ask for your help to break the cycle, giving them a chance to improve their quality of life by first addressing this most basic of needs, clean water.

Pledge Amount to be Used for

Water System Installation

LifeStraw Family 2.0 water filters for 10 houses (RM550 x 10 = RM5,500)
Water laboratory tests (RM800 x 1 = RM800)

Training, Materials, & Documentation
Community development training (RM500 x 1 = RM500)
WASH training (RM500 x 2 = RM1,000)

Community Engagement (RM500 x 1 = RM500)
Focus group and assets mapping
Monitoring and evaluation

Logistics
International shipping and taxes (RM500 x 1 = RM500)
Travelling and accommodation (RM900 x 2 = RM1,800)

TOTAL: RM10,600

We aim to raise RM 10,600 to help 50 families in Muadzam Shah and Chini orang asli villages with access to clean water and WASH training.

Any funds raised in excess of target amount will be channelled to fund our other community development initiatives:
All-Lights: RM360 for a d.light D330 home solar system for 1 house
Sports for Youth: Purchase of sports equipment to promote play and healthy child development
Community Empowerment: Community-led activities and discussions to enable the orang asli to be changemakers of their own lives

Risks and Challenges

The orang asli community is plagued by waterborne diseases, parasitic worms infection, and diarrhoea from consuming untreated water. Children and adults alike suffer from skin rashes and itchiness due to bathing with the unclean water.

Solution

Technical: Provision of LifeStraw Family 2.0 water filters

We chose LifeStraw Family 2.0 as it’s a high-volume point-of-use water filter capable of converting “microbiologically contaminated water into clean, safe drinking water, filtering up to 30,000 litres of EPA-quality water, enough to supply a family of five with clean drinking water for three to five years (vestergaard.com)”.

It is easy to use and portable, which suits the orang asli’s semi-nomadic lifestyle. We have installed these filters in 21 communities and through our follow-up visits, we have received positive feedback about its viability.

• Filter removes virtually all bacteria (99.9999 percent), protozoan parasites (99.99 percent), and viruses (99.999 percent) that can contaminate water
  
• Reduces turbidity (muddiness) by filtering particulate matter larger than 0.02 microns
  
• Made of durable plastic
  
• Doesn’t require electrical power, batteries, or replacement parts
  
• Uses hollow fibre technology which meets the standard for the “highly protective” category of safe water interventions by the World Health Organisation
  
• Built-in safe storage container with tap
  
• Easy backwash cleaning system
  

Educational: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) training

WASH is the educational aspect of our clean water initiative that complements the technical solution provided, to form development that is holistic and sustainable. In villages that are facing water scarcity, the people are not able to practice proper hygiene habits leading to the rise of waterborne and water-washed diseases like diarrhoea and skin infections.

We aim to raise awareness, especially to mothers who are the main water managers in their household and young children who are more susceptible to diseases and malnutrition brought on by poor hygiene.

• Module 1: Water management for domestic use (drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing) is presented through infographics and posters. We have follow-up conversations after with each family to learn about how they manage water and to provide suggestions on what can be improved.
  
• Module 2: We emphasise the importance of washing hands with soap as a simple way to improve general health and reduce disease outbreaks. It’s a fun follow-along activity that both adults and kids can take part in.
  
• Module 3: We conduct a teeth-brushing demonstration and activity mainly for kids along with a presentation on basic dental hygiene. 

Impact

• Drinking and cooking with clean, filtered water will greatly reduce the occurrence of waterborne diseases.
  
• Improved health means improved productivity; adults can consistently go to work and earn an income.
  
• Children are able to grow up strong and healthy.
  
• Women, who are the main water managers, can save time gathering firewood and starting a fire to boil water, which has to be cooled and sieved repeatedly for drinking. With the filter, they will only need to fill it with water to have readily-available clean drinking water.

About Campaign

Communities Unite for Purewater (CUP) is a community-driven initiative that aims to uplift the welfare of rural and underserved communities through the provision of clean water and WASH training. Read more: https://globalpeace.org.my/communities-unite-for-purewater/ 

This clean water initiative begins with addressing the pressing needs of the community revolving around water, sanitation, and hygiene. In the long run, we will continue to engage the community through assets-based community development to uplift and improve their lives, ultimately working towards community empowerment.