This program is made possible through a partnership of WATER CHARITY and Ecotopia eco-hotel.
Location : Semil, Guatemala
Community Description
Semil is a small Mayan Village in Guatemala. The village has a population of close to 1800 people but there are around 12,000 indigenous Mayan people within one hour’s walking distance of the school and there is no running water or filtered drinking water in this village and most children completely lose their teeth by the time they reach puberty, because soda is cheaper than drinking water. This also means that Diabetes is running rampant throughout the village.
Project Description
The project is to install a water system that will provide a clean, sterile environment for the children, as well as the community at large.
We will be installing a water pump system that will channel water from the nearby river to the school, which will include a water filtration system that provides an access point for clean, sterile drinking water, as well as bathrooms for the local school and community. Part of this project will also include educating the children on hygiene practices using proper bathroom facilities, washing their hands, and brushing their teeth on a daily basis. We will also be sharing this water with a clinic that is under construction adjacent to the school, which will provide health services to thousands.
Currently, the focus is on providing running water and proper bathroom facilities to the local school. Step one is to install working bathrooms and filtered drinking water, which will provide an access point where people can fill up their water containers to take home.
The total cost for building this system with the bathrooms pumps & filters and labor is roughly $13,000 USD. This will be providing the tubing, installation, and filters to the clinic. The total time for construction will be roughly 90 days from the time of funding, meaning this positive impact can be achieved very quickly and with instant results.
Project Administration
Water Charity is funding the project to buy labor and materials that will lead to a positive impact on the community, especially on the lives of people & kids at school. Water Charity funds will be used to buy sand, steel and cement, as well as three running water tanks, also a water pump construction is well underway.
The project is being done in partnership with a local eco-tourist hotel called Ecotopia. It is being managed on the ground by our friend and associate John Hatch, who runs the hotel and has a very interesting crypto-funding model where people can purchase NFTs to help him do projects in the town. After the school water supply and bathrooms are taken care of, we intend to help John and Cryptopia build a health clinic next to the school. Currently, the villagers have to travel a long distance to see any medical help, and most babies are delivered in the dirt on the church floor. A health clinic with running, clean water will make a huge impact on this remote region.
Once the bathrooms are completed, the next plan is to build a proper kitchen facility for the school, as well as a computer room that will provide access to technology and the Internet, massively increasing the opportunities and resources for these children. We also plan to build a playground for the kids, and a Permaculture Garden that will allow us to teach them about building a sustainable future.
Comments This project will provide adequate sanitation facilities, allow for proper hygiene, and create a storage facility for water needed at the school.
Project Cost
In addition to the school water supply, bathrooms and immediate water tank and pump infrastructure, Water Charity is looking to help John and the village with community water taps (so they don’t have to drink soda), more sanitation facilities to discourage open defecation, and the grand prize of a fully stocked health clinic for the area. The total cost of all this will reach up to $200k USD or more, any donations we receive in excess of the costs of this project will carry over into the next project/phase.
Donations collected to Date
$0
The project has been fully funded by Water Charity. We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below.
With new developments in filter technology, we can now provide needy communities with long-lasting, effective water filters that can provide up to 2000 gallons of water a day… for a reasonable price.
We are very excited about this program, which will include individual projects all over the world. The need for these filters is great, and there is almost no limit to the number of wonderful new filters we can distribute as the funds become available.
Trying the Filtered Water
Keep in mind:
80% of all disease is water-borne
Lack of clean drinking water is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide
443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related illness
6.3 million children under the age of five died in 2013
As an addition to our current roster of successful programs in water and sanitation, which have included well drilling, rainwater catchment, toilet and handwashing station construction, emergency relief, reforestation efforts and more–including a good number of filter projects–as well as our acclaimed Appropriate Projects initiative, this new program will be an umbrella for our worldwide push to get these new filters into the hands of those people who desperately need them. It will include all relevant projects, large and small… thus enabling people to donate to the overall effort.
There is no need for these statistics to be true anymore. We have all the tools we need to completely eliminate this suffering and waste of life. The predominant victims of this terrible situation are young children. These kids deserve a chance.
The projects in this program will be upwardly scalable, and as such, the more money we can raise, the more filters we can give out. Instead of creating and packaging the individual filter delivery projects one by one and funding them separately, it makes sense to raise as much money as possible and keep the filters flowing. In this way, we can also get larger grants from foundations and concerned organizations. We fully expect that this program will grow into the largest thing we have done.
For those interested in the filter technology we are presently proposing, please feel free to go to the Sawyer website and peruse the relevant materials. We will be implementing primarily their Point One filter, but for hospitals, clinics and other sites we will also be making the Point Zero Two purifier available. [note: normally viruses are not a major issue for drinking water.]
This is an exciting program, and we hope you will see the need for it and join in. Water Charity is currently active in over 60 countries around the world. As the money comes in we will take the Filters for Life – Worldwide program into all of them and beyond.
If there are certain regions where you are especially interested in helping, it will be possible to donate specifically for those countries or areas. Just send us a message with your donation. However, we are hoping people will recognize that a general donation to the program itself will be the most effective way to get the maximum number of filters out in the shortest amount of time.
We are water… literally. The human body is about 70% water by mass, and a typical human cell is composed of 98.73% water molecules.
Individual FFL projects in their entirety can be found HERE, and are listed at the bottom of THIS page. Please consider supporting this monumental effort.
Coming off recent success in The Gambia and Liberia, Water Charity is embarked on another Water for Everyone Project in Madagascar. We have been active in Madagascar from early on in WC history, having sponsored many dozens of projects in recent years and touched hundreds of villages. Our primary intervention there has been in the rehabilitation of broken wells first, and the drilling of new wells where necessary.
Madagascar is well-suited for a Water for Everyone Program. Only half the population has access to clean water and much of that population lies in rural communities. Most rely on subsistence farming and fishing for their livelihood. Forty-three percent of adults lack proper nutrition and forty-eight percent of children under five suffer from stunted growth. There have been other projects to address water availability in cities and larger villages, but the rural populations still have a long way to go, and this is where our focus lies.
The challenges are as varied as the mini continent that forms Madagascar. The center of the country is formed by mountainous highlands dominated by igneous basements, making the search for subsurface water quite difficult. The coasts are rimmed with sedimentary rock and carbonates and are slightly more conducive for water drilling. The north and east are largely semi-tropical while the south and southwest are arid. It seems that climate change has made conditions worse in the south where water is lacking even for agricultural purposes, and malnutrition and starvation are widespread.
