Water Projects in Africa
Villiage tap in Uhambingeto, Tanzania
PWRDF
A Tap in the Villiage
In Tanzania at present PWRDF partners with 3 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Tanzania to secure sources of reliable, clean water. In the Diocese of Ruaha an important benefit of the 10 years of accompaniment with the people of Uhambingeto was the construction of a system that brings water from 2 water points 12 kilometres away in the mountains. Now instead of a grueling walk 8 kilometres the other side of Uhambingeto, villagers in this dry, dusty plain enjoy the water that is available at a tap right in the village.
The work in Uhambingeto is done and the development staff of Ruaha are now working with the 10 villages of the Idegenda area. It is an area high up in the mountains where frost in the winter (July) is not uncommon. It is reached by a trip of 3 hours over a treacherous and narrow mountain road. The local clay is dug from the mountainside to continually repair the road but this clay holds the ruts formed by the tires and makes passage after a rain impossible. The area is unreachable during the long rains of November through March. Kidabaga is the only major town between Idegenda and Iringa and lies at the halfway point. The bus from Iringa terminates here. People must walk often with heavy burdens from Kidabaga to Idegenda.
Regardless of the amount of rainfall in this high mountain area and because even here it is seasonal, finding sufficient water is always a problem. The ground is porous and the small buildings roofed with the bud-sheaths of bamboo offer unsatisfactorily small area for water catchment. The first priority of the project is building 2 water systems to bring water from 2 streams 5 kilometres down in the valley. A 14-member water committee has been elected, the surveying has been completed and construction has begun.
