ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE

This study was carried out in T/A Chimaliro, Thyolo district, Malawi to assess the status of water, sanitation and hygiene practices among randomly selected households. A total of 73 households were selected and semi structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Information obtained from this study revealed that 51.43% households get their water from open dug wells, followed by 21.43% who fetched water from borehole and river and 5.71% obtained water from tap. It also noted that 56.1% treated their water before drinking and 43.9 % who did not treat. Among those that treated their water 72.41% filter the water using a cloth, 24.14.0% boiled their water and 3.45% use chlorine for water treatment. 94.5 % had household’s latrines, 5.5% had no toilet or practiced open or bush defecation. Among those that had toilets, 69.6% of the toilets did not have covers and 30.4% contained covers. Results also showed that 27% of the households had garbage bins and 63% of the households had no garbage bins. 50% of the households used buried as the method of waste disposal, followed by collection 33.33% and 16.67% of burning of the waste. While 72.6% respondents practiced hand washing, 27.4% did not wash their hands after using the toilet and among those who wash hands, 39% respondents said they wash their hands with a soap sometimes, 7% always wash their hands with soap, 25% they do not wash with soap and 2% they do not know washing hands with soap. 48.08% respondents said that they did not have enough water because of shortage of water supply in the community, followed by 36.54% which said water became scarce due to drought and another 15.38% saying it was due to frequently breakdown of the water facilities.

This study was carried out in T/A Chimaliro, Thyolo district, Malawi to assess the status of water, sanitation and hygiene practices among randomly selected households. Information obtained from this study revealed that 51.43% households get their water from open dug wells, followed by 21.43% who fetched water from borehole and river and 5.71% obtained water from tap. While 72.6% respondents practiced hand washing, 27.4% did not wash their hands after using the toilet and among those who wash hands, 39% respondents said they wash their hands with a soap sometimes, 7% always wash their hands with soap, 25% they do not wash with soap and 2% they do not know washing hands with soap. 48.08% respondents said that they did not have enough water because of shortage of water supply in the community, followed by 36.54% which said water became scarce due to drought and another 15.38% saying it was due to frequently breakdown of the water facilities.

This study was conducted in in T/A Chimaliro village in Thyolo district of Malawi. Thyolo district is located in southern region of Malawi and it borders Mulanje to the east, Blantyre to the north and Nsanje to the south. Total area of the district 1666 km2 with population density of 448.4/ km2 and the district has total population of 721456 people (National Stastical Office, 2018). Water resource in Thyolo district is characterized by river, streams, swamps and groundwater aquifers and most of its rivers originate from Mulanje and Thyolo mountains (Kamtukule, 2007). The district has tropical savanna climate which experience three seasons, namely hot-dry, hot-wet and cool-dry seasons. Most people in this district do farming, especially animal rearing such as cattle’s, goats and chickens and subsistence farming. The major languages spoken are Chilomwe and Chichewa while all the major ethnic groups share common culture and ancestral heritage.

District: Thyolo

Coordinates: -16.12965, 35.1166