A Different Approach
Cost Effective Boreholes
We have adopted an innovative practical approach to achieving measurable outcomes. Water for Africa has purchased its own borehole drilling equipment and trained its own local drilling teams. The rigs are mobile and well maintained and managed directly by Water for Africa. By cutting out the middle men the costs of installing a handpump in rural areas is always less than half the standard costs. According to the Rural Water Supply Network if the 'Millenium Development Goals' are to be met, it will will require 1000 drilling rigs to operate in Africa continuously for the next ten years.
Sustainable Rural Water Supplies
Providing water to communities in Africa has historically been challenging for many reasons. The litany of failed handpumps scattered across Africa proves this.
"For many years the failure rate had been attributed to technological reasons alone. It has now become clear that social and institutional factors play equally important roles. The critical question to ask is no longer solely, “Why do water supplies fail?”, but “Why do they fail and why haven’t communities and/or service providers kept them running?”" (RWSN Web site)
The answer is not to assume that the "community" are at fault, that they are not cohesive enough. It is because the social and economic drivers are not in place to provide the right incentives for energetic acheivers in the community.
Our goal is to promote the use of private sector entrepreneurs to purchase, maintain and sell water in communities through a franchising lease arrangement.
A generous commitment by The Chartmore Company means we are now looking to pilot this innovative approach to drilling and maintaining handpumps in the Gambia and across West Africa.
- How We Are Different
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We are constantly bombarded with request for support for the developing world and we need to know it is making a difference and reaching the communities on the ground
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- Healthcare
One woman dies every minute from in pregnancy and childbirth, each year more than 536,000 women die due to complications and 10 million more suffer debilitating illnesses and lifelong disabilities.
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- Cost Effective Drilling
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Close to half of all people in developing countries are suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
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- Changing Lives
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Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. - Chinese Proverb
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