Many attempts over the years have been made to mitigate the water problem. There are literally thousands of broken wells across the country that have fallen into disrepair. One objective of this project is to find and identify these wells, assess their potential, and design programs to put them back in service. Our partners, local residents of the various regions, are our force on the ground to collect these data points. Water Charity uses GIS data and our Geospatial analysis capabilities to identify needs, and gaps in infrastructure, and design specific and targeted programs to get water to those in need. It is expected the entire project could take a few years, but we are confident that all rural villages can be provided with at least one working well and given the skills to maintain them.
Our local Malagasy partners and The Madagascar Water Project (MWP), have extensive connections and knowledge about the country, the languages and dialects spoken, and are a key piece of the puzzle for this ambitious program. We have worked with them for many years, drilling dozens of wells and repairing countless broken ones to provide clean water to thousands of people. This program has begun along the east coast and will expand to include rural regions all over, with the goal of eventually including the entire county. We will not deal with cities and the larger towns for this B2B effort, as there are existing infrastructure issues and the problems are entirely different. WFE Madagascar is solely focused on the rural villages, at least for now.
Goals and Methods of Water for Everyone
The Madagascar Water for Everyone Project is designed to achieve the goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 and the Plan Emergence Madagascar Priorate 29.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
Plan Emergence Madagascar Priorite 29 – Garantirl’acces universal a l’eau potable (French is a main language for government there)
The Project combines the latest technology in satellite mapping with an extensive ground-based data collection effort. The Program will conduct inventories and is documenting existing water infrastructure. We are assessing functionality and adequacy to the populations served and can thus identify under-served populations where they exist. Population data, water-related health data, agricultural and irrigation data, and water infrastructure and water quality data has been collected from local officials when available, and we will continue to work with these agencies as closely as we can.
All our projects (in this program and out) involve extensive documentation. Well location data is recorded using GPS-enabled devices, this data is combined with various survey and government-provided information and cross-referenced with other aid groups and NGOs. We have webpages put up regularly (see page bottom for links) and update them with new info and media from the field. While this is usually done with incredible speed, we can not always keep pages up to date in real-time and it may take us some weeks to post recent work.
Water Charity integrates population, infrastructure, health, and other data collected on the ground into Geographic Information System (GIS) map-based platform including ArcGIS and Earth Engine. This makes it possible to 1) identify and quantify gaps in water infrastructure; 2) design specific and targeted projects to improve clean water access 3) put them in a format that can be presented to potential sponsors and operators and 4) track their impact over time. Projects coming up include newly drilled wells, repair of existing wells, and the repairs, maintenance, and upgrades of a larger infrastructure. Some areas will be prioritized based on their specific needs.
The Project began in the Region of Antsinanana and continues into other Regions of Madagascar on pace.
The Madagascar Water Project: an overview
Since 2015, WFE Madagascar & the Madagascar Water Project have drilled about 200 water wells in about 80 rural villages, providing clean water to an estimated 100,000 people. Starting around Antsinanana, the work has migrated to the south over time and the well drilling work can now be found as far south as Mananjary. To aid in this effort, WC funded the purchase of a dedicated well drilling rig over the summer of 2022. This new rig can be expected to function for many years to come with minimal maintenance and should increase the ability of MWP and the WFE program to aid the people with new wells, deepening existing wells, and even clearing debris that has come to block wells that otherwise should be functional.
We have also started a well repair program in the drought-stricken south to fix some of the thousands of broken wells located there. These well repairs have been our bread and butter in the past. and will continue to be a major part of what we do there. After all, fixing a broken well is nearly always more efficient than drilling a new well and installing a brand-new handpump.
Like many of our partners around the world, MWP is small, lean, active, and impactful. The photo below was taken in 2018 during one of our joint ventures that included the village of Salehy. This is the same core group that has supported our Water for Everyone Program all along the way, and will continue to lead the way on the ground. (note their cool Water Charity T-Shirts).
Except for Director, Frederick Rittelmeyer (3rd from left above), who works as an unpaid volunteer, the entire staff is Malagasy. As the photo shows, they are quite proud of their association with Water Charity, and it has been mutually beneficial for all. The gentleman in the foreground, Hilaire Razandrafely is the MWP Project Manager for the Madagascar Water for Everyone Project. Photo, Salehy 2019.
The Madagascar Water Project drilled its first well in the village of Andovoranto in 2015. That well is shown in the photo left and is still working today. We remain committed to the villages it serves and provides maintenance training, repairs, and spare parts for its wells. If the well fails, which occasionally happens, the MWP drills replacement wells when needed. Photo, Andovoranto 2015.
So far, WC has drilled most of its wells along the east coast, along an intra-coastal waterway known as the Pangalana Channel. To many, the area looks like paradise, but many villages had no access to clean water, which has a profoundly negative impact on the health of those living there. With the help of the MWP, the area at least has taken a small step forward into the 20th Century.
Due to the amenable conditions, we can use hand augers and slide hammers to build wells. In most cases, this takes only a few hours. Standard pitcher pumps are used and can produce at rates up to 25 liters/minute from depths to 7 meters.
The Project provides community-based water wells, managed by Well Management Committees. The MWP provides guidance but ultimately rules, hours, and fees (if any) are determined by the committee.
Effective self-management is key to sustainability and is often more difficult than drilling the well. The line between assistance and dependency is as thin and delicate as a piece of thread.
MWP Logistics
One of the biggest challenges working in Madagascar is logistics. Roads are in poor repair and often nonexistent even when they appear on a map. The Water for Everyone Project will have to overcome these challenges even more. One can choose where to drill wells, but the mission of the Water for Everyone Project is to go everywhere.
MWP History
The first wells began drilling in the village of Andovoranto in 2015. The work migrated southward every year, eventually moving past the village of Mananjary in 2020.
Water Charity believes that maintenance and repairs are as critical to the program as newly drilled wells. These long-term relationships are more efficient, and create less oversight and maintenance, and, in the end, leave the communities with better, more efficient, and equitable water management.
Well Repair Program in Southern Madagascar
In 2022 WFE Madagascar began a large well-repair program in southern Madagascar. The entire southern section of the country has suffered from extreme drought for more than 10 years. Not only does it affect water availability, but it has also caused widespread famine. Malnutrition and starvation are everywhere.
Thousands of water wells have been drilled there in the past few decades. Although most are now broken, some are still capable of being repaired to provide clean water, any water to those in need.
The map below shows the current area of focus in the District of Betroka.
Some wells are conventional Indian Pumps that need routine repairs or have been victims of theft such as the well below in Anabinda.
