Clean water shallow-well and rope-pump for Lalambe village
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- Relevant Data
- Region 🇹🇿 Tanzania
- Sector 💊 Health
After the success of our last clean-water well project in Tanzania, we decided to build another.
This project will bring water to Lalambe village in western Tanzania, where there are 16,000 people in 4 hamlets.
Currently, the 1300 people in the Nyamnyinya hamlet need to fetch their water from Ruchugi stream 5km away. Walking to and from the stream, queuing for water, then carrying it back home can take over three hours a day.
This is a self-help scheme. The local community members provide most of the labour, but as they lack the cash for materials and equipment hire, we will cover the cost.
The technology (shallow wells with rope hand pumps) is low-cost, simple, and easy to maintain, and there is a proven local project management system run by a local representative who lives nearby, Benedicto Hosea, and his youth organisation MVG (Eyes of the Youth).
Challenge
Access to water is a huge issue in many villages in Tanzania, meaning people (usually women and girls) spend many hours a day carrying it many miles, often from dirty ponds shared with animals. Valuable time is lost each day to fetching water, meaning less time for girls to study and less time for women to engage in income-generating activity. Girls are also at risk of attack when they are walking home alone and the consumption of dirty water is particularly harmful to children as their immune systems are weaker.
Solution
A local representative, Benedicto Hosea, who has lived in this area all his life, has perfected a technique whereby local youth use simple equipment to hand drill down to the water table over several days and then install a rope pump they have made themselves. This means the pump can be maintained by the villagers.
Impact
Bringing water to Nyamnyinya will allow girls to spend much more time on their studies, and so improve their educational performance and long term prospects. It will also enable local women to improve their farms and start small businesses with the time they will save. It will also have long term positive impacts on the health of over 1300 people, particularly children who are currently at particular risk of water-borne diseases.
Updates
From the field
Checking in on the Lalambe well
Posted 6 May 2021
We have received a further update from our recent clean water well project in Lalambe, Tanzania.
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The Lalambe well is complete and now in use
Posted 2 Apr 2021
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As the well is in a remote area with very poor connectivity, Benedicto has been unable to send images but will do so as soon as possible.
However, Benedicto did manage to speak to the Headteacher of Lalambe Primary School, who said how grateful the school and village are and how much it will impact their progress. He sent the following quote from one of the girls there.
Deborah, a standard 7 pupil at Lalambe Primary School, said:
This pump is fantastic, it saves us so much time. Previously we wasted hours getting water from the stream. Now I can spend more time on my studies and I am more confident I will do well and follow my dreams. Thank you Kwanda and thank you God for this opportunity.
The Lalambe well is 90% complete
Posted 26 Mar 2021
Due to the remote location, Benedicto and the team on the ground have been experiencing connectivity issues, so they could not share updates as they began building the well.
However, they pushed through with the work and have mostly completed the well. They have to leave the concrete to fully set for three days or so before the community can start using the well properly. As the picture shows, they’ve tested it, and it’s working well!
Funds received by Benedicto.
Posted 16 Mar 2021
We’re excited to be working on yet another well project in Tanzania.
Just a quick update to let you know that the funds have made their way to Benedicto - the project lead - in Tanzania. We’re awaiting a second update on when drilling will begin.