Last year, your donations to our Ali Asghar Water Appeal meant we could build 8 Solar Powered Water Wells in Tanzania. We have been working with our partners in Tanzania to build these wells to give the communities easy access to clean and safe water.
Alhamdulillah, we have completed three of these and the others are continuing to be built. The three we have built are located in the Dimba Village Centre, Kaseke Village Centre and Igalula Village Centre.
Dimba Village:
In the remote Dimba Village, which is home to approximately 1000 people, there is no access to water for the villagers. There are no main roads, no adequate health care, education or social services. Most of the residents are poor farmers, who need water to grow their crops and make a living. To bring water for their families, the villagers have to travel for up to three hours and even then, the water they will be bringing home isn’t clean. The water is drawn from a small stream and can cause many illnesses to the people who have to consume it.
This Solar Powered Well has made a big difference in the lives of these villagers. They have access to clean and safe water, which is not just for drinking but also for cooking, cleaning and growing crops which they can sell. This can help them lift themselves out of poverty.
Kaseke Village:
Kaseke Village is home to around 250 families, the heads of which are primarily farmers and fishermen. Before your donations allowed us to build a Solar Powered Well, the women and young girls would have to travel to the lake to bring unclean water back. These journeys would often result in the women and girls being abused.
Since its implementation, the Solar Powered Well has brought great relief to the families. The women and girls no longer have to take risks on the long journey to get water and the easy access means the farmers can spend more time on their crops. Some of them have started using the Solar Powered Well to grow tomatoes and have plans to grow more fruits and vegetables to sell at the market. This shows the long-term and sustainable impact the well has had on this village.
Igalula Village:
The residents of Igalula village, approximately 400 families, were the third recipients of a Solar Powered Well. The villagers who live there are either farmers, fishermen or traders, working hard to provide for their families. The village is quite remote with the only access to water being a lake a long walk away. As the men of the families are working, it is usually the women who have to go collect the water, having to lift the heavy buckets for long distances and risking being attacked.
This is something that is no longer a worry thanks to your generous donations. The Solar Powered Well pumps water from the lake, which also stops the lake being polluted and the local people now have continuous access to clean water without having to walk long distances. In addition to this, the local mosque, which is 400m from the lake, can also access water from this Solar Powered Well for wudhu.
Kigoma Town
This locality is home to about 600 families consisting of almost 3,000 individuals. There are Masjids, Madrassahs and several schools doted around the area.
The water scarcity meant that residents would either have to walk several kilometres a day in search of water or they had to buy 20 litre buckets at inflated prices. Whatever water was obtained was not clean or safe to consume. Aside from that, they would usually have to forgo taking a bath for days.
This Solar Powered Well has revolutionized their lives by easing basic drinking and washing needs. Vulnerable women, young children and the elderly no longer have to trek far distances and can focus on earning a living, going to school and attending prayers.
One resident said she prays for Allah (SWT) every day to bless the donors for helping ease their daily burden to find water.
Katumbi Village
This village is located a short distance from Lake Tanganyika, housing 400 families made up of mostly farmers, some fisherman and traders. There are several schools, mosques and medical dispensaries in the area. Over the years, the daily struggle to find water has seriously undermined the health, education and economic prospects of this 1000-strong community.
The newly constructed Solar Powered Well is now successfully pumping clean water to various areas of the village. Amongst other benefits, this has safeguarded women and young girls – who were previously responsible for fetching water – from abuse. It has also ensured that farmers have easy access to water in order to irrigate their crops. An added bonus is that pumping water to the village directly has helped conserve Lake Tanganyika from pollution.
Karago Village
Approximately 400 families inhabit this village. It is a thriving locale with mosques, schools and medical dispensaries. While the men are busy long hours focusing on earning a living through fishing and farming, it falls on the women, children and elderly to manage the daily struggle of finding and fetching water. Often this search is repeated several times in a day, depending on how much water can be carried at one time.
The new Solar Powered Well has been regarded as a godsend by the entire village – something as simple as having easy access to clean, safe water has changed their lives forever. It has provided local communities the means to live a cleaner & safer lifestyle, the chance to focus on earning a livelihood and children are better able to use their time to go to school instead of constantly searching for water.
How do Solar Powered Wells work?
Solar power technology uses the sun to generate electricity, which helps to pump water up from deep under the ground. This gives access to long-lasting water sources which may have been previously hard to get to. When the well draws up water, through motorised pumps powered by solar energy, it will be stored in a large tank, enabling quick and effortless access to water, whenever needed.
With a simple irrigation set-up, the solar-powered wells can be used to help grow crops and feed animals, making this project life-transforming for an entire village.
You can find out about our current long-term water and sanitation projects here.