Photo Anabinda 2022
Other broken wells exist as holes in the ground. The project has installed our conventional pumps onto these wells and successfully brought them back into production. They are used as much for agricultural purposes as they are for human consumption. Each well is saving lives and improving the quality of life for many.
The pumps are taken off each night to protect them from theft.
Water access is often a key component of famine. On a trip in February 2021, we deviated from our mission and distributed 350 kg of rice to a few villages that hadn’t eaten in weeks. The World Food Program, USAID, other NGOs, and the Madagascar Government have since come in to provide more assistance.
Conclusion
There is so much to do in Madagascar that a systematic, thorough, complete, and scientific approach is the best way to assess the needs, design solutions, and provide relief to the many millions still in need of clean water. The Water for Everyone Initiative is a significant move in that direction.
Join Us
List of Water Charity’s Past Madagascar Project Pages:
13 water wells were drilled in six villages that now provide clean water to over 15,000 people. The project area is south of the Mangoro River (Salehy), through Masomeloka to Nosy Varika and beyond, moving into the remote area where the distal ends of the Regions of Antsinanana and Fianarantsoa meet.
Built a community well at the school in Andrenilaivelo, a livestock and farming community of approximately 250 people located in the central highlands of Madagascar.
Built 2 latrines at the primary school in the village of Amindratombo. Amindratombo is part of the community of Sahambavy, located in the southern highlands of Madagascar. The project will benefit 200 students.
Build a well at the primary school in the village of Amindratombo. The well will be used to provide drinking water for the students. Amindratombo is part of the community of Sahambavy, located in the southern highlands of Madagascar. The project will benefit the 200 students plus indirect beneficiaries numbering about 1,500: 1,700 total.
Repair and improve the well at the Maternity and Health Center in the community of Ansampanimahazo is located 9 km from its district Faratsiho in the northern highlands of Madagascar. The population consists of approximately 15,000 people spread across 12 villages.
Build 4 wells in the Amboromana district of Vohemar, Madagascar. There are currently 360 families living in the area, with a population of 1,836 people.
Purchase and install 1 water pump to expand the production of rice in the community. Morarano Chrome is a town and commune in the Eastern part of Madagascar. Over 150 people who work in the fields, and their families, will benefit from the project.
Built 3 wells and 1 dam in three neighboring fokontanies (neighborhoods) of Anjiro: Mahatsinjo, Antanetibe, and Ambilobe. Anjiro is a rural community located in the central highlands of Madagascar. It has a population of about 15,000 people.
Replace 1 broken handpump at the site with a sealed well lined with concrete rings, and an electronic pump for the Special Community Reserve of Analalava, a protected rainforest on the east coast of Madagascar, owned by the local community. This project immediately benefitted 150+ people and has since benefitted thousands of tourists.
Build 2 new public latrines, with lined and displaced pits and ventilation. The facilities will be made available for use by the students and villagers.of Morarano, a rural village located 12 km southwest of the beach town of Foulpointe on the east coast of Madagascar. About 150 people live in the village center. However, the presence of an elementary school means 270 students come in from the surrounding hills on a daily basis: a total of 420 people.
Build 1 public biogas toilet for the community that uses human waste as a valuable resource that can be converted into two products: (1) gas for cooking and (2) fertilizer. The project was located in the beautiful coastal community of Ambonivato, about 8 miles outside of Tamatave, the second largest city in Madagascar. Though it is close to the city, the village of 750 people is still a very poor and rural village.
1 bathroom facility with 3 toilets, 3 urinals, and 3 sinks for Association Mitsinjo, an association of local guides. Mitsinjo is located 2 km from the village of Andasibe, but its impact zone is much larger. It is the manager of the Torotorofotsy wetlands, a Ramsar site, as well as the Analamazaotra forest station. The facility will benefit the association through the 3,000+ tourists that visit annually.
1 new, high-quality, composting latrine behind the clinic which can be used by all of the approximately 300 patients, health workers, nurses, and the doctor in Tsivangiana, a rice-farming and fishing village near the east coast of Madagascar. There is a major water sanitation problem, with a couple of stagnant streams used for everything from bathing, to washing clothes, to washing dishes, to collecting water for cooking and other household uses.
1 new well in the village of Ambavala, located on the tropical and beautiful northeast coast of the island nation of Madagascar. This rather large village of nearly 300 people depends on only one well for all of their daily water needs.
1 refurbished non-functioning well. Mahajoanivo is a small rural village in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. Mahajoanivo has 211 residents; most are farmers.
Install 6 pumps in existing wells for use in 6 different cooperatives, including the rice cooperative, garden cooperative, and women’s gardening group, to irrigate their crops. The cooperatives are located in Anketrakabe, a village of approximately 1,200 people located 47 km from Diego.
1 tree nursery to create food security, increase the available water supply, and provide economic benefits to the 300,000 people in Mandritsara, a city and commune in northern Madagascar.
1 rainwater harvesting system and 3 systems to remediate flooding problems for the three largest dormitories on the Le Centre d’Accueil et de Transit des Jumeaux Abandonné (CATJA), an orphanage for 125 abandoned twin children. The orphanage is located in Mananjary, a seaside town in southeast Madagascar that is home to nearly 30,000 Malagasy whose livelihoods are very much integrated with their natural surroundings.
5- Day Permagarden Staff and Volunteer Training and Training Design Creation; Peace Corps Madagascar requested assistance in the creation of a thorough Training Design and Evaluation Process that will guide the sustainable agriculture and nutrition security work of current and future Peace Corps Volunteers.
1 shower facility to serve the Amporofor Clinic, which serves 12,543 people. Access to a shower with clean water and soap will reduce the risk of infection to the person, as well as reduce contamination by viruses and bacteria in the clinic area.
Improve 4 wells, including the installation of 2 new pumps for Ambatomainty, a rural community of about 10,000 people located in the Alaotra Mangoro region, also known as the ‘rice basket’ of Madagascar. For water, families were long forced to rely on a river that has turned red from mud and erosion.
1 well built between the local elementary school and the community center of Antsakoana, a small village south of the town Amparafaravola located in the Eastern part of Madagascar; well will benefit roughly 350 people.
Improve 2 wells for the 1,000 people of Tsivangiana, who live along the east coast of Madagascar, separated from the Indian Ocean by about 20 kilometers of degraded rainforest. After the well broke, for the past three years the people have been fetching water from the stream.
1 well and 1 new pump for a second well; the project recipient facility, Centre Hospitalier de District (CHD), benefits 2,000 people per month who attend the health facilities.
