"Filtering my family's water I take care of my family" Mural in Chimbuzal, rural area of Tumaco, Colombia recalls that filtering drinking water at home is a method that allows for better health practices in families.

"Filtering my family's water I take care of my family" Mural description.

In Chimbuzal community, during the training process, Leaders of Change identified that treating drinking water at home is an activity that is rarely done.

The majority of participants in this process, young women, decided it is of utmost importance to bring positive messages to their community around the consumption of treated water through the filtering method.

Specifically, women between the ages of 28 and 55 are the main group that carries out this activity, and during the creation sessions and implementation of the mural, they learned the correct way to filter water, as an easy and economical method to have drinking water to drink at home.

This mural is part of the Social Art for Behaviour Change TM (SABC) interventions of the Lazos de Agua program in Colombia.

Leaders of Change actively participated in their mural elaboration. Here they are decorating the stones they would later place in the lower part of their creation.

Process of co-creation and implementation of the mural:

• As part of ASCC's activities, the Leaders of Change workshop process was implemented in Chimbuzal community, and from the work and reflection sessions on healthy water, sanitation and hygiene practices, the importance of addressing with women between 28 and 55 years of age the different methods of water treatment for safe consumption at home was identified.
• Using their creativity, they made drawings that served as a basis for the artistic group to integrate different elements and ideas about the methods of water treatment, taking into account the community, and the local culture, among others.
  
• The sketch development facilitated the mural creation on a school wall, being a public space frequented by the community, a reminder to people about the practice of water treatment methods.
• Taking into account that most of the Leaders of Change in Chimbuzal are young people, we propose a visual composition with offered at a work session with the group. Giving relevance to the behavior: Proper treatment of drinking water at home. Method: Filtering, as a behavior chosen by the agents of change.
• Within the proposal appears the over dimensionality of some physical aspects of the context, as well as characters such as the river, the filter, the shells, the eyes of the parents and the glasses, since change in behaviour also implies a change in the way of seeing the environment and themselves as real Leaders of Change.
• The house is very particular because this is the place where the water is made drinkable through the filtering method; the shells, the starfish are part of different species found in the sea and the palm produce coconut which is a very popular fruit; therefore, they are very important cultural elements in the region, which can generate an easy reminder for this community residents to treat the drinking water at home.

"Filtering my family's water" mural inauguration

The mural implementation process culminated with the inauguration with music and traditional songs of the region; one hundred and thirty-five (135) people to share, exchange and reflect on the themes of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene that strengthened during the implementation of the project; looking for the way to continue with simple sustainability the practice of drinking water treatment at home, contributing to the empowerment of girls, boys, women and men to make it a habit.

The Chimbuzal community is very happy with this mural because in addition to giving a colorful aesthetic to the sidewalk, they remember one of the behaviors learned and it helps them to promote healthy practices at home.

ABC interaction for sustainability

The "Filtering my family's water I take care of my family" mural shows the comprehensiveness of the ABC model for sustainability in Chimbuzal community through the participation of each of the components:

Component A: The Water for ConvidArte project optimized the existing water supply system in Chimbuzal community; an improvement was made in the infrastructure of household pipes, providing all the necessary elements for the potabilization of water; this action allows 270 people to have access to safe water, in addition, the wiring that supplies electric power to the water system was changed.

Component B: 135 people participated in the mural implementing process, especially women between 28 and 55 years of age, who strengthened their knowledge and skills to treat drinking water at home by choosing the filtering method. In addition, 21 Leaders of Change contributed to the mural creating and implementing process and mobilized more people to strengthen their knowledge about the proper treatment of drinking water at home.

Component C: Through a strengthening strategy for the ASH value chain, 62 hygiene kits were delivered, containing a reminder bracelet with the message "How well I wash my hands" for children to wear on their wrists and thus remind them to wash their hands at key moments.

Curious facts about the creation of this mural

The figures such as stars, shells and churos that are in the mural are part of the great diversity of marine species found in the Pacific Ocean, Tumaco's area.

Credits and acknowledgments

Special thanks to all the people who participated in the co-creation of the mural "Filtering my family's water I take care of my family" mural.

Artists: Artistic group la Guagua.
Community members: Chimbuzal Leaders of Change.