Our community water project eases hardships for Omadal households that have no reliable source of potable water.

Inaccessibility to clean water made personal hygiene secondary to cooking and drinking water. For hygiene education to be effective, we needed to improve their water access. This project was done in two phases under the YHSG 2020.

First we built an extended platform in Pondok Iskul and installed 3 more water tanks. This provided extra water to our students’ families while we studied how to improve their home’s water access. Unexpectedly, the platform became the main open air space for our Covid-19 food relief operation in 2020.

Second, we partnered with Engineer Without Borders Malaysia (EWBM) in a pilot community water project. We collaborated with 30 households to improve their access to water. We discovered the simplest way to improve access is to give each home a 100 liter (L) water tank. This method is also the fastest. Yet, participants need to strengthen the platform of their houses first before they get the water tank.

By May 2021, all 30 households had improved water access. They reported it has changed their lives in two ways: cost-saving and improved hygiene. As a result of our pilot project, EWBM secured a grant from UNDP GEF’s Small Grant Programme.

The grant provided water tanks and water filtration systems to the rest of the stateless households. Iskul became the key mover in the implementation of this project.

Another 35 households have received improved water access from this project by December 2021.