2 wells were built for the village of Andonaka, located on the east coast of Madagascar, 12 km west of the commune and district capital Nosy Varika and accessible only by boat. No potable water exists for the 1,270 residents of Andonaka; all water is drawn from the Sakeleneoa River which also serves as a bath, laundry, and dishwashing source as well.
1 well and a reconstructed aqueduct provided to the mountain town of Imito, located 224 km south of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Zanabahona is one of the largest communities in Imito with a population of 2,300. Project conducted by Peace Corp Volunteer and local NGO.
Purchase and installation of a water pump for use by the members of Fanilo, the local farmers association in Antsakoana, a small town north of the town Amparafaravola, located in the Eastern part of Madagascar. The project gave the water control needed for the planting of currently unused rice fields. The project benefitted 280 people who work in the fields and their families.
1 well provided to Morarano, a rural village located 12 km southwest of the beach town of Foulpointe on the east coast of Madagascar. About 150 people live in the village center and 270 students come in from the surrounding hills on a daily basis: a total of 420. In a polluted pool, people bathe and wash laundry and dishes before taking the water home to cook and drink. The work was conducted by a school teacher with experience in digging lined latrines, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and a motivated health worker who lives in the village.
3 wells built in three different communities in northern Madagascar, carried out under the direction of a Peace Corps Volunteer and a local NGO ARES, which has organized teams to build over 50 wells. The three towns are in the commune of Anjangoveratra, district of Sambava: Antanandava, Anamboafo, and Marolamba, with a total population of 3,419, and no wells. Residents have to get their water from rivers, streams, and even rice paddies, which are polluted by cow and human waste. Several deaths in the towns in the past year have been attributed to water contamination.
4 wells built in the Amboromana district of Vohemar, Madagascar, which has a population of 1,836 people. People have to fetch water from a very distant dirty river, or do without. Oversight of the well construction was undertaken by ARES, a local NGO and Sister Rosalie, a Malagasy local.
5 wells improved in Anjangoveratra, which has a population of about 4,000. Project was overseen by a local health worker, the head of the women’s organization, as well as the Peace Corps Volunteer.
2 wells built for 2,200 people, about 600 of them children under 5. There is a local primary public school and a local Antsikory Women’s Group. Most community members use the local stream to collect water. Many of the children in the village of Antsikory suffer from diarrheal diseases and schistosomiasis, a disease caused by infection with freshwater parasitic worms in certain tropical and subtropical countries. The project is overseen by Peace Corps Volunteer, in cooperation with the Women’s Group.
In addition to our normal flow of well repairs, we have done this great work at Mandritsara hospital. Check out the details below:
Mandritsara Hospital
After drilling 40 meters of fractured volcanic rock, it was tested at 2500 liters/hour, the maximum capability with the testing equipment, and will be able to supply the hospital’s needs for years to come. A year ago, one of the surgeons there asked if we could help with their water problems. The municipal system goes dry for 4+ months each year and their private well can supply only 10% of their needs.
It’s difficult to do surgery and provide medical care in a fully functional hospital without enough water. The local and volunteer expat medical staff just grin and bear it, but their hands are already full living and practicing medicine in conditions long past in the modern world. Their spirit and positive outlook are an inspiration to keep going. Good News Hospital — Friends of Mandritsara Trust
Update on Mandritsara Hospital
The Madagascar Water Project just broke new ground by drilling a deep well in volcanic basalt, tapping into natural fractures to get water production. This is the first time the Project has drilled this deep, in this environment, using a drilling rig.
We received a request from the Good News Hospital — Friends of Mandritsara Trust for help with their annual water shortage. The municipal system in Mandritsara, a village of 30k people, feeds off a river that goes dry every year. The hospital has two wells that provide some relief but it is only 1/10th the volume normally needed. The hospital is expanding and needs reliable water supplies year-round.
The Project conducted field geology studies and used a geophysical study made by the hospital at the time of its initial construction in the 1990’s to identify a prospective location. The initial hole had to be abandoned at 11m due to a stuck pipe, but the second hole was successfully drilled to 40m without problems. The well tested 2500 liters/hour, which was the limit of the testing equipment, but it is likely capable of producing at twice that rate. The well is located in a rice field adjacent to the hospital complex and a 600-meter pipeline will tie it into their existing water system.
Check out the video below related to this project:
Water Charity & Call To Nature Seedreservation & Permaculture Program – Ghana
To read about the Call To Nature Seed Preservation & Permaculture Well Project, CLICK HERE.
Call To Nature’s mission is to care for the Earth, care for people, and share valuable resources by implementing permaculture principles, through farming, heirloom seeds saving, and providing hands-on training related to the importance of the use of permaculture in sustaining the environment and by creating a culture that is inspired by natural ways to produce seeds and food that will resolve food instability. Our business is one of the best in heirloom seed production in Africa and the first of its kind in Ghana. Our business relies on unique methods designed with nature in mind, through farming and production of high-quality seeds and food that will eventually lead to the end of food insecurity in many parts of the continent of Africa, and other areas around the world.
Our project has grown from just school gardening and tree planting and from 4 acres piece of land to 17 acres.5 years ago, we began collecting and reviving heirloom seeds across the world for our newly constructed seed bank in order to help resolve the issue of food insecurity and to tell all the beautiful stories around them from the origin, name source and use. Our seed collection is not only focusing on food but also on plant species that help protect our environment, especially species that help protect water bodies and species when intercrop retains moisture content in the soil so farmers can use less water for farming. Our operations are currently facing a huge water challenge on-site, we are therefore presenting our request to Water Charity for support.
SCHOOL / COMMUNITY GARDENING
In 2015 research conducted by Call Nature in some Ghanaian communities shows that about eight (8) out of ten (10) children are facing malnutrition due to poor eating habits. And as such, Call to Nature has developed a program that promotes school/community gardening for a healthier living lifestyle. We plan to design at least ten (10) school gardens each year to connect the mindset of the people to nature and to provide better nutrition.
Plenty of studies have shown just how school gardens can stir students towards the right and more conscious decision-making.
Call To Nature Seed Preservation & Permaculture Well Project – Ghana
EXPLANATION OF THE NEED
Call To Nature’s mission is to care for the Earth, care for people, and share valuable resources by implementing permaculture principles, through farming, heirloom seed saving, and providing hands-on training related to the importance of the use of permaculture in sustaining the environment and by creating a culture that is inspired by natural ways to produce seeds and food that will resolve food instability. Their business is one of the best in heirloom seed production in Africa and the first of its kind in Ghana. The business relies on unique methods designed with nature in mind, through farming and the production of high-quality seeds and food that will eventually lead to the end of food insecurity in many parts of the continent of Africa, and other areas around the world.
