AAN :::Asia Arsenic Network Bangladesh

Reported by: Tarun Hore

1. Panjia Project

Arsenic Mitigation Committees

- Ward AMC Meeting: On September 1 st the Ward #9 AMC hold a meeting at Panjia Union Parisad at 5:00 p.m. There were 15 attendants including Rezaul Karim Razu and Tarun Hore from AAN. There were a few AMC members from Had village. They requested for a new allotment of DTW in Had (Baliaghata para), and after some discussions the para was selected for DTW #7. The AMC also requested AAN to make Ward #9 arsenic free by providing safe water as early as possible. The AMC members appreciated our work.

- Union AMC Meeting : Union AMC's Chairman called a meeting on 10 th September at 11:00 at Panjia Union Parisad. There were15 participants. From AAN, Md. Shamim Uddin, Tarun Hore, Rezaul Karim Razu and Aklima Chowdhury attended and each explained on the different topics as below:

• Progress of Panjia Project (by Rezaul Karim Razu)

• Plan of remaining activities (by Tarun Hore)

• Medicine distribution plan (by Aklima Chowdhury)

• Future plan in Panjia (by Shamim Uddin)

AAN request has been placed to the Union AMC to start motivational activities in Panjia and Gorbhanga Bazars so that shop owners can change their habit to use arsenic safe water. AMC members took a decision to visit every shop of tea stalls and restaurants that afternoon. The AMC members proposed that schools should be provided with arsenic safe water on a priority bases since many pupils/students spend time there and drink contaminated water. They also requested AAN to consider supplying of more safe water devices in other arsenic-contaminated areas in Panjia.

- Motivation by UAMC: After the meeting on 10 th , the Chairman and some other Union AMC members visited 12 restaurants and 20 tea stalls at the Panjia Bazar to request them not to use arsenic contaminated water for their daily activities. Shamim, Razu and Tarun accompanied them. It was finished at 8:30 p.m. after covering about 85% of those shops. Most of the shop owner agreed after hearing the speech of Chairman, in which he said:

" Using arsenic contaminated water is very harmful for human body. Please take off this habit and use arsenic safe water for food making as well as for drinking purpose. AMC will suddenly visit you now and then with police and punish those who are not using safe water."
Most of the customers in tea-stalls and restaurants appreciated our activities.

Awareness-raising Programme

- Flipchart Performance: In September, flipchart performance was conducted at 16 places (schools, bazars, madrassas and paras) of Ward #1 and #2. Excluding those at schools and madrassas, there were 1,340 persons (male-616, female-631 and children 93) who attended the programme. Monju was the key person to conduct through FWs. We performed the flipchart at schools after confirming the time by teachers, and also showed photographs of arseniccosis symptoms and nutritious food. We selected those paras (from our HH survey report) where people are using contaminated water. Most of the people were frightened to watch the photographs of arsenicosis sufferers. At schools and madrassas, they said they came to know details about the symptom, which may keep behind drinking contaminated water.

Text Box: At the end of the Union AMC meeting, Mr. Kajol, a member of UAMC, requested AAN to explain the fatality of arsenic to the students of Panjia Collegiate High School in Ward #6. This is one of the oldest schools in Bangladesh (established in 1897) where more than 600 students from the primary to secondary level study. Mr. Kajol is also a member of the managing committee of the school. At his request, Shamim Uddin and Monju visited the school after the meeting and demonstrated arsenicosis by flipchart and poster. Students now know about arsenic very well. The teachers requested for a DTW in their school ground.

- Gombhira Program : A gombhira (=a folk musical drama) program was arranged in Panjia Bazar in front of the Union Parisad on 10 th after the UAMC meeting. Some local songs were used to deliver messages on arsenic, arsenicosis and hygienic living for the gombhira. Shamim Uddin also gave a motivational speech.

In spite of a big political meeting in Keshabpur that day, about 320 participants (male-210, female-40 and children-70) enjoyed the programme.

-Nutrition Programme : The programme was designed for the NHK-TV crew to film on September 9 th in Gorbhanga Middle para where one DTW had just been installed. When the programme began in the morning there were 15 females only. Monju and Tahera (FW of W #2) first introduced locally available nutritious food and its usefulness as well as preventive power. Some vegetables and rice were added from the hosts as contribution to the programme. Then they started cooking kichuri . After it was cooked,

they distributed the kichuri to all of the participants, the number of which increased to 110 (male-20, female-40, and children-50) by then. During the interview by the NHK-TV crew, they said they did not know this type of kichuri cooking (using various vegetables). They also added that they used to wash vegetables after cutting but now they would wash them before cutting since it will save vitamins in vegetables.

- Planning of Awareness-raising Programme with FWs : AAN discussed with FWs of Panjia Union about future awareness raising activities on 10 th September. FWs submitted a list of schools and madrassas and some paras where people are drinking arsenic- contaminated water. Based on the discussion, a programme was fixed to carry out in Ward #2 first and then in Ward #1 and W #9. FWs confirmed that they could facilitate the programme.

Installation of DTW

- Drilling : In September, 5 DTWs were installed in W #1 and #2. AAN was able to make the sealing only at one site out of 5. Azam and Quddus are planning to develop a sealing method so that cementing can be successful for the remaining DTWs. The details of progress are given bellow:

DTW#	Village	Para	Ward	Started	Finished	Depth (feet)	No. of User Families	Sealing
1	Gorbhanga	Middle	2	25 Aug	1 Sep	765	43	Done
2	Gorbhanga	East	2	2 Sep	6 Sep	661	123	Failed
3	Gorbhanga	West	2	7 Sep	12 sep	845	58	Failed
4	Gorbhanga	South-East	2	13 Sep	20 Sep	733	75	Failed
5	Maderdanga	East	1	21 Sep	27 Sep	833	48	Failed
6	Panjia	West	9	28 Sep			64
7	Had	Baliaghata	9				50

- Users Committee Meeting at Had: We requested the Chairman of Ward AMC to organize a meeting in Had Balighata para. He organized a meeting on 7 th September and formed a Users Committee (UC) who in turn selected the site for a DTW. AAN again visited Balighata para on 23 rd September and introduced the some UC members to villagers. They expressed the same opinion as to the site and said they will remember AAN for allotting a DTW in their para which is situated at a very low land and occasionally affected by flood as well.

- User Contribution : The rest 4 committees deposited their contribution as follows:

DTW#	Committee's Name	Deposit	Date
4	Gorbhanga South-East para Water Supply Committee	5000 Tk	4 Sep
5	Maderdanga East para Water Supply Committee	5000 Tk	4 Sep
6	Panjia West para Water Supply Committee	5000 Tk	21 Sep
7	Had Baliaghata para Water Supply Committee	5000 Tk	22 Sep

- Signing of Memorandum of Understanding: Tarun and Razu made all the necessary documents for installing DTWs and Razu collected them in September, including the memorandums of understanding, duly signed by Chairman of Users Committee, UC members, Chairman of Ward AMC, Chairman of Union AMC, land owner, and Chief of Arsenic Centre.

Water Quality Test

- AAN Filter Monitoring : Shamim Khan started monitoring the water quality of AAN filters distributed in Panjia Union. He is going to submit a report in October after completing the water quality test of the total 25 filters.

- DTW Monitoring : Shamim Khan so far collected water from 4 DTWs and found some salinity (0.2) in DTW #3 in Gorbhanga West para. He is going to check again next month since other DTWs are in the washing process at the moment.

O&M Training and Handover Ceremony

- Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Training: In the afternoon of September 9 th , the day the first nutrition programme was conducted, 4 selected persons from the UC of DTW #1 in Gorbhanga received O&M training. Quddus conducted the training. They hoped to be able to solve any problems in future.

- Option Handover Ceremony: After the O&M training people gathered near DTW #1 and on arrival of Union Chairman we started the handover ceremony moderated by Razu. First, Tarun Hore explained why the DTW was necessary in this para of Gorbhanga village and then AAN's objectives and total activities so far done in the village. As Chief Guest, Union Chairman said that AAN suddenly came to Panjia Union in April and installed arsenic-free DTWs in Gorbhanga which he had not been able to do, and thanked AAN for saving villagers from the fatality of arsenic. One female participant made a speech that although she knew well about arsenic she used to take water from a contaminated TW due to the distance and place (near bazar). She said that the villagers would use the DTW from now on and remember the name of AAN, asking AAN to keep contact with them further. At the end of the ceremony AAN, together with Chairman, handed over the ownership paper to the UC Chairman.

Medical Support

- Medicine Distribution: Patient Support Coordinator, Aklima, started the distribution of medicine to 23 arsenicosis patients in Panjia. In September, however, she distributed medicine only to 20 patients and collected 540 Tk. One patient received medicine free of cost. The remaining 3 patients did not agree to taking medicine with contribution of 30 Tk., although they have the ability to pay.

Aklima distributed medicine while S. Khan was checking water quality (in Rajnagar Bankabarshi).

- Listing of Suspected Arsenicosis Patients : Aklima listed 35 persons as having arsenicosis symptoms at various occasions. Among them, 24 (including 3 females) were found after the gombhira programme, and 4 of them were from a neighbor union. The listed people need to be examined by an expert, and the Union Health & Family Planning Officer at the Keshabpur Upazila Health Complex has agreed to visit them to examine. In the meantime AAN will continue to encourage people to show their skin if they have any suspicious skin lesions when they gather for a programme.

2. Follow-up Activities

Monitoring of Alternative Water Devices

- Srimontokathi PSF #3: Shamim Uddin, Junko Nakamura and Tarun visited the site on 2 nd September. It was the first follow-up visit after the re-excavation of the pond in May. The users expressed their satisfaction of the PSF and thanked the Cyclamen Club in Japan for their kindness to install the PSF.

- KRK Pipeline : In September Sumon visited the site of pipeline water supply system at Putkhali Ward #3 in Sharsha Upazila in the first and last weeks. He came to know that no chlorination had been done for a several weeks. According to the caretaker, the UC decided at the last meeting held in August that Chairman was responsible to purchase bleaching powder, but he did not perform his role. Sumon could not meet with the UC Chairman. AAN is planning to meet with UC members next month.

- Activation of Inactive Options in Sharsha : Quddus visited inactive option sites in Sharsha Upazila from 8 th to 14 th September to help users. He hired a mistri to solve the problems (mainly PVC connection) and activated 4 options (Option Nos. 23, 26, 41 and 54). AAN expensed 750 Tk. Other 8 options have a couple of problems such as shortage of water, gravel and sand clogging, damaged pipe, etc. AAN offered its technical support and is waiting for their replies whether they are ready to bear the repair cost.

- New Chlorination Tank : AAN ordered 10 pieces of ceramic chlorination tank to replace the current plastic buckets since the latter was creating some problems. The cost was Tk. 250 each. We hope it will solve the problems such as blown-off by wind and/or eventual smash-up.

- Site Visit for Sharing Experience : To empower the new female committee of Agarhati PSF, AAN arranged an experience-sharing tour to Khalishkhali and Boyerdanga on 14 th September. Eight women and one man of the Agarhati PSF Users Committee visited the two PSF sites guided by Monju and Sumon. They were happy to see how those UCs were operating and maintaining the PSFs. They hoped that they would be able to keep their PSF well after the tour.

Patient Management

- Chollisha : A ceremony in honor and for the benefit of dead soul of Sultan Gazi, who passed away in August while receiving treatment in Dhaka, was held by his family in Srimontokhati village on 2 nd September. Shamim and Quddus joined in the prayer and after that Tarun, Junko and Narayan also joined for lunch at the invitation of Sultan Gazi's family. The ceremony is called Chollisha and is arranged for a deceased Muslim on the fortieth day after his death.

- Medicine Distribution: In September AAN distributed medicines to 77 listed patients in the 3 villages of Marua, Smata, and Gopinathpur. There was a contribution of 879 Tk. in total from them, although 9 patients were not able to pay any. Medicines are being distributed in Srimontokhati also.

3. Laboratory

- Laboratory Development : To share the experience about bacteriological testing and water sampling, Shamim Uddin visited BUET laboratory. AAN felt the need to have an IPS installed in the laboratory for smooth work without any interruption of electricity. The IPS was set up on 29 th September.

- Preparation for Monsoonal Water Quality Survey : Earlier it was decided to conduct a survey in Jessore district to check the water quality of such devices that use surface water during the monsoon season to see if there are any differences to the water between the dry and rainy seasons. AAN arranged 2-day training for sample collectors on 18 th and 19 th September in AAN Laboratory and Agarhati village of Monirampur. We also planned a social survey to find the reasons of inactiveness and users' demand on it. A form was developed for this survey. Sample water collection is to start early October and will last for two weeks. Three sample collectors and three social surveyors will work with a pair.

4. General

- Schedule for NHK-Program : Tarun made a schedule for an NHK-TV team after discussing with Shamim Uddin, Rezaul Karim and Monjuara Parvin. They were in Jessore during 6 th and 11 th September and visited villages in Panjia Union and Samta village to make a documentary on arsenic problem in Bangladesh.

- Presentation on DW : AAN presented a paper titled "Dug Well Design and Construction - Challenges to improve water quality" at the first-day technical session of the National Workshop on Water Quality held at Sheraton Hotel on 26-28 September. The paper, prepared by Shamim Uddin, was well received