The Students Rebuild Water Challenge brought 41 charity: water projects to the following areas of Tanzania: Kagera/Ngara, Kigoma/Kibondo, and Kagera/Biharamulo. In Tanzania, charity: water works with a with a variety of solutions based on the geographic challenges of the area:
- In Ngara, it’s very hard to bring water to some villages because of the hilly terrain. There’s difficulty in getting supplies through, especially drilling rigs. Spring protections and shallow hand-dug wells are some of the best options in this area. Spring protections collect flowing water underground to protect it from surface contamination and stores it in a sanitary spring box. This is a low maintenance project as it only requires checking back on water flow and quality. Spring protections can also bring livelihood programs (a way of earning money in order to live) around these water points for irrigation, income-generating activities such as crops, and further increase the impact of charity: water’s work.
- In Biharamulo, the terrain is much more suitable for drilled wells–it’s still in the highlands, but not as hilly. Concern Worldwide is the international non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with charity: water to provide clean water and sanitation on the ground in Tanzania. The district government is active and supportive of Concern’s work and in turn, they can allocate the time and resources to help with larger scale projects such as solar pump systems. To create these systems, Concern uses a drilling rig to tap into an underground aquifer. Through a motorized pump, water flows from a pump house to a holding tank. Water is then piped to tap stands throughout the community. This type of project is great because it serves a larger amount of people and has multiple distribution points.
Check out other examples of charity:water solutions here.