The project has grown from just school gardening and tree planting and from 4 acres piece of land to 17 acres.5 years ago, they began collecting and reviving heirloom seeds across the world for our newly constructed seed bank in order to help resolve the issue of food insecurity and to tell all the beautiful stories around them from the origin, name source, and use. Their seed collection is not only focusing on food but also on plant species that help protect the environment, especially species that help protect water bodies and species when intercrop retains moisture content in the soil, so farmers can use less water for farming. The operations are currently facing a huge water challenge on site and therefore presenting their request to Water Charity for support.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project is to construct an 80-meter-deep borehole that will serve the seed bank, seed lab, germ center, and the seed processing unit. A 2 inches PVC pipe will be running 150 meters away from the borehole connecting to the lab, seed bank, and the germination center. A 2 separate 5000L water tank will be installed on an erected concrete platform, one near the seed bank and the other at the seed lab/germination center. This system is going to be powered by a 3HP submersible pump for an efficient water supply into the water tank placed on an erected 20 feet concrete platform.
PROJECT IMPACT
This is going to serve the entire world with no limitations.
Project Administration
This project will be implemented under the supervision and direction of Solomon Amuzu, C.E.O / owner of Call To Nature Permaculture Ghana.
Monitoring and Maintenance
Once the project is completed it will be fully managed and maintained by Call To Nature team.
PROJECT COST / Breakdown
Borehole drilling: 1100 USD
Pump: 500 USD
Water tank x 2 (5000L): 1000 USD
Pipes/fittings: 350 USD
Labor cost: 300 USD
Transportation: 100 USD
Concrete work: 510 USD
Miscellaneous and other costs: 200 USD
TOTAL COST: 4060 USD
Water Charity appreciates any and all donations to this project and our overall work. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent possible where you live. Put the project or program name in the notes if you want all your money to go to this project or program.
To read about the Water Charity & Call To Nature Seedreservation & Permaculture Program, Click Here.
Update on Restoration and Protection of Bofedales Project – Peru
2022 Mid Project Report
To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The first phase of the Restoration and Protection of Bofedales Project was completed in the first half of 2022 and included coordination with the 5 communities participating in the project as well as an initial diagnostic of the area and vegetation of the bofedales in each community during the rainy season. To begin the diagnostics, the engineer contracted to lead the project identified and trained 2 technical assistants that were chosen from the participating communities. The technical assistants were trained on how to measure the area of bofedales and the green mass (amount of green plants) per bofedal. The collection of baseline data is crucial for project success because it identifies the types of natural grasses in each beneficiary’s land, the overall state of the bofedal, and the measures that need to be taken to protect and restore the environment. The initial diagnostic identified a total of 61 beneficiaries who steward a total of 70 hectares of bofedales. Specific information from the initial diagnostic can be found in Annex I and photos from this first phase of project implementation are shown below:
The next phase of the project will begin in August 2022, which is the peak of the dry season in Peru. The second phase will involve measuring the water flow of each bofedal’s water source and the dry mass of each bofedal. This data will complement the data collected in the rainy season, help the technical team identify the best strategies, and provide baseline data to measure progress after project completion. Once the analysis of dry season data is collected, the technical team will begin training sessions with each of the 5 communities on methods to restore and protect bofedales. After the trainings are completed, the communities will implement strategies, such as planting native grasses and building berms, swales, and infiltration ditches to direct water flow to bofedales. That step will be completed in time for the rainy season that begins in December. Plant mass per bofedal and water flow rates will then be measured again in 2023 to evaluate how project activities contributed to the changes in the bofedales.
Thank you for supporting this critical project that supports community-led efforts to protect and restore vital landscapes in the Peruvian Altiplano. The project is part of communities’ multi-year plan to not only restore their landscapes but also improve their economic situation and quality of life through improved alpaca herding practices. You are supporting communities who are disproportionately impacted by climate change to overcome challenges from decreased water supplies, making it possible for them to stay in their homelands and preserve their culture and way of life.
Tento Malick Bah Solar Powered Water Project—The Gambia
PROJECT INFORMATION
Location of Project: Tento Malick Bah Village, Upper Saloum District, Central River Region, The Gambia, West Africa; GPS Coordinates: N13°46.948 W015°05.687
DESCRIPTION PROJECT COMMUNITY
The small village of Tento Malick Bah, located 5 kilometers off the northern Trans-Gambia Highway via Panchang in the Central River Region, consists of Fula and Wollof tribal members. The village is composed of 18 family compounds and 29 households. Tento Malick Bah is populated by approximately 300 people whose livelihoods are primarily based on subsistence farming, growing groundnut, maize and millet. Both the Wollof and Fula tribal members live harmoniously together in the village.
DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM
The village’s reliance on subsistence farming for income and staple foods is fraught with challenges and risks. Due to climate change, the rainy season starts later and ends earlier; soil fertility is generally poor; they have limited if any defenses against agricultural pests such as locusts, etc. The deck is definitely stacked against ensuring stable and sustainable livelihoods and food security in the village.
But the greatest threat to the community is the lack of clean drinking water. There is only one un-covered well in the village with a depth of about 28 meters down to the water table. Water is drawn from the well using a rope and pulley and a great deal of effort. This open well is the only source of drinking water for the entire community. During the dry season, the inflow of water into the well doesn’t always keep up with the amount being collected. Women and children sometimes rise before dawn to wait in lines at the well to fetch the water that has accumulated overnight. But, before long, the water level lowers and the water becomes clouded with sand and silt. This water must be allowed to settle and then sifted through a cloth to remove as much sediment as possible. Recently, a dog fell in the well and died—going unnoticed by the villagers who drank from the well. An outbreak of diarrhea hit the village, resulting in various water-borne sicknesses. The remains of the dog were later removed from the well. In spite of their best efforts, diarrhea and other ailments attributed to drinking the water are all too common. Rarely a week goes by when a family doesn’t have to take at least one family member to the medical clinic a few kilometers away for treatment. This is a drain on time and money, which contributes yet further to income and food insecurity in the village.
DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project will include the following:
Stage 1: Drilling of a 4.5-inch borehole at the depth of 55 meters, by a reputable drilling outfit. This deep drilling will provide an ample flow of clean fresh water all year-round. A high-quality GRUNDFOS solar submersible pump will be installed along with high-quality mono-crystalline solar panels. A fully braced 6-meter galvanized tower will be built and a 2,000-liter triple-coated water storage tank will be mounted on the tower. All works will be fully monitored for quality assurance and effective execution of work with a warranty provided.
