A day in the life of ...

Feliciano dos Santos, Director of Estamos, WaterAid's partner in Mozambique.

Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull

Feliciano dos Santos, Director of Estamos, WaterAid's partner in Mozambique. Santos is the winner of this year's prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for grassroots activists. His commitment to campaigning began after contaminated water and poor sanitation left him disabled by polio as a child.

"I get up around 5am and I exercise and take a bath before going to work.

I set up Estamos ten years ago. I was inspired to start community work after the war when lots of people from Mozambique returned to the country from Zambia and Malawi. They came back with all sorts of new cultural ideas and identities. So in 1994 a group of us formed a band called Massukos and started singing about the cultural changes and cultural needs and it really started from there.

My role as Director is a varied one. On a typical day, I could be doing anything from attending meetings, checking budgets and planning with my colleagues, to fundraising for the organisation or writing proposals and reports.

In Mozambique 57% of people don't have access to safe water and instead rely on dirty sources like the one pictured here.

Credit: WaterAid

I also spend time visiting the communities where we work, to see the differences that have been made to people's lives.

In Mozambique, less than half the population has a clean, safe place to go the toilet. In urban areas, around 47% of people have access to sanitation but in rural areas this falls to just 39%.

Estamos works in three districts in Niassa province and in three peri-urban areas around the capital Maputo. We build composting latrines and educate communities about the importance of adequate sanitation and hygiene.

The lives of those in the communities where we work have improved a lot. For example, we've seen a significant reduction in cholera in Maputo's peri-urban areas - and in Niassa, we've had five full years without a single reported case of cholera.

Estamos works with WaterAid to help more people gain access to safe clean water like those pictured above in the capital Maputo.

Credit: WaterAid / Suzanne Porter

Community members now have time to do other things, because they don't have to spend time going to the bush or to hospital - and because they no longer have to spend so much on medicine, they save money too.

For lunch, I like traditional food such as maize and beans. After lunch, I go to my university classes - I've been studying since 2006.

Sometimes I then go back to the office, but on a couple of days a week I practice with my band, Massukos. We travelled to the UK in June this year to play at Glastonbury Festival - it was a great opportunity for us as a band, as it not only really helped to increase our profile but also gave us the chance to raise awareness about sanitation issues in Mozambique.

I usually get home between 7pm and 9pm."

Massukos: music with a message

Some of Santos' communication methods are as effective as they are unusual. His band, Massukos, spread messages around sanitation, water, health and HIV/AIDS, using their music and lyrics to draw people in, inspire them to be clean and healthy and initiate social change. Previously winners of the Cannes Water Symposium's International Prize for Water, Creation and Arts in 2005, and one of Mozambique's most popular bands, you can listen to them online by visiting www.massukos.com

 
Goldman Environmental Prize

Established in 1990, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded each year to environmental heroes from six continental regions. Endorsed by more than 100 heads of state, the prize encourages individuals to continue winning environmental victories against the odds and inspires ordinary people to take extraordinary actions to protect the world. This year, the prize winners received their awards at the San Francisco Opera House, in the United States, on Monday 14 April 2008.