INTERVIEW GUIDE – Community water committees/other community level actors
*If possible, try to meet at the project itself
*Explain what we are doing and why
* Try to get contact information for someone in each water project so that we can share a short report of
our findings back to the community
Important goal of these interviews:
Tease out what factors have made this project survive and succeed over time?
What kind of governance structures are used?
What are the interactions with the counties?
INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS
Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about your background and how you became
involved in the project?
What is the history of this project? When was it started? Who funded it?
A lot of community water projects encounter problems and do not continue to provide water. This
project has operated for a long time! What do you think has helped this project to continue to
function when others have not?
QUESTIONS ABOUT OPERATIONS
When did this committee form?
Who are the committee members? How are they chosen?
What kinds of education, training, or other capacity do people on the committee have?
Are there skills that you wish someone had to help you run the project better?
What is the decision-making process for this committee?
Do you have a constitution or by-laws? Can you share those with us?
What funding is available to the project? Do you charge user fees? Do you receive money from a
trust fund?
Do you have enough resources to manage the project effectively?
QUESTIONS ABOUT COOPERATION
Does your committee get any resources, training or support from
o The county?
o The Development Authority?
o Local leaders or politicians?
o Local NGOs?
o Other donors?
Does your committee work with anyone else on water service issues?
Do you ever share your experiences with other community water projects?
QUESTIONS ABOUT MAINTENANCE
Has the project ever stopped working? What do you do when that happens?
Is there someone who is responsible for maintaining the project?
Are there people in your community with the skills to repair the project if it stops working
correctly?
How is maintenance funded?
When the project stops working, how long can it take before it is repaired and working again?
FINAL QUESTIONS
Overall, what are the biggest challenges that you have encountered in water provision, and what
are the successes you are most proud of?
Do you have any reports or other archived materials about this project that you can share with us?
Is there anyone else that we should speak with who would be knowledgeable the history,
maintenance, or funding of this water project?
Is there anything else you think we should know about this water project?
Focus Group Questions:
- How do you get water in your community? Are you satisfied with those services?
- Does the service ever stop working? How long does it take to resume water services when that
happens? Who fixes the project if there is a problem?
- Do you pay for water services? Are the payments improving the water service?
- Who provides the water service? [county, LVDA, an NGO, etc.]
- Is the water project managed by a community committee?
- Are there any opportunities to participate in the water project?
- Has there been any change in the water services since the project first started? Improvement or
reduction in services? What do they attribute those changes to?
Possible bean exercise: Give each participant 10 beans; prepare a sheet that lists the top services
provided by the county; ask them to allocate beans on the sheet based on the following questions:
- How does the county allocate its funds across these services? [water; roads; jobs; policing;
education; maybe Valerie can fill in with the services commonly provided by the county]
- How do you think they should do it?
Extra FGD Questions
Sources of water? Duration they have been in existence? Regular access to water? PROBE Dry
season
Sponsors for local water projects
Specific programmes that enhance water accessibility
Water bill? Price per jerrycan
Have you heard about devolution? Is it working to provide access to water in this area? PROBE
Awareness of other gvt policies on water issues in Homabay/Migori
History of water sources in Homabay/Migori
Challenges in water provision
