WATER for LIFE
Three or four times a week this woman walks 10 - 12 kms to fetch water, the colour of
coffee, from a hole in a
dried up river bed where animals also drink. Then she has to return home carrying 25kgs of water on her head. An arduous task certainly, but this is the only source available.
A well close to her village will give her the "Water for Life" which she and her family needs. No longer will they have to risk the many diseases from the contaminated water she walks so far to collect.
In response to a request from the local community, and subject to positive results from soundings, experienced well diggers start work to dig to a depth of 60 - 100ft til sufficient water return is achieved. The upper 20ft. or so are then lined with brickwork and the top is capped with a concrete cover. Dependant on the depth a hand operated Afridev or Canzee pump is then fitted, and a management committee is organised to maintain the pump.
The community then erects a fence around the area to prevent contamination by animals. When the well starts operating there is great rejoicing in the village as this is the first time they have tasted clean, fresh, safe water.
For several years now Akamba Aid has worked with our sister Somerset charity the "Wishing for a Well Appeal" founded by Bryan Cooper of South Petherton. Bryan has a great deal of experience since 1986 providing many earth catchment dams and wells in this area.
Now however, due to ill health Bryan feels he must hand over the reigns to AAF trustee Colin Martin who has worked with Bryan for many years and will now run Wishing for a Well as the "Water for Life" fund under the umbrella of Akamba Aid.
Through AAF, Colin will be able to continue the valuable work carried out over 24 years by Bryan.
The Need for clean water
Clean water is essenti
al for life, yet one in eight of the worlds population does not have access to it. This and the lack of safe sanitation, result in over two million people dying each year from water-related diseases (that is one every 15 seconds) The lack of clean water close to people's homes, also affects people's time, livelihoods and quality of life.
Worldwide over 2.5 billion people live without decent sanitation, and the resulting diarrhoeal diseases kill almost 5,000 children a day.
However some "shallow" wells (40' - 100' deep) have been completed funded either by public collections or in some cases by various charities, such as those built by AAF and Wishing for a Well. These cost £3500-£4500 to build, and continue to provide water throughout the year except in times of extreme drought.
In the Kyuso District there are very few boreholes, as these are quite expensive to construct and maintain also requiring diesel pumps to bring the water to the surface, and are beyond the resources of communities to complete. Therefore those which are providing water are funded either by government departments, or by private concerns, and the water then sold to the public at a fairly high-price.
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