Water  Harvesting Project for Nzau Village

For fifty years, according to the village elder, the villagers have been talking to the Indian government about getting water supplies – to no avail. AfrAsia-link volunteers visited village, saw the problem at first hand and discussed solutions with the villagers. 

During the dry season – Nov to April – no rain falls and there is no water in the village for drinking, bathing or washing clothes