Project 2 - Namballa, Tanzania

8000 liter Rain Catchment System

When:

February 2006

Tank Material:

Purchased Polyethylene Tank

Project Duration:

5 days

Recipients:

Village School

Project Results:

water for sanitation and garden

In Namballa, Tanzania and most of Africa, children bring a bucket to school like the western children bring a back pack. Everyday at 2:30, all the school children would walk 3 miles to a stream that was infected with disease and polluted with trash. They would take turns straddling the stream and cupping their hands to fill their buckets. They would then walk back to the school some carrying 40 pounds of water. The school has no bathroom or running water. When we met with school, we learned that when a child needs a bathroom, they are often sent to the teachers house or they are sent home. When a girl student reaches puberty, she is often then denied an education. The school has no facilities to support when she menstruates, so the most efficient thing to do is to put her to work. Within a day of meeting with the school, we called a meeting with the crew of people we were working with on the farm project. We told them we wanted to do something for the village school. They all donated their time to help to build the school project as it affected each of them independently. Each of them had at least one child attending the school. They expressed the following sentiment:

What you have given to us, we will give to our children.

Today, the school children are no longer walking to the stream to collect water. The system is close to full and providing them with the water they require for the sanitation and gardening for the school.

"You can blame people who knock things over in the dark, or you can begin to light candles. You're only at fault if you know about the problem and choose to do nothing."

~Paul Hawken

• Namballa, Tanzania - Project 1
• Photo Album
• What's Next  - Project  3