Meet Jean Norbert Niyonzima, a Water and Sanitation Officer in Kirehe District / Eastern Province in Rwanda
A learner's experience of the WASH Systems Academy - This course has changed my thinking on how to handle WASH-related issues mostly on the sustainability of water infrastructures.
Published on: 18/04/2023
Jean Norbert Niyonzima is the Water and Sanitation Officer in Kirehe District / Eastern Province.
Nobert has followed and completed the course - WASH systems strengthening for Rwanda. He shares his experience on how he found the course and how he has used it to build his capacity.
Have you found opportunities to apply content from this course in your work?
After completing the course, I found opportunities to apply the content of this course in my work of overseeing water and sanitation related activities at the district level. It was a good opportunity to learn more about systems strengthening being key to sustaining WASH infrastructures in the district. It is very useful in my daily duties to look at the so-called unmanaged infrastructures such as boreholes even at the maintenance and sustainability of existing water supply systems.
If you found opportunities to apply content from this course in your work, can you give an example(s)?
The content of the course enabled me to think about the sustainability of unmanaged water infrastructures such as boreholes (used in locations where there is no piped water). Once the borehole has broken down there is no structure in place to repair it quickly, so local communities suffer from lack of water. I mentioned this problem to the District Executive Committee and they have decided to allocate an annual budget which is used to repair the broken boreholes. The district has hired a private company that can repair the broken boreholes and they get paid based on the work done.
To ensure operation and maintenance, water user committees (WUCs) have been set up for each borehole, and the district has worked with WASH partners to train WUC members on ownership of WASH infrastructures. So, I have proposed an approach that could help in the sustainability of the WASH infrastructures in Kirehe District.
How has training motivated you to change the way you work?
This course has changed my thinking on how to handle WASH-related issues, mostly the sustainability of water infrastructures. The E-learning course and the training motivated me to work hard to address and overcome the challenges pertaining the WASH sector within my working place. Before attending the training, I focused only on WASH infrastructure development but now I am interested in WASH service delivery and the sustainability of the WASH infrastructures.
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