Stage 2: This stage involves the laying of pipes from the water tower to three selected water points (taps) in the village. This will be completed by the contractor supported by the villagers. Three water points will be erected which will make water accessible and easier to reach by all villagers. The pressure pipes and plumbing materials will be of high-quality material considering the harsh environmental conditions around that area.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
The community will provide some of the manual labor, including the digging of trenches and pipe laying, etc. They will also provide gravel and sand as their contribution towards the project. Any other necessary manual labor will also be provided by the community. The village will also host and feed the workers.
MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE
The community has already set up a solid and trustworthy Water Management Committee that will oversee the sustainability of the project. The team is gender-balanced, consisting of three males and three females.
Further training will be conducted for the Water Management Committee on the Community Water Management Model, after the completion of the project, and also to sensitize the community on the importance of taking good care of the taps and the entire water system to maintain durability. The selected water committee members will be visiting taps regularly to check if every tap is working properly. It was strongly agreed at the same meeting that every month, each compound head will pay a token and a bank account will be opened by the village water committee, with three mandatory signatories, where the collected amount will be saved for future maintenance and repair. The committee will be transparent and audited in the financial transactions, reporting monthly to the villagers at the Bantaba (village square) to be coordinated by the Alkalo (village head). Through this mechanism, the community will maintain a sense of ownership and responsibility.
Three people have been identified to be in charge, of monitoring and controlling the solar-powered water borehole system after the completion of the project. The borehole drilling outfit has offered to train these three identified persons on the usage of the water system and how to report to them if there is any fault.
Water Charity Program Director (Ebrima Marong) will visit the community regularly to check whether the system is working accordingly and also check if the water management committee is working effectively.
This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION.
This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion, CLICK HERE.
Location
Barrio Las Cruces, Chiapas, México
Community Description
Barrio Las Cruces is a neighborhood of 35 homes with 185 inhabitants, plus one on the way. The community is located near the small municipal town of La Grandeza, about 3 hours by car from Motozintla into the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. The people are of Mam ethnicity and some elders still speak the language. The neighbors enjoy good relations, and cooperation and unity among the residents of the barrio are values that are expressly fostered in their meetings.
The people in Las Cruces maintain their families by producing corn, beans, and some vegetables for their own consumption during the rainy season. The soil is fertile and would sustain a second crop if there was water with which to irrigate. People have edible plants in containers around their patios. Some families raise sheep to sell as livestock. The standard of living is very poor.
Some of the women crochet tote bags that they sell in La Grandeza. They are interested in finding new products they can make to sell as well. Their lives would be infinitely easier if they no longer had to worry about where the water will come from. This would free up time that could be better spent on creating cottage industries in order to be able to contribute directly to the economy of their households.
Problem Addressed
While the small town of La Grandeza does have a municipal water supply, the people in Las Cruces are too far away to benefit. Many years ago, they pooled their resources in order to solve the urgent need for water, but given their limited incomes, the amount they collected only allowed them to buy a couple of kilometers of ½ inch hose. The water that comes from that inadequate system only provides a trickle to each home for a couple of hours every 25 or 30 days, depending on the amount of flow at a given time of year.
The small creek they have used up to now dries up at the end of the dry season so during March, April and May, there is scant water to be shared. When the rains finally start, families collect rainwater from the runoff of their roofs. But there seems to be an emerging trend in recent years of long periods of drought in the middle of the rainy season. In 2018, there was no rain for 5 weeks beginning in July.
The lack of access to water causes great hardship for these families. They struggle to maintain their households with children, a few edible plants and some chickens with very little water to work with. For several months of the year and during periods of drought, there is no other option than to carry water from a couple of kilometers away, a tedious and laborious task that mostly falls on women to do. There is a kindergarten in the community that also suffers from a lack of water.
Project Description
This project is to build a water system for Barrio Las Cruces.
The people are organized into a formal water association which is administered by elected representatives. Their committee has a designated person whose job is to organize the people to maintain the waterline and to ensure that the water is equally distributed among homes. They have found a new water source and have secured the rights to use it. It is a crystal-clear creek that flows from spring all year round from an underground river.
The proposed project will involve building a covered tank at the source to pool the water for uptake and building a distribution tank on a site that has been donated for this purpose. A smaller tank will also be built to allow the line to breathe partway from the source to the holding tank.
A 3.5-kilometer-long waterline will be laid down using 2” polyduct hose. The creek is located such that the hose will follow the highway for a large part of the distance to the holding tank. The terrain will allow the men to bury it which will prolong the life of the material, prevent vandalism and make maintenance easier since the line will follow an easily accessible path near the homes. Fortunately, there are no places where the hose would have to be hung over any ravines. The water committee will be provided with a specially-designed uptake filter to help prevent debris from clogging the hose.
A member of the community donated an excellent location on the highest point nearest to the homes where they will build the distribution tank. Each family will connect their own ½ hose that will bring the water to their home by gravity feed. They have the proper paperwork on file that ensures that the land will belong to the community in the future.
The men in the community will do the manual labor required to create the system by working in teams until the work is completed. They are anxious to begin.
Project Impact The project will benefit 185 people living in 35 homes.
Project Administration The project will be administered by Tamara Brennan, Ph.D. of The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action, an award-winning non-profit that has had a permanent presence in the region since 1997.
This project is the 19th water system project in the ongoing Sierra Madre Water Program, a comprehensive effort to improve water access in the underserved and impoverished Sierra Madre de Chiapas region of Mexico, spanning the border with Guatemala. The program has already brought water to more than 8,000 people.
Monitoring and Maintenance
The water committee has the responsibility of maintaining the water system. The new system will be much more stable and secure and will require much less maintenance in comparison to the precarious system they have had.
Fundraising Target $7,100
Funds raised in excess of the project amount will be allocated to other projects in the country.
Donations Collected to Date $7,100
Dollar Amount Needed$0 – This project has been funded through the generosity of Michael and Carla Boyle, of Nelsonville, Ohio. Additional donations using this Donate button will be used for future projects in Mexico.
Location: The community is located along the river just outside of the small city of Belisario Dominguez on the coastal side of the Sierra Madre mountain range. This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion, CLICK HERE.
Problem to be addressed: The amount of water available to the community has diminished significantly due to logging and to the changing climate conditions of recent years. As a result, there is not enough water for household use. During the dry season, people go for many weeks without water.
