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Gakiri Community Well

Photo of Gakiri Community Well

Project Snapshot

Country: Rwanda

GPS Coordinates:
  Latitude -1.629450
  Longitude 30.377317

Impact:
  Total Served: 500

Status:  Completed (What's This?)

Completion Date (or estimate): 09/21/2011

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Our implementing partner reports from the field...

When the team arrived, community members were walking four kilometers for water from a spring. Because of the community’s dependence on this contaminated water source, families were suffering from malaria, diarrhea and severe dehydration. The LWI Rwanda team was pleased to learn of the community's use of a covered pit latrine, as this will help prevent further spread of disease in the area. During the team's stay, community members assisted the team by providing security over the water project during the night. Most community members sustain their families by farming and the nearest school is located four kilometers away from the community. Before leaving the community, the team provided community member, Alex Bimana, with a LWI Rwanda contact number in case their well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft.

The LWI Rwanda team had an opportunity to meet with sixty-four year old community member and farmer, Evarest Muhoza, who stated, "The old water source was far for us, but the new water source is right within the village and has very clean water. Thank you."

LWI Rwanda team member, Melchizedek Keoye, shared hygiene education with thirty community members, in Gakiri. During the hygiene education, Melchizedek addressed: Disease transmission, germs, hand washing, proper water saving techniques, healthy and unhealthy communities, tippy tap and simple hand washing devise, good and bad hygiene behavior, clean hands and clean hearts and dental hygiene.


Project Photos


Recent Project Updates

09/21/2011: Gakiri Community Well Completed

A new well has been completed for the Gakiri Community in Rwanda.  We have posted pictures, GPS and a brief report about this project.



Sponsors


14 individual donors
Longwoods Publishing Corp.
Keller Family
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Chapter
mariescherbaumsnows water group
Kenzie Conner's Fundraising Page
Kevin Cline's Fundraising Page


Country Details

Rwanda

Population: 10.2 million
Lacking clean water: 35%
Below poverty line: 60%
Climate:Varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north
Languages: Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers
Ethnic Groups: Hutu (Bantu) 84%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%
Life Expectancy: 51 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 72 deaths per 1000 live births

While 35 percent of Rwanda's population lacks access to an improved water source, the country has numerous rivers and streams as well as tremendous potential for developing groundwater resources. Villagers in many areas are forced to walk several miles to the nearest source of water—contaminated water from a swamp, stream, or open well. For these desperate communities, Living Water International offers hope. Since beginning operations in Rwanda in 2007, Living Water has completed more than 195 water projects there.

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Partner Profile

Living Water International

Nearly 20 years ago, we set out to help the church in North America be the hands and feet of Jesus by serving the poorest of the poor. 600 million people in the world live on less than $2 a day. 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water.


For all practical purposes, these statistics refer to the same people; around the world, communities are trapped in debilitating poverty because they constantly suffer from water-related diseases and parasites, and/or because they spend long stretches of their time carrying water over long distances.


In response to this need, we implement participatory, community-based water solutions in developing countries. Since we started, we’ve completed water projects for 7,000 communities in 26 countries.


It all began in 1990, when a group from Houston, Texas traveled to Kenya and saw the desperate need for clean drinking water. They returned to Houston and founded a 501(c)3 non-profit. The fledgling organization equipped and trained a team of Kenyan drillers, and LWI Kenya began operations the next year under the direction of a national board.


That pattern continues today; we train, consult, and equip local people to implement solutions in their own countries.


Remembering the life-changing nature of that first trip in 1990, we also lead hundreds of volunteers on mission trips each year, working with local communities, under the leadership of nationals, to implement water projects. It’s hard to know which lives are changed more—those “serving” or those “being served.”


Our training programs in shallow well drilling, pump repair, and hygiene education have equipped thousands of volunteers and professionals in the basics of integrated water solutions since 1997.

Implementer


Living Water International

Living Water International exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water.


Program Summary


Wells for Rwanda

The Water Project is partnering with Living Water International to provide wells in Rwanda that bring clean, safe drinking water to thousands. And we're committing to making sure that these projects last for a long time by thinking through sustainability first.  From the beginning, we'll have a plan in place to monitor and evaluate each well over time.  We'll train communities in basic repair and maintenance, and we'll be available to help if things break down.

LWI will work with each community to ensure there is local ownership.  We'll also fund sanitation and hygiene training so that better health practices will multiply the good of a new clean source of water.  And then we'll keep going back...to make sure things continue working long into the future.


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Project Data




A new well for a community in Rwanda

Project Type:  Hand Pumped Well

Location:  Gakiri Eastern Province

Depth:  150.00



ProjectID: 3010

 
 
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