What's next? Water!

For the past year and a half, most of the posts here have revolved around the construction of Mpalapande Primary School. Finally, the school is completed, and the first class of sixty students are attending school in their own village, without the hours of walking to the next closest school, some 6-8 kilometers away.

Bwana Yesu Asifiwe!  Praise the Lord Jesus!

So what's next?

Well, now it's time to address some issues of water.

Mpalapande Village receives its water from a pipeline that starts in the hills around Mapogoro, follows the roadside, then continues to Mpalapande and Kitisi. The pipeline has been in place for thirty some years and was designed to provide villagers with water at 16 public spigots.

Over time, individuals have tapped into the pipeline to bring water closer to their own homes. I've been told there are now some 60 places where the public water is connected for private use.  That, of course, has an effect on the amount of water available for those 16 public spigots.

In Mpalapande, water is only available at the spigot near the church for two hours at a time, twice a week.

You might be wondering about the water situation at the school.  Construction included a large water holding tank (above). That tank is connected to the water spigot in front of the school, and pipelines connect from the tank to the toilets and hand washing stations.

However, the tank needs to be connected to the main water line.  For now, students and their parents are carrying water from the church spigot to the school for daily use.

To understand the situation from a Tanzanian's perspective, I asked a number of people whether the government would even allow the school to open without a connection to the water source.  Every person I asked looked at me like it was something I need not be concerned about.  "Kids can carry water," they explained as if it was obvious. To them, carrying water a half kilometer was nothing compared to walking the long distance to their previous school. 

While carrying water is a short term solution, we and our partners are committed to a longer term solution.  We've been working with people from St Paul Partners, a water and sanitation group that operates as an NGO in Tanzania. The plan is to construct a pipeline from the Mapogoro main line, parallel to the existing pipeline, delivering water directly to the school. The members of the parish will provide volunteer labor to dig the pipeline, St Paul Partners will coordinate with the local water committee and regional water engineers, and Shepherd of the Valley will provide the funding.

At the same time, we have a second partner with another existing need for water. 

Our friends in the village of Ikwavila (part of Makifu Parish) have been telling us for six years about their need for water.  The women of this village take a ten minute walk up hill to a dry riverbed, where they have this little seep of water. Families have to stagger their water collection times, to allow the seep to refill after one family takes a bucket of water.

This part of the project will be an extension of the water project at Mahove.

Again, the local people will provide the labor, St Paul Partners will provide expertise, and Shepherd of the Valley will provide funding.

So let's talk about that funding part.

In July 2011, on the hottest weekend of the summer, Shepherd of the Valley members walked for water and raised $30,000 for the Mahove water project.

We walked to a nearby park, collected water and carried it back to church, where it was used to water gardens and landscaping. 

The walking and the carrying allowed us to experience in a small way the lives of our partners. Water is heavy - a five gallon pail of water weighs about 40 pounds! Imagine carrying water for all your drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning needs. Then carry more water for your garden and your animals.

Tanzanian women and girls carry water every day.  They spend hours carrying water in Ikwavila.

When water came to Mahove, we saw how it changed lives.  Instead of spending their days carrying water, girls were free to attend school. Women had time to plant more crops and feed their families better. 

We can help make that happen in Ikwavila and Mpalapande, too.

On the weekend of April 14-15, please plan to participate in our Walk for Water.

Pray for our partners, and for the project.

Walk to experience a small piece of Tanzanian daily life.

Give generously to support the project.