EHJ February 2004, pages 52-53
There is little, if any, evidence-based environmental health work being carried out in developing countries, says Stewart Petrie, co-founder of Water for Kids. He tells EHJ how the charity aims to show the benefit of environmental health interventions

It's been just over a year since the environmental health charity Water for Kids first set foot in the remote Peruvian frontier town of Pucallpa, nestling deep in the vast Amazon basin. The town was first settled 100 years ago and its quarter of a million population scratches a living from the timber trade. Farmers forced off their land by logging and soil degradation from cocaine crops head for the Amazon town, settling in the slum districts swelling out from the town centre.

When Water for Kids first arrived, a limited water chlorination project was all that was controlling the spread of waterborne disease. Since those tentative days, the charity has expanded its funding operations in the region. Through an Ecuador-based charity, Salud Para el Pueblos or health for the villages, it now works side-by-side with 50 slum communities and two native villages disinfecting local water sources.

Water for Kids' long-term vision is for these projects to be self-sustaining, so getting local communities involved and educated about how diseases spread is essential. Local people are involved, from planning a local project to electing a water committee and ultimately running it, once it is sustainable. When the water system is installed, the project provides trainers from the local community to ensure water is used properly and that further health education is carried out. The trainers train members of the community who, in turn, train others. Knowledge then remains in the local communities.

The charity has nearly 500 volunteer health educators working in the communities, but their true potential has yet to be fully tapped. The short-term aim is to increase the volunteers' knowledge and self esteem and improve their image in the community. With this in mind, the charity has embarked on a training programme that will take on board all of the key health messages advocated by the charity. Educators will be provided with certificates to demonstrate their competency as well as uniforms and identification cards.

This is a step-by-step approach. Funding has been limited and, due to the large number of volunteers, it has been necessary to start with those who also coordinate the sale of the charity's chlorine. A new half-day training workshop has been set up, specifically for the volunteers responsible for selling the chlorine. Apart from covering key health issues and the correct use of chlorine, the workshop offers practical advice on how to sell this product to local communities.

The Water for Kids-funded project recognises that it cannot work alone nor rely on its volunteer network to sell the chlorine and promote its services and health messages. It needs assistance from other organisations working in Pucallpa and, in each case, a similar agreement to the one that exists within its 50 peri-urban and two native communities will be struck. At present, the project sells the chlorine to other organisations for 30 cents a bottle and they sell it on for 50 cents. The project also supports their sales team with training and publicity and educational materials, and offers other services depending on the group involved.

The project in Pucallpa is a long-term vision. It covers all elements of environmental health from epidemiology to education and water to waste. As a direct result of the work in Pucallpa, Water for Kids has been asked by the district governors to implement similar projects in Arequipa, and to expand within the Amazon area.

Anyone wishing to make contributions should write to Stuart Payne at 4 Rowdale Crescent, Frecheville, Sheffield S12 4SJ. Alternatively, visit www.waterforkids.org