We will provide water resources to villages living in an acute water shortage crisis in Central Mali. This will revive the viability and economy of these villages, will allow children to go to school, and will mean that women can begin worthwhile activities instead of collecting water all day.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
The remote rural region of Bandiagara has some of the poorest access to water in the world. Most villages are still dependent on unhygienic earth-dug wells for their water supply. These are collapsing in heavier, more prolonged monsoon rains, leaving villages in a desperate water crisis. Women & children can spend all day collecting water leaving no time to prepare food or earn a living. The crisis has been made more acute by villages taking in large numbers of refugees displaced by conflict.
Solution
We will provide durable modern cement wells to rural villages. These have minimal running costs, which is important in poor communities, and allow a group of women to draw water at the same time, reducing queueing times. In the last decade we have built over 120 wells. The investment in providing long term clean drinking water was just 46p per person. We work with skilled water engineers, provide hygiene and well management training to communities, & the water quality of our wells is monitored.
