Ensuring a sustainable supply of safe drinking water in Goaldihi village

About EWB-SWE

Engineers Without Borders Sweden or EWB-SWE works to address challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, both in Sweden and around the globe.

About BRIF

BRIF is the Bangladesh Rural Improvement Foundation, a volunteer and social development organization. Since 1984, BRIF has been mobilizing communities in the north part of Bangladesh to engage in initiatives with high social impact.

Background

The partnership between BRIF and EWB-SWE was formed to address the lack of safely managed water, sanitation, and hygiene systems in Goaldihi village. Our project team was assembled and we collected samples from several water bodies in the village.

We identified a couple of problems during the pre-study phase:

• Samples collected from shallow tube wells have shown evidence of high levels of fecal contamination in the water. The villagers rely on these wells as their primary sources of drinking water.

• Ponds and other water bodies have been contaminated by carcinogenic fertilizers from surrounding farmlands, which has made the water unsuitable for household use.

Due to consuming unsafe water, the villagers are affected by hypertension, heart diseases, skin diseases, etc. They also suffer from waterborne diseases throughout the year, with an increase in occurrences during the monsoon season.

In the pre-study report, we recommend the following measures to address this situation: preventing recontamination of water through awareness campaigns and building a clean drinking water supply plant.

Justification

EWB-SWE recommends utilizing solar or other sources of renewable energy to complement existing sources of electricity such as diesel in projects as part of the fuel exit strategy. Also, EWB-SWE has prioritized projects concerning clean drinking water in recent years. By combining the use of sustainable energy with the facilitation of safe drinking water access, this project is a huge step forward to scaling similar projects to other parts of the country.

Purpose of the communication team

We want to bring 5 or 6 volunteers together who are ambitious and thrive in a learning environment. The primary objective of the communication team is to make sure the beneficiary households are involved and the community works towards humanitarian engineering with a feeling of ownership. You will be helping to get the local funding necessary to implement the project’s technical solution part. In addition, you will be spreading awareness related to SDG 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all in a creative way.

Specific tasks and responsibilities

You will be involved in:

Planning a fundraising event:

• create Informative materials for the fundraising (who-what-when-where-why-how of the project, its significance, goals, and how it will benefit the households in the village, and the amount of money needed to be raised etc.)

• create list of stakeholders or companies who can be potential donors and contact them to participate in the event

• involve local Rotary clubs as potential donors

Spreading awareness among the community:

• make infographic materials (presentations, posters, flyers, team building games, survey forms, etc.)

• post on social media channels (Facebook and WhatsApp groups)

• organize art or poster competition during festivals to involve the community

• put together a stall or kiosk in cultural festivals

• stage a short cultural play on the importance of SDG 6 and the quality of drinking water

• prepare team building workshop materials (for both adults and children, also for technically interested people)

Translating communication documents from English to Bangla:

• use translator apps to translate project documents

• cross-check with BRIF and EWB-SWE to ensure correctness of information

Selection procedure:

No applications will be accepted after the closing date of the vacancy. For functional reasons and in order to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the institution, the selection procedure will be carried out in English and/or Bangla only. We are only looking for volunteers who live in nearby cities of the project location.

Type of position

In case the successful candidate, they will be engaged as an unpaid volunteer for the duration of the volunteering period.

Conditions:

Application closing date: 2024-03-31

Start: 2024-04-11

Location: Goaldihi, Khansama upzilla, Dinajpur district, Bangladesh

Time requirement: at least 2-4h/week

Terms: Volunteer position

Questions?

We are reviewing applications continuously. For further information or questions please contact Salman Rahman, project leader, salman.rahman@ewb-swe.org

We look forward to your application!

Engineers Without Borders Sweden is promoting equality and inclusivity. We are strengthened by our differences. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply for the position, regardless of gender, age, ethnic background, religion, disability or sexual orientation. Selected applicants are expected to register as members to act as an EWB-SWE´s volunteer.