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Karembo, Rwanda

Photo of Karembo, Rwanda

Project Snapshot

Country: Rwanda

GPS Coordinates:
  Latitude -2.318250
  Longitude 30.761333

Impact:
  Total Served: 500

Status:  Completed (What's This?)

Completion Date (or estimate): 06/05/2012

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Upon completion of the project our implementing partner reported...

A community member stated "We were used to drinking dirty water for years. It was our habit. Praise God that we are leaving our old habit behind!" When the LWI Rwanda team arrived, community members were utilizing other methods to gather water about two-tenths of a kilometer away from the community to meet all of their water needs. Because of this families were left suffering from malaria, diarrhea and other preventable water related illnesses. The LWI Rwanda team was pleased to hear that the community members were utilizing covered latrine pits which will help to prevent further spread of disease in the area. During the team's stay, a water committee consisting of two men and two women assisted the team and provided any available materials. Most of the community members earn a living by farming to provide for their families. The nearest school is located two kilometers away from the community and now students, teachers, and administrative personnel all have access to safe, clean water. Before leaving the community, LWI Rwanda provided community member Sylvain Mutabaruka, with a LWI contact number in case the well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft.

The LWI Rwanda team had the opportunity to meet with forty-twp year old farmer, Calixte Bagiravube, who stated, "We don't expect contamination from runoff as we usually did with the old water source, which was liable to have runoff contamination."

During the hygiene education, the LWI Rwanda team addresses: Hand washing, how to properly transport and store water, disease transmission and prevention, how to maintain proper care of the pump, as well as signs and symptoms of dehydration and how to make Oral Rehydration Solution. All of these lessons are taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community driven solutions.


Project Photos


Recent Project Updates

06/06/2012: Clean Water For The Village Of Karembo

We are excited to report that a new well has been completed in the village of Karembo, Rwanda.  We  have just posted a report from the field including pictures and GPS coordinates



Sponsors


88 individual donors
One50Five
Camas High School
Girl Scouts Troop 13
Aislinn Gherman and Sadie Hunter
Duck Creek Community Church
A Hole in the Gospel
Baruch College
Ecole Publique Odyssee
Graphic Packaging Green Team
9SI Social Studies Cashmere High School NZ
Heather Adams turns 40!
Trinity Baptist Church Youth Sunday School Class
Sappington School St Louis Missouri
Sappington School St. Louis MIssouri


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.

Read more about the program »

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:  Karembo, Rwanda

Depth:  131.00



ProjectID: 3027

 
 
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