WHEP Scholar Christiana Obeng
Drexel University College of Medicine, Class of 2022

World Vision, among other organizations, provides financial and technical support for the implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene projects (WASH), in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals agreed upon by the United Nations. However, a plan to sustain WASH infrastructures will determine the longevity of the impact of the projects. This was evident during my time in Lesotho this past summer, where I reviewed the WASH projects implemented by World Vision in Berea District, Lesotho, and the impact of the projects on the health burden in the district. Although World Vision had successfully erected WASH facilities in villages and schools, I realized that the passive attitudes and disinterest of some of the village residents and students to sustain these structures hampered the utility and durability of the facilities. Labeling these structures as “properties of western countries and not ours,” discouraged village residents and students from engaging in behaviors that could properly maintain the facilities. This poster will present on my observations of the attitudes of the Basotho people in Berea District, Lesotho, and the impact of these attitudes on their willingness to maintain the WASH facilities in their communities.

View Christiana's poster [PDF]