Integrated Wastewater Management Policies & Technologies For Marginal Communities In Jordan

Data Collection Using Participatory Rural Appraisal Tools

One of the most fundamental shifts in thinking that took place during the late 1980’s was the realization that local people have a great amount of detailed knowledge and understanding of their own environment. During the late two decades, the idea that outsiders as development experts knew all issues and held the key to all potential solutions was replaced by the recognition of the knowledge of local people.

Participatory Rural Appraisal PRA is one of the Participatory Development Communication PDC methodologies, and is a growing family of approaches and methods used to enable local people to share, enhance and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions. PRA is a particular form of qualitative research used to gain an in-depth understanding of a community or situation. It is considered to be a particularly useful planning tool for external agencies because it can be used by outsiders to plan quickly and effectively.

The project team realized, right at the beginning of the project execution, the fact that the knowledge of local people should be recognized and that PDC methodologies need to be used in collecting relevant data. In this regard, a training workshop was designed and implemented at one of the Community Based Organizations CBOs working in the project area (that is, Umm Al-Quttayn social club) during phase (I) of the project. The main objective was to build the capacity among the public on different aspects of PDC, and to introduce the concept of PRA tools and community participation methodology that could be used to identify wastewater problems and solutions based on the community’s perspectives and needs and to prepare a checklist that used to collect data from the local people .

Checklist Prepared And Used By The LSC For Data Collection Using Participatory Rural Appraisal Tools

	Suggested Questions and Topics	Source of Data	PRA Tools to be used
Social Issues	- Name and Age of family father. - Number of family members. - Educational level of family members. - Number of wives.	Parents Family members	Semi-structural dialogue Direct observations
Economical Issues	- Income sources and rates. - Frequency and cost of cesspool pump-outs. - Planted area around the residence and water sources for irrigation. - Number of owned livestocks’ and drinking water sources.	Parents	Semi-structural dialogue Direct observations
Health Issues	- Diseases related to drinking water quality and wastewater disposal practices.	Parents Family members Health-care centers	Semi-structural dialogue Direct observations
General Available Services	- Availability of different services (e.g. charity societies, streets, schools for different educational levels, health-care centers, drinking water networks, electricity, telephone networks, ….etc.)	Individuals Groups Family members Municipality officials Charity association	Semi-structural dialogue Direct observations
Environmental Issues	- Do you believe that you have wastewater collection & disposal problems in your region? - What are the currently wastewater disposal practices? - What are the adverse impacts of current wastewater disposal practices on public health and the environment? - Do you expect groundwater pollution due to current practices? - Do you expect adverse impacts on planted area close to the cesspool? - How do you perceive the impacts of using treated wastewater for irrigation? - Do you separate wastewater coming out of the kitchen and the bathroom (greywater) from that of the toilet? if yes, why and how do you get rid of it? - Is there any greywater reuse practices? Are these planned or not? - Do you accept reusing treated wastewater for irrigation? - Do you prefer to treat and reuse greywater or generated wastewater as a whole?	Individuals Family members Groups Municipality officials Charity associations	Semi-structural dialogue Ranking Problem and solution network Mapping Direct observations Seasonal calendar Historical background Daily routine
	- What is the frequency of cesspool pump-outs? How much this cost you? - What is the distance between your residence and the closest legal liquid waste dumping site? - What wastewater management alternatives do you suggest for your region?
Water Issues	- Do you think that the quality of municipal tap water is suitable for drinking and domestic uses? - Are municipal water quantities provided sufficient? What other alternatives do you have? - How much municipal water costs you? - Is there any differences in water consumption between summer and winter?	Individuals Family members Groups Municipality officials Charity associations	Semi-structural dialogue Ranking Problem and solution network Mapping Direct observations Seasonal calendar Historical background Daily routine

The project team held a meeting with the LSC members on Mar. 4^th, 2004 at one of the CBOs working in the project area to arrange for the field work and data collection. A work plan was prepared taking into consideration that (8%-15%) of the population shall be included in data collection (depending on the community’s population). The following methodology was applied throughout data collection and site visits:

· The project team together with the community participation specialist meet usually with the LSC members at a specific location in the project area early in the morning. The targeted communities are decided upon.

· Research teams are formulated, each consists of 3-5 members taking into consideration that at least one female participates in each research team. A project team member usually accompanies each research team.

· Each research team is assigned a study area (part of a community, one or more than one community depending on the community size), with a minimum number of meetings to be carried out.

· One of the research teams is responsible for meeting with representatives of governmental officials as well as NGOs and/or CBOs.

· Among the members of each research team, one is assigned to be the team leader who will lead the semi-structural dialogue, another for documentation, and another member for taking direct observations. The female member usually meets with the house lady in order to further discuss issues related to domestic water use patterns among other relevant issues and to use some PRA tools (especially the daily routine). Other PRA tools are usually used during meetings (e.g. ranking, problem and solution network, historical background and others).

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