Fighting cholera through durable sanitation solutions

“In my area, not only do the residents suffer from poverty and war, but they also endure diseases with no adequate health care,” says Mohammed, a father of three children from Al-Bdal qawi area of Aden. “Years have passed, and we still suffer from the sewage swamps surrounding our homes.”

Aggravated by the lack of clean water as well as poor sanitation services and malnutrition, diarrhoea is one of the most common causes of child morbidity and mortality in Yemen. “Hardly a week goes by without one of my children suffering from severe diarrhoea,” says Mohammed. Like the majority of Al-Bdal qawi area inhabitants, Mohammed’s family depends on unsafe water sources for drinking, cooking and washing.

In response to the increasing needs, with funding from the Crisis and Support Centre, CARE scaled up its emergency water, sanitation and hygiene response to contain acute watery diarrhoea and cholera spread in Ash Shaikh-Othman district. The response benefited 2222 households by installing a 330 metre-long sewage network and constructing 16 manholes.

“One month before CARE’s intervention, sewage water used to flood our house,” says Mohammed. “Thanks to the new sewage system, sewage swamps in our neighbourhood were removed, and cholera cases have been reduced as a result. I couldn’t be happier. Now, my three children can play and live safely without contracting cholera again.”

This intervention was also highly appreciated by the residents and local authorities in Shaikh Othman district. One local authority member states: “Together with our partners, we managed to reach a low level of cases, which is a big achievement compared to other regions.”