Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Program: Wells for Rwanda

Impact: 400 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Dec 2013

Project Features


Click icons to learn about each feature.



Community Profile

Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...

When the Living Water Rwanda team arrived, 181 families, 3 local churches and a community center were dependent on an unprotected hand dug well, unprotected spring and other various forms of surface water all located a kilometer outside the community to sustain their growing water needs. Because of this, families were suffering from diarrhea and severe dehydration among other preventable water related illnesses. The community’s use of pit latrines, VIP latrines and a pit latrine with a slab will help prevent further spread of disease in the community and simultaneously promote good hygiene behaviors. There are community health workers in the area who will also support good hygiene behaviors and have the capacity to treat other ailments. The most predominant religions in the community are Protestant and Catholic. The local Catholic, Protestant and Adventist churches will continue to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the unreached. Care International, SNV and Compassion International are 3 other NGO’s working in the area to help provide family planning, social economics and health and education. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a water committee and community health club who assisted the team by contributing financially towards the water project and by supplying any materials they had available. These committees are responsible for helping maintain the well after the team leaves the area.

Phillip, the Living Water Rwanda Sustainability Coordinator, facilitated the Hygiene and sanitation training. The community health worker also facilitated the training where a total of 197 people attended the training. Using Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) the following principle issues were addressed Hand washing, proper care of pump, safe water chain, disease transmission and prevention, worms and parasites. After hygiene education, the community constructed tippy taps for single household use.

The Living Water Rwanda team had an opportunity to meet with thirty-nine year old community member and subsistence farmer, Martha Mukasine, who stated, "We have been getting our water from unprotected springs for most of the years! We also had to walk a long distance but this source is near, with clean water! Anyone in this community can get clean drinking water any time of the day."

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


We have been getting our water from unprotected springs for most of the years! We also had to walk a long distance but this source is near, with clean water! Anyone in this community can get clean drinking water any time of the day.

Martha M. - Subsistence Farmer

Contributors

Project Sponsor - First Presbyterian Church, Lake Jackson
Streams Church
Project Sponsor - First Presbyterian Church, Lake Jackson
Hamilton Community Schools
In Memory of Nirmala Sujan
Normandales Environmental biology 1110 sec 1 2013
15 individual donor(s)