Village Water Zambia

Village Water UK was instrumental in registering Village Water Zambia (VWZ)as a stand-alone Zambian-registered charity in 2007. VWZ has a board of trustees headed by Mr James Kasongo. Village Water UK is in regular contact with Village Water Zambia, and UK trustees make regular trips to Zambia to see the work on the ground and talk to the Zambian staff.

Village Water’s first Zambian Field Director, Elisha Ngonomo, is a highly experienced, graduate and natural resources manager. Mubiana Muyangwa is the Provincial Manager of Western Province based in Mongu.

There are now three centres of activity in Zambia - the head office and two field offices:

• The head office in the capital, Lusaka. Elisha has developed close contacts with government offices and NGO's involved in the water and sanitation sector.
• A field office in Kaoma. VWZ Kaoma has two field officers: Ms Mutinta Nh'andu and Mr Jameson Lubingo and a team of volunteer water and health workers who undertake the community mobilisation in their large District. Mampi Silumesi was appointed in 2011as the hygiene and sanitation facilitator in Kaoma.
• A field office in Mongu. VWZ Mongu, has three Field Facilitators, Clare Mulopo, Albertina Siyunyi and Ms Chaiwe Mushauko.  They are responsible for overseeing pump installation and maintenace, and hygiene and sanitation sensitisation, all of whom have many years’ experience in community development with Clare and Albertina working as a team since 1986.

Travelling in Zambia is time-consuming because of the poor state of many roads so it is important we have an office in the capital and two field offices in the large area covered by Western Province. For this reason it is also important to employ drivers (Denis and Axon), who can use their skill to drive safely and maintain their vehicles to a high standard, minimising the time the vehicles spend out of commission.

Village Water is a supporter of the Government’s WASHE (water, sanitation, hygiene and education) policy which calls for the integrated provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services. As a result, our three bases in Zambia attract a great deal of encouragement from Zambia’s national and local government officers and the Permanent Secretary of the Western Province. Through the WASHE scheme, we are also able to work closely with other NGO’s in the area to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.

Trustees from Village Water UK make regular trips to Zambia to hold discussions with the staff and to see the work in the field. Discussions are also held regularly via Skype and email.