To make matters worse, the coffee harvest happens at the time of year when springs and creeks stop flowing, leaving them without the water they must have to remove the sticky fruit from the coffee beans. That means that in spite of a year of hard work to produce their coffee, without water to wash it the coffee ferments making it difficult to sell for more than the lowest price. Often the cost of production over a year is more than they earn for their efforts. Potentially, properly prepared coffee can attract specialty buyers who pay more for quality and are always looking for groups with whom they can do business year after year. In 2020 the community was approved by the local government Ejido Arenal to purchase a new water source. The cost of acquiring it was shared by the members of their water association, a significant effort for them that required sacrifice. While this was a great achievement, the cost of materials to build the water line and the necessary structures is more than the people can assume given the severe poverty in which they live.
Description of the Community: The Sierra Madre district of southern Mexico is an agricultural region where most people make a living as peasant farmers. There are very few alternative sources of work other than small-scale farming. Traditionally the father of a family owns the land which he gives to his eldest son(s) when he no longer can work it. Often the land is divided among several children. Since families are large, not all children inherit land because there is not enough to divide into meaningfully productive parcels. Those who do not inherit land have to leave to find new lands to cultivate.
Ocho de Julio was founded in 2012 when a group of people left the high country to find land to farm. They were fortunate to find a large coffee grower who sold them his land that was already in production. The people were able to acquire their individual plots by making payments. This allowed some to take advantage of existing coffee trees while others opened unfarmed areas for coffee production.
The community is located along the river just outside of the small city of Belisario Dominguez on the coastal side of the Sierra Madre mountain range. It is home to 63 families with a population of over 300 people. While they now make their living by producing coffee on their small plots of land, their labor-intensive work only provides a life of poverty.
Description of the Project: The new communal water source is a perineal creek 4 kilometers up the steep, forested slope from the homes. This project will consist of installing a 2-inch diameter hose from the source to the community. To accomplish this we propose to provide them the materials they need including 40 rolls of 100-meter sturdy polyduct hose and other materials to build the water line. We will use metal O rings that are screwed tightly over each end of the joined sections of the hose to prevent water pressure or vandals from disconnecting them. This is the system that we have successfully used in 2 dozen projects elsewhere in the region. The hose will be buried to protect it and keep it out of the sun, a strategy recommended by the manufacturer to prolong its life.
Sexto Sol will advise them on how to manage variations in water pressure along the line to create even flow and maintain the hose in good working order. We will also provide them with a specially designed water uptake filter to help cut down on the work of maintaining the system.
The community is prepared to share the cost associated with building a distribution tank. Masons who live in the community will supervise the building of the tank that will be constructed of stone that is available on site. Stone water tanks are considered to be the strongest that can be built. By using locally available stone, the cost of building the tank will be accessible to the families when their resources are pooled. Each household will connect their individual hose to the tank to bring the water to their home.
The community is represented by the “agente municipal” who is elected to serve. He will be organizing the men to do the work to build their system. Under his supervision, the men have begun the necessary work of clearing a path through the dense forest where they will be able to install the hose.
Who will benefit: There are 63 coffee-farming families who will benefit from this project. The elementary school in the community needs water for sanitation. By having reliable access to water, each household will be able to process their coffee while enjoying a significantly better quality of life, free from the difficulties of not having access to water.
Administration of the Project: The project will be administered by Tamara Brennan, Ph.D. of The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action, an award-winning non-profit that has had a permanent presence in the region since 1997. She has been working with the community to review technical issues and develop the plan to be followed.
This project will be part of the on-going effort of the Sierra Madre Water Program, a comprehensive collaboration of the Sexto Sol Center with Water Charity and the National Peace Corps to improve water access in the underserved impoverished communities in the Sierra Madre region of Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala. To date this multi-year effort has brought water to more than 11,000 people.
Monitoring and Maintenance The people in Ocho de Julio are well organized and committed to working collaboratively to secure water for all. The agente municipal and the other officers of the water committee will oversee the long-term maintenance of the system. A designated person will administer the delivery of the water to the different parts of the community under a schedule when needed to ensure equitable distribution and to make sure the resource is used wisely. They are anxious to begin the work so that the years of hardship will finally end.
This project is completed and has been funded by Michael and Carla Boyle, of Foster, WV.
This Program is made possible through a partnership of WATER CHARITY and THE MADAGASCAR WATER PROJECT INC.
Village Well Program Phase II:twenty-two wells in 14 villagesin Madagascar
Background
Water Charity’s partnership with The Madagascar Water Project began last year. Thirteen water wells were drilled in six villages that now provide clean water to over 15,000 people. Water quality was ensured with sealed wells that provide water with a hand-operated pump and periodic testing for both chemical and biological contamination. The wells were followed-up with the organization of Well Management Committees, WASH training, technical training-support and operational oversight to ensure the wells remain productive for many years. WASH is the acronym for Water and Sanitation Health Hygiene. It puts a multi-dimensional aspect to water and its use to improve the sanitation, health and hygiene of the population. Clean water is a new element in many places and guidance is needed to show the beneficiaries how to use it for its full benefits.
Location
Villages included in the partnership area are largely undeveloped due to pervasive poverty and their geographical isolation. The area is nearly inaccessible and far from their regional government centers in Toamasina and Fianarantsoa. Phase II will expand the project area south of the Mangoro River (Salehy), through Masomeloka to Nosy Varika and beyond, moving into the remote area where the distal ends of the Regions of Antsinanana and Fianarantsoa meet. A minimum of 22 additional wells will be drilled in villages located in a 30-mile stretch along the coast south of Masomeloka. It will include 12 rural villages, ranging in size from 500 to 5000 people, with a combined population exceeding 18,000 people. The villages included in the Phase II program are listed below, going north to south from Masomeloka.
The number of pumps shown in parenthesis ( ) are the number of broken pumps in each village. Many wells are built in rural villages with the best of intentions, oftentimes by contractors hired by NGOs that only drill wells and have no maintenance or sustainability programs. With no technical support, the pumps eventually fail with no system in place to fix them. The Madagascar Water Project and Water Charity Partnership have a time-dimensional program that ensures the long-term sustainability of the project objectives. The Village of Nosy Varika, population 7300, is in the project area and is a good example of the sustainability problem on a much bigger scale. A large water infrastructure project was built two years ago, only to break down in just a few weeks due to a lack of technical support and money for fuel. Their project includes water reservoirs, pipelines and pump stations, which is beyond the scale of the projects conducted by The Madagascar Water Project. Regrettably, this type of problem is all too common in Madagascar as it tries to dig its country out of the pit of poverty.
Community Description
The project area lies along the Pangalana Channel and some of its tributaries. The area is a long, narrow, sandy coastal plain on the eastern edge of the Madagascar Highlands. These conditions are optimal for the shallow water wells built by the Project. Most wells are 6 to 7 meters below ground level, some shallower, few deeper. The Project has been successful at finding locations in rural villages where the groundwater at these depths is uncontaminated. The Pangalana is a freshwater intracoastal waterway that serves as the primary source of drinking water as well as the location for washing, bathing, toileting, and waste disposal. The Pangalana is accessible by small boats and serves as the lifeline to the outside world for these communities. Villages in the area are made up of clusters of thatched houses made from local materials ranging in size from single-family enclaves of 10 homes to large villages with stores, commerce, schools, government offices, perhaps a small clinic, and a thousand homes or more. About 60% of the population is under the age of fifteen. Extreme poverty, malnutrition, water-borne disease, malaria and even the plague are widespread.
The villagers support themselves with artisanal fishing and farming. Lacking electricity, water services, sanitation facilities, most health & dental services, television, radio, and other amenities are taken for granted in the 21st Century, the people live in conditions not seen in communities in the developed world in over 100 years. The incredible progress the world has seen in the last century has passed them by. This description applies to hundreds of villages in the greater area. Most villages are accessible only by boat along the Pangalana Channel. During the dry season, the old road dating back to the French colonial days, Route Nacional RN-11A, is connected by a series of primitive auto ferries and can be used with a good 4WD vehicle. Logistics are one of the major challenges of this project. The villages are only 300 miles from the capital city of Antananarivo, but it takes a minimum of two days to travel there, when it is possible at all.
Program Objectives
The Project serves both Beneficiaries, those that benefit from the water, and Benefactors, those that support the program. It provides a direct, fast, visible and cost-effective way to provide aid to those in need of clean water. The specific Goals and Objectives of the Program are listed below: • Assess and identify rural villages that are vulnerable to water-borne diseases due to a lack of clean, accessible, community-based water; • Drill water wells inside villages; provide technical training, technical assistance, spare parts and oversight to ensure the long-term service of the well; • Organize Well Management Committees to manage, maintain and provide community water services in an equitable manner; provide regular consultation with the Committee to ensure the sustainability of this function and to empower the community to improve and help itself; • Provide guidance to the Committee and the wider community to utilize its water resources to develop and promote health, hygiene and sanitation initiatives; • Reduce the incidence of water-borne disease to zero; • Raise the quality of life in the village through better health; improve children’s health to help them attend and succeed in school; improve adult health to help them be more productive, increase their income, and to perform more activities related to an improved quality of life; • Provide a means for people that want to support rural development in developing countries with a means to provide that support; provide goals that are effective, visible and quantifiable; • Build a Madagascar company and train its staff to continue in perpetuity, without foreign help.
Problem Addressed
The Pangalana Channel is the primary source of drinking water in most villages. It is used for many activities which inevitably leaves it contaminated. A usable shoreline can be difficult to access and for some requires a long walk. Other sources of water, such as rivers, rice fields and open pits are more contaminated and not fit for drinking even after boiling. Many sources are unreliable, either going seasonally dry or being contaminated with sewage or sea water after large storms. Open wells eventually become contaminated after use and cannot be used for drinking without treatment. There are safety and security issues when walking outside a village after dark. A lack of clean water, along with poor sanitation and nutrition, has resulted in widespread dysentery, stunted growth and childhood development, and higher death rates in vulnerable populations. With widespread poverty, limited government resources and a relative scarcity of NGO assistance, large gaps in the social support network exist. This project will help bridge that gap. Local health data clearly shows accessible clean water will reduce the occurrence of water-borne diseases to nearly zero. Healthy people are less vulnerable to other diseases, which often kill people before old age does. Improved health allows more time to attend to the quality of life activities such as school, work, family care, and personal health. Although the description above does not paint a nice picture, most people look at these problems as a fact of life because they have never seen anything different. We all know it can be much better and the Project is committed to bringing this to them and your support will go a very long way to achieve our goals.
Project Description
The Village Well Program Phase II – Madagascar will provide clean water for twelve villages on the east coast of Madagascar in an area in and around Nosy Varika. It is an important infrastructure project that will provide the most basic essential element to living – clean, potable water. At least twenty-two wells will be drilled and fitted with hand-operated water pumps in villages ranging in size from 500 to 5000+ people. The work will be done by The Madagascar Water Project. The Project has been drilling water wells in the area for the past four years and is responsible for 74 producing wells – including 13 wells sponsored by Water Charity – in 39 villages, providing clean water to over 40,000 people. They use a stainless-steel well design, with imported down-hole screens and locally available steel pipe and hand pumps. With routine maintenance, each well will produce clean water for 10 years or more. The Project maintains a trained Team on the ground to ensure the wells keep flowing. The Project provides follow-up support with the organization of Well Management Committees, WASH training, technical training and support, and the provision of spare parts when needed. This follow-up support is key to the success of the Project and ensures the sustainability of the program objectives.
A Madagascar Water Project Assessment Team visited the area twice in recent months. Existing water resources and sanitation facilities were evaluated, and meetings were conducted with village leaders to learn of their needs and to assess their ability to accept and manage a new well. Geological studies were conducted to determine if groundwater was a viable resource. Villages included in the Village Well Program – Phase II program were identified based on the urgency of their need for clean water, population size, geology, the community’s ability to accept responsibility for the well and their ability to manage the well to improve the sanitation, health and hygiene of the village.
Monitoring and Maintenance
In addition to drilling the wells, the Project facilitates the organization of Well Management Committees and advises them on well management and resource utilization. The Project trains local personnel to maintain the well and provides tools and spare parts to perform these duties. The Project periodically inspects the pumps and wells and performs higher-level maintenance and repairs, when needed, using a Team based in Andovoranto. The Project empowers each village to manage their own resources, but it maintains a helping hand, when needed, and a watchful eye to ensure everything goes as planned.
Project Impact
An estimated 18,450 people will benefit from the project. The addition of an accessible, community-based source of clean water has measurable effects on the community. The incidence of water-borne disease is reduced significantly, sanitation and hygiene are improved and infant mortality and the mortality of vulnerable segments of the population will go down. With less time required to fulfill the basic need for clean water, people will become more focused on other essential activities such as education, nutrition, family and improving their own quality of life.
Dollar Amount of Project
Individual wells cost an estimated $750/well. Since logistics are the biggest expense, there is an economy of scale once you get to the area. The estimated cost of the 22-well projects is $15,000. Savings due to an economy of scale or lower project costs/well will be used to build more wells.
Program Funding The funds to start this program have been contributed by an anonymous donor. Your contribution using the Donate button below will be used to expand the program.
This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion, CLICK HERE.
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