Cherry and I have been welcomed into the home of Tanya and Dale. Dale is the founder of MSABI Tanzania Water Project. He has an environmental engineering and science degree from Australia with experience in the design of water and waste water treatment plants and Tanya is working on a major Malaria control project as an entomologist. When Dale heard about the water problems last year, including Cholera, he decided to find a way to make a difference. He has a small scale appropriate technology project which helps villagers to have clean water. By drilling with simple pipe and bit drills handled by three men, he has been able to drill 3 wells and refurbish another 10 in an area of two towns. The local villagers participate in terms of financial contributions, labor and feeding the workers. In areas where the wells were shallow and contaminated, he has managed to deepen and sanitize them.
His priorities have been based on community needs and access. One of the wells is by a clinic, others near schools. One school has 200 students, one teacher and NO water. The only water access is kilometers away. This is one of the pumps planned in the near future.
We went to see the project and watch them install the pumps. By using locally available technology and supplies, he has managed to avoid some of the pitfalls of other pump projects. In the past many of the pumps have broken down and could not be repaired, others have been stolen. This simple technology using locally available metal pipes and string, costs significantly less (up to 15 times cheaper) than any of the previous work in the area…giving it accessibility to some of the poorest populations.
More to follow…
By Vicki Sherwood
Abundant Water ABN 74 867 217 898 in partnership with Global Development Group