Water supply: Typically 'African Problem'?
Water solution after 12 years or What I learned from the struggle with drought
In February 2021, just in time for Corona time, the water supply in the Kandongu project could be secured! Almost 400 children, 7 hectares of the school's own farm and the community of about 20 brothers and workers on site are supplied. This place is an example for the whole area.
12 years of struggle with drought
10 water barrels were purchased in 12 years, hundreds of meters of rain gutters were installed, and pumps were installed at the nearby waterhole. But water was always a scarce commodity. In the dry season, water had to be drawn from rivers in the surrounding area, showering and washing clothes was reduced and the harvest dried up as soon as expected rain failed to materialize.
A well ensures farm, drinking water and hygiene
Then, at the beginning of 2021, after two attempts, it was possible to dig a well of sufficient depth to supply the whole school with a pump and a water level. The value of this achievement can be guessed at, but perhaps only really understood if one has walked, felt, thought the whole way.
A typical African problem? What I learned from the fight for water
„I have learned here to value every drop of water. Here, the uncompromising dependence of every life on this liquid gold is palpable, whereas in Germany we can easily feel separated from this fact.”
For the first time, I have tangibly experienced here what affects us worldwide: we are dependent on water as on nothing else. That water is life seems clear and perhaps banal to us. But in our self-evident mass consumption of water there is also the truth that we have forgotten that water is an element of our planet, not a product of waterworks. Water is only there as long as we are mindful of water, as long as we not only recognize our dependence on nature, but maintain it in an appreciative way, and if we stop believing that problems such as 'water scarcity' only affect countries where aid organizations drill water holes and build wells. The dependency is the same - here as there, only we have partially forgotten the reference and the measure.
I am grateful for this valuable reminder that I experience here in the Kandongu project.
