WAVE of change: Du’ug Village’s WASH transformation

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Children gathered in front of a river in rural Papua New Guinea facing the camera and smiling while holding their thumbs up. Some older children at the rear are wearing palm leaf adornments on their heads.

 Children from Du'ug Village give the thumbs up to their clean and safe water supply (World Vision PNG / Abbegail Wafi)

 

Situated along the Pahoturi River in South Fly District of Papua New Guinea is Du'ug Village. In addition to the usual activities such as fishing, hunting, sago-beating, and gardening, the small community with 16 households and a population of around 100 is dedicated to cleaning households and yards as part of their routine, to uphold their “Healthy Island” status.

 

But this hasn't always been the case. As recently as 2017, Du’ug Village lacked a clean and safe water supply, instead relying on the local Pahoturi River for their main source of water. However, the river was unsafe, with people upstream using it for domestic purposes, as well as cooking and drinking. A shortage of clean water and limited awareness of proper sanitation led to illnesses that primarily affected the village's children.

 

Toma, a Du’ug Village resident recalls:

“Life was hard in the past, we had no clean water which led to my children suffering from illnesses such as malaria and diarrhoea. I would put my sick children in the dug-out canoe and paddle to the nearest health facility to seek health assistance.” 

 

Toma says that previously, Du’ug Village was never clean; dog poo and rubbish littered throughout the village, and the toilets were unhygienic and not safely managed. “We all collected water from the Pahoturi River, and we thought it was clean without knowing it causes harm to us." 

 

The community also lacked understanding about the importance of good water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices. “There was a water source in their village; however, they lacked knowledge on how to properly use the water system to practice good hygiene and sanitation,” Jerry Graham, World Vision WASH Officer explains.

 

Supported by Australia, World Vision has been working with the community of Du’ug Village since 2018, with an initial focus on improving basic hygiene practices and introducing the Healthy Island concept through comprehensive training sessions.

 

Then in 2021, World Vision re-introduced WASH initiatives to Du’ug Village through their Water for Women WASH Voices for Empowerment (WAVE) project. This first phase of the WAVE project worked with 30 communities in the South and Delta Fly districts of Western Province, to improve access to sustainable WASH, especially for women, girls, and people with disabilities in these marginalised communities. 

 

“Du’ug community has met the requirements of “Healthy Island” Concept, all 16 households have tippy taps, dish racks, clotheslines, bathroom, and also each household has a very clean yard,” says Graham.

 

Today, WASH practices are not only active in Du’ug Village, but also closely monitored. Du’ug is now a transformed community that prioritises WASH practices daily, resulting in a clean and healthy environment with fewer diseases and hospital visits. 

 

“When World Vision came to Du’ug, we started practicing healthy hygiene and sanitation and now our village is very clean, and I don’t take my children to the hospital that often because they don’t have serious waterborne diseases.”

- Toma, Du’ug Village resident

 

Toma adds that she is thankful for the bore water enabled through the project, making cooking and drinking water safer and more accessible, as well as enjoying her bathroom, where she now has privacy to take her bath and a toilet and tippy tap for handwashing. 

 

A woman leaning over using a tippy tap made from bamboo to wash her hands in a rural village of Papua New Guinea.
Toma washes her hands using a tippy tap in the village - a simple handsfree device with a foot pedal to tip water from a container into a hollow bamboo pipe (World Vision PNG / Abbegail Wafi)

 

With the WAVE II project now underway, World Vision PNG and local partners are focusing on strengthening district government WASH capacity and systems, and building climate resilience. Du’ug Village is among the partner communities; already exemplifying the ripple effect of improved access to WASH, and now working towards a more climate-resilient and sustainable future for all its residents. 

 

Papua New Guinea is highly susceptible to climate hazards due to its high exposure and vulnerability, and low adaptive and coping capacities. It is also one of only 10 countries globally where 20%* of the population has access to just a basic standard of sanitation. An estimated 44% of the population has only basic access to water and around 76% uses unimproved sanitation or practices open defecation.

 

Through Water for Women's PNG WASH Consortium, WASH Em i Bikpela Samting, led by World Vision, partners are leveraging their collective experience, evidence, learning and strong relationships to strengthen the national and subnational enabling environment for inclusive WASH in schools, healthcare facilities and communities. Collectively, World Vision, WaterAid, Plan International and Live and Learn Environmental Education are partnering with communities, governments, rights holder organisations and other stakeholders in Central, Morobe and New Ireland provinces, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, and the National Capital District to improve access to climate-resilient and inclusive WASH for 47,615* people by the end of this year.

 

Houses on stilts in tidy yards in a rural village of Papua New Guinea.

The community of Du’ug Village maintains tidy yards, pathways and roads, a clean water and sanitation system, and good WASH practices (World Vision PNG / Abbegail Wafi)

 

*Project targets are based on partner Civil Society Organisations (CSO) baseline studies. Project targets are updated periodically in response to changes in context as appropriate. To see our latest progress towards targets, see our progress.

 

World Water Day is observed annually on 22 March and this year's theme, 'Water for peace', emphasises the importance of working together to balance everyone’s needs, to ensure that no one is left behind in access to clean water and safe sanitation, and to make water a catalyst for a more peaceful future. 

As the lifeblood of any community, when water is scarce, polluted, denied or usage unfairly shared, conflicts can arise or intensify. For women and girls, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups, water insecurity exacerbates inequities and has disproportionate impacts, including on their health and well-being. Water conflict also increases the risk of violence.

Throughout the world, women are at the frontlines of climate change and it's impacts on water security. With primary responsibility for meeting caregiving and household water needs, including for sanitation and hygiene (WASH), women are water experts in their communities.

Every day, women are brokering peace, driving sustainable agriculture for food security, and delivering WASH for the health and well-being of their families and communities. Women and water can lead us out of this crisis. 

But women cannot do it alone. As climate change impacts increase, and populations grow, we must unite to advance gender equality and accelerate progress on SDG6 - Water and sanitation for all. Everyone has a role to play in creating a fairer and more cohesive society. 

Throughout Asia and the Pacific, Water for Women partners are working with communities, governments, researchers, rights holder organisations, and service providers in 16 countries to deliver climate-resilient and inclusive water and WASH services for all. Together, we are accelerating progress for SDG6 for a water secure and peaceful future for all.

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