Gisenyi Rainwater Catchment System & Ferro-Cement Tank Training Program – Rwanda

Water Charity will be joining with Friendly Water for the World to put on a 9-day training program and conference in Gisenyi, Rwanda in January 2017. The technology to be taught is the construction and maintenance of rainwater catchment systems, with a focus on Ferro-cement tanks. 

This program will proliferate the technology through 7 countries (Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Ethiopia), and will focus on “training the trainers”. Water Charity will provide additional funding for the new projects that are spawned by the process.

During the week, two teams, of six Rwandans each, will be trained. They have among them a proficiency in English, Swahili, and French in addition to Kinyarwanda. They will set up cooperative businesses, and proceed to train others, while they build systems throughout the country. They will be available to train serving Peace Corps Volunteers in and around the communities where they live and work. They already have orders for 50 tanks.

Representatives of several local NGOs will be trained as well. All told, more than 80 people will attend the training, and most of them will go back to their agencies, villages, and communities to build catchment systems, construct tanks, train others, and incorporate the technology into their operations.

The training will be led by Friendly Water’s Uganda Representative Richard Kyambadde, who is Africa Representative to the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association, and a three-person team from Uganda with which he works.

Averill Strasser, Water Charity’s Co-Founder and COO, and Beverly Rouse, its Executive Director will be at the training, providing support, and lining up new projects in Rwanda, as well as the rest of East and Central Africa.

Participants will learn to make three types of systems:

(1) Larger 5,000-20,000-liter free-standing tanks,
(2) 2,000-3,000-liter tanks made with wooden molds, and
(3) 1,000-liter “water hives”, which are semi-prefabbed.

Aside from the hands-on work, there will be meetings to teach the determination of the optimal type and size of units under differing conditions. There will be a focus on the continuing training and production of systems in a way that it is self-supporting in the community, eliminating the need for further assistance.

This is the implementation of a bold new concept to provide needed improvements while also creating business and employment opportunities. It is a part of the Water Charity Training and Support Initiative. In addition, since the benefits will accrue to displaced persons in 6 countries, it is included under our  Refugee Aid Initiative – Worldwide.

Water Charity has contributed all the costs for this conference and training through the generosity of an anonymous donor.  Any further donations to the effort will be used to fund the various projects that arise from this training.  As we anticipate this to be quite a few, we ask that give what you can.  We hope to expand our highly successful training efforts dramatically in the new year!

This project has been completed.  To see the results, CLICK HERE.