LOCATION Ecuadorian Amazon basin, Morona Santiago and Pastaza provinces.

GOAL: Providing filter systems to 200 remote communities in the Amazon. Edesia Nutrition and CrezcoNut Fundacion donated nutritional supplements Plumpy’Sup and Plump’Nut for children with malnutrition.

Over 40% of Zimbabwe’s population lives in extreme poverty. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation remains problematic for many of these people, especially those living in rural areas. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the country experienced severe water shortages due to recurring droughts and failure to treat the little available tap water. It is forcing residents to collect water from unsafe sources and overcrowded boreholes.

Precious Nyadongo represents a group of Zimbabwean women known as Sisters Connected Trust that needed $3800 to complete a borehole in Nketa-9, a rural community near Bulawayo home to 800 people. Coincidentally, the Fyera Foundation had raised $3989 on behalf of The Waterbearers, so we requested the funds be allocated to complete this project. The borehole and water storage tank provides clean water for more than half the community. With regular access to water, women and girls no longer have to walk long distances and stand in long lines for hours to collect water. Precious shared her news with others, like Mavis Nkomo in Seafield, a rural community 120 km away. The Fyera Foundation funded a solar-powered borehole to bring water to 1000 people. The Waterbearers installed a drip irrigation system so the community could grow crops. A few weeks after completing the Seafield installation, Mavis Nkomo, a 73-year-old grandmother and community leader, passed on March 23, 2021, one day after World Water Day.

April 2021. Thanks to donors who supported The Waterbearers’ World Water Day fundraiser on March 22 and to Precious Nyadongo in Zimbabwe, who brought another community in need of clean water to our attention. The Waterbearers installed a third solar-powered borehole in Battlefield, impacting more than 2000 people. Reaching the underground water source is a costly undertaking that most rural communities cannot afford. The drilling machine had to cut through several layers of granite and bedrock to get to the groundwater 140 meters (500 ft) down.

Before the borehole, Sukoluhle, a 35-year-old mother of three, walked 15 km (9 miles) to fetch water from the river. She used to do this twice a day.

The water was unsafe to drink, and people often got sick, and the nearest healthcare center is 20 km away. I am beside myself with joy! Getting water is easy now that I don’t have to walk so far, and I have more time to be with my children. My dream is to empower others, and I want to thank The Waterbearers for helping to make this a reality.

June 2021. The Waterbearers installed two more boreholes in Garamtata and Thula village in Maraposa. These wells eliminate the need for young girls to walk 20 km a day to fetch water and impact the lives of 3600 people. A drip irrigation system has been installed in Thula village as part of our Ripple Effect seed program, yielding ground nuts and kale.

These events are part of The Waterbearers’ Ripple Effect plan to enable communities to become more self-reliant. Sustainable development includes growing nutritious crops for their health and well-being and selling the excess produce to pay for their children’s education. In the past, this would not have been possible for girls as they were charged with walking several miles a day to fetch water. Now that they have wells closer to home, they no longer have to walk long distances and have time to be productive and study.

Of the rich cultures in West Africa, the dire cascading consequences of poor education, unsafe water, and inadequate sanitation systems are especially acute in Guinea. The need for education and training is significant, as the challenges for solving these issues are some of the most challenging in all the world.

Guinea is a country of over 11 million inhabitants with 1.9 million living in the capital of Conakry alone. Close to 45% of the population is under the age of 18 years old. Primary education is compulsory for only 8 years, and some girls do not attend at all. Most children do not attend for long or ever go to school. Guinea has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world with less than 30% of adults who are literate in 2003.

Guinea has an abundance of Rivers, however, much of the population does not have access to any adequate domestic water supply point. Conakry, the largest city in Guinea does not even have a municipal Water system, and any infrastructure that did exist is unreliable or broken. 50% of the places with unsafe drinking water once had functioning systems, but they have now fallen apart due to lack of maintenance and funding. Garbage choke the waterways because there is no waste management system; sanitation is not a priority when you are hungry.

Poor sanitation and a lack of safe drinking water take a greater human toll than war, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction combined, making it the leading cause of disease and death around the world. Waterborne diseases of cholera, diarrhea, schistosomiasis, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever are rampant and the endemic lack of sanitation further supports the vector-borne diseases of malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever. Most of the victims are young children, with the vast majority dying from organisms thriving in Water contaminated by raw sewage and other pollutants.

The Waterbearers introduced our clean water filter systems in September 2020, as the pandemic restrictions and border crossings eased, we were able to provide 20 filters to a small group of partnership leaders and women from 5 communities in Kaloum, Conakry. Filters and training cross the border from Sierra Leone with James Bowen from The Village Link.  This is a small beginning, but one which we hope will grow with care. We are excited to develop the kiosk idea, and see this as an opportunity to bring clean water to neighboring communities.