Gisenyi Rainwater Catchment System & Ferro-Cement Tank Training Program – Rwanda
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.
Bukavu is the capital of South Kivu Province, in eastern Congo-DRC. It has a population of 885,000, with hundreds of thousands more in surrounding areas, and not counting several hundred thousand refugees, on the shores of Lake Kivu It has been beset by war and violence since 1996. It is sometimes referred to as the “wartime-rape capital of the world.” The area is extremely hilly, with neighborhoods within the city often isolated from each other.
terials so that each person trained will be able to purchase a Filter for the cost of materials, plus their own labor. This will also assist in marketing, as participants will be able to offer personal testimony as to the Filter’s effectiveness. Prior to receiving a Filter, each recipient/customer will fill out an epidemiological questionnaire, which has been translated into Kiswahili, and will fill it again at the three/six-month follow-up. Hope for Africa is responsible for data collection.
It is hoped that this model will also lead to increased collaboration among community-based organizations, government entities, and NGOs, hence multiplying the effectiveness of their common work.
This will be a challenging project. On the one hand, the need for clean water in Bukavu is massive. Waterborne epidemics are virtually an everyday occurrence, and there is no other clean water to be had. On the other hand, Bukavu is built on a series of hills, and even collecting dirty water is a chore, especially for disabled women. The women will have to decide whether they wish to manufacture and sell Filters (with the challenging problem of accessing building materials and finding transportation) or selling clean water (which would require regular access to contaminated water to clean.)
Association, working with Water is Basic.
a committee to collect and manage funds for the inevitable borehole breakdown. With many residents relying on farming as their only means for financial gain, very few have had the time to commit to being a part of a committee. Right before the borehole broke; the community finally agreed upon the necessary terms for the borehole and formed a committee. Less than a month later, the borehole broke down and has been in disrepair for the past year and a half.
repairs.
ince the well broke, Mary has had to wake up at four in the morning to fetch water from the next available well, a 3-mile round trip, to avoid the overuse of the shallow well in the mornings. However, if she arrives too late, she has to gather water that has been stirred up with the excess particles at the bottom.
Betty Menialla is another female resident, in NTC. She is responsible for many of the domestic care activities in her family. At 17, it is becoming too difficult for Betty to find the time to finish her schoolwork every day as she becomes increasingly needed by her family, as her parents age. She talks about her time in primary school when she was able to keep up with her studies and the education that the boys in her community were earning. As Betty grew up and graduated to secondary school, the boys continued their education while Betty was required to spend more and more time helping with her family. Among many other tasks, gathering water has become her sole responsibility. With the borehole broken, fetching water has taken over the majority of Betty’s time while her studies have fallen behind.
First, the Water is Basic crew will take the pump apart, removing all the pipes to examine and check for holes or signs of future problems. We believe that the problem is a pipe that is rusted through, but sometimes it is hard to be sure before taking the pump apart. The project will restore the GI pipes and the head of the borehole to reliable and working order.
Problem Addressed
Project Description
. The repair will also give time back to families for work, education, and spending time with each other. The shallow well that the Illimoko residents are currently gathering water from will be navigated to local crops, lessening the amount of physical labor the residents use to water their crops.
Worn down by age and lack of help, Joice Moriba spends an hour walking, to and fro from the nearest well, to supply water for herself and her four children. A single mother, the Lomulule resident has only her daughter to help her. However, her daughter is the youngest of the four and requires the most care. Even then, as her daughter grows older, she will be forced to miss out on receiving an education in order to help her aging mother with time-heavy tasks, such as gathering water.
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The grass-thatched roofs don’t always work during the rainy season but provide enough shade during the dry months. Nearly three hundred people in the town have suffered for over five months 
The cylinder, chain, and multiple GI pipes and rods were replaced by the repair team. In just a couple of hours, the repair was completed and the WIB crew talked with the community about sanitation rules and water regulations. The crew worked with the local well-usage committee to translate this information to the rest of the community and helped empower the women who ran the committee.
they are so desperate for hydration.
This allowed Water Charity & Water Is Basic to complete a large number of well rehabilitation projects in the region. An effort that is ongoing now. 
James and his family now live in the Marakonye community. Along with others in this village they are seeking to rebuild their lives. Again, it starts with water.
The children will not have to walk long distances for water and will not have the added burden of sickness due to unsanitary water.
Bishop Elias Taban leads the efforts of Water is Basic South Sudan and co-founded the organization. A former Colonel in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and founder of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, Bishop Taban is an engineer, entrepreneur and pastor who is highly respected throughout all circles in South Sudan. He has also founded and run three orphanages, two hospitals, and a trucking company that helps to further fund well development and repairs. Bishop Taban is a tireless leader for solutions that build into the people and infrastructure of South Sudan.
Problem Addressed
In less than four hours, the Water is Basic crew replaced the well cylinder and connecting rods. 
to rise for replacement parts. With assistance from both Water Charity and Water Is Basic, the community has been relieved of the stress of increased costs from marked up water or from health bills and doctor visits.
Because the water source was unsanitary, many of the children in the school struggled with dehydration and waterborne illnesses such as typhoid and cholera.
not attend at all. Without clean water, children are severely dehydrated and cannot possibly perform at their best while at school. Household chores and cooking are very difficult and time-consuming without access to clean water at a reasonable distance. Because of this, education for many is not an option. 
. When wells are not used for long periods of time, GI pipes rust and must be replaced. With this well, the metal bearings were also worn and needed to be replaced. 
borehole means children do not have to make the arduous, often dangerous, walk to water. Their focus can instead be on education; a way forward to a brighter future for them. 
since 2004 where he has fought alongside his brothers and sisters for peace and opportunity. His motto is “whatever it takes,” and he means it when it comes to supporting the local Water is a Basic team in their work of building a nation.
Muja group; including the Territory of Nyiragongo and the Territory of Masisi. The training will take place in the city of Rubaya in Masisi region nearby. Both territories are in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the women will come from 200+ villages around Nyiragongo.
The women of the region, against all odds, have banded together to form collective groups that are working to raise up this area, and have been very successful in providing for their own needs… serving the functions that governments usually serve in most countries. They have banded together in what are known as MUSOs (Mutual Use Sustainability Organizations) and created one of the largest and most successful self-help communities going in the world now. They have built health clinics, hired doctors and surgeons, kept up vital infrastructure, and now want to deal with their water issues!
Problem Addressed
Volunteer Directing Project
• A small group of Quakers led by Zawadi Nikuze, a Quaker social worker, worked in the camp. The main work that the Quakers were involved in was trauma healing and reconciliation efforts, especially trying to prevent conflicts within the camp from erupting into violence.
