With so much of our focus on the short-term water projects we’re working on in Sudan during the referendum, I thought it would be timely to expand on our longer-term water initiatives in Cameroon.
In almost all instances, the job of getting water for the family falls on the women and children; and it is definitely a job: the nearest clean water source is often many kilometres from home and collecting water is usually a full day walking.
Children are regularly kept home from school and arthritis is a widespread condition for women. As a result, families frequently resort to drinking water that is closer to the village, but contaminated from being used as a toilet and to wash or prepare chickens.
The Obakki Foundation forms a water committee within the villages when we commence a water project. We provide the tools, supplies and engineering expertise while villagers help with the construction.
A natural water source is located and we hike in the supplies to create a catchment, which is a dam created to produce pressure that feeds the water down the pipeline into a holding tank.
Separate pipelines run from this catchment to different pump stations in other villages. The entire system is gravity-fed and one project can reach numerous villages, providing water to thousands of people. Progress is slow because construction is hampered by the rainy season and it takes the duration of the dry season to complete; however, once it’s completed the results are immediate and long-lasting.
Tags: Africa, Cameroon, clean water, Obakki Foundation, Treana Peake, water projects
That is really cool! I always wondered how it was done…
This is really great to see. Keep up the great work.
Cool to see how waterpipelines come together. Thanks for the pictures, much easier to visualize now
It is great that the people in the villages can participate in the construction, then they have a clearer concept of how it works, thus they can fix it if problems arrise
Thanks so much for your updates Treana