Participatory appraisal
Figure 3: Cause-Impact of WatSan Blocks.
Practical Action
CAUSES
Created business
opportunities
Standard user
services for all
Need to improve
pit-latrine facilities
No burden of emptying
latrines because
connected to sewer
Cleaner environment
IMPACTS
Affordable
Access to clean water
Need to improve
pit-latrine facilities
To prevent diseases
caused by flying
toilets
For access to clean
water
Water and
Sanitation
Blocks
Pride
No need to use house
Prevention of diseases
Government
acknowledges the
group working here
To use the space
(land) for communal
benefit.
Site needed to be
cleaned/ upgraded
Community empowerment
Affordable charges
Employment for the staff
Can serve all;
Now more visitors
because guests feel
more comfortable
passers by as well
as local community
residents
now there is a toilet
to use
The group of residents who participated in the group discussion were members of an existing
CBO, the Silanga Usafi Group. (Usafi is a Kiswahili word meaning clean and in this case
implies both clean water & toilets). Therefore, these members already have a concern for water
issues in the community and are well aware of the impacts of water supply and management.
Their awareness of the topic is demonstrated in the results of this exercise which shows many
well considered and informed responses. Many of the responses from the group discussion are
matched and supported by the responses from the individual interviews.
Institutional perception using a mapping exercise
During the group discussion with residents an exercise was carried out to capture the group’s
perception of institutions and their regarded importance by the community, to discover the
influence the community perceives to have upon institutions and to determine the change and
predicted evolution of institutions. The PA techniques used were listing, ranking, trend analysis
and institution-perception mapping.
The residents were first asked to list all the institutions they are involved with, see Table 2 and
then to map them indicating their perception of importance, strength and direction of
relationship with the institution, and accessibility of the institution. The resulting main output in
the form of a diagram can be seen in Figures 4 and 5.
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