Zambia Community Contribution

All communities working with SSAAP must contribute 50%, in-cash or in-kind, to SSAAP for their water wells. Well construction participation is voluntary, but not mandatory, as SSAAP hires and pays contractors to dig (in Sierra Leone) or drill (in Zambia) water wells for beneficiaries. The beneficiary communities are not required to assist in the water well construction for their village, but rather, are required to participate 50% minimally to the organization itself: to SSAAP. They can do so by building structures on the compound, helping SSAAP fetch water for its headquarters, and various other jobs that SSAAP needs to have completed.

Community Contribution is not seen as a community assisting with its water well (as this is the community helping itself), but rather the community contributing to the project (SSAAP) and giving back to the project itself, rather than themselves. For a project to be sustainable and functional, the community must contribute to its upkeep and well-being so that it can continue to sustain itself and continue to serve the communities in-large that are in-need of its services; it cannot do this if everyone is taking from the project but giving nothing back in return. Community Contribution requires that the community give back to the project itself so that the project can sustain itself for the long-term.

If the community contributes to a project that benefits the community (as well other communities), then the community takes ownership over the projects. However, if a community receives a benefit from a project that it hasn’t contributed towards, it does not take ownership over the project and typically, whatever benefits it receives from the project it does not sustain. SSAAP has seen this happen in many instances whereby, previously, SSAAP required 0% Community Contribution and gave the community 100% towards its water well, cattle project, school sponsorship, etc. projects and the communities did not take the projects seriously. SSAAP’s project model thus changed to Community Contribution of 25%, SSAAP contribution 75%. Still the communities were not taking the project as seriously as they should have been, to insure sustainability, thus the Community Contribution model changed to 50% Community Contribution, 50% SSAAP contribution.

The method of cooperation for desirable outcomes and sustainability is the basic concept summarised by the Community Contribution aspect of SSAAP (50% Community Contribution; 50% SSAAP contribution). The communities, eager for the resources that SSAAP has brought, in most cases comply amicably with this model, as it ensures the sustainability as well for the project and that they will continue to be served by the project. As well, this model ensures the health, safety, and well-being of both SSAAP volunteers, Executive Director Heather C. Cumming, as well Radiance G.A. Cumming, who is Heather’s daughter and co-pilot in SSAAP’s initiatives. The Community Contribution aspect of SSAAP, simply stated, insures both its long-term survival as well its success.

Well Drilling

Sustainability is contingent upon the community’s desire for clean water. Mandatory well committees are organized for any SSAAP - built well to maintain, repair, and sensitize the whole community as to the importance of the well. Underlying this, the sustainability factor rests in the concept that those who have invested in the well will oversee the maintenance of their well.

Farmer’s Association Program

SSAAP is registered under the Zambian government as a community-based organization. SSAAP’s registration certificate, renewed annually, serves as a channel by which local farmers in Simwatachela can receive seeds and fertilizer for their fields at a discounted rate.. Farmers cultivate their fields with seeds and fertilizer annually through assistance from SSAAP’s registration with the Zambian government.

Headquarters

SSAAP-Zambian Headquarters is located in Simwatachela Chiefdom, Zambia. The Headquarters has no running water or electricity and was built in 2004 by the community when Heather was a Peace Corps Volunteer. Since that time, the Headquarters has been renovated with an industrial-pole styled roof, thatched grass, and a cement floor. We also have four locally-made bookshelves inside the house.

Microloans

In SSAAP’s Zambia Microloan Program, sustainability comes with the understanding by the recipients that as one loan is re-paid, the loan funds are recycled to another person in need. Here is one young woman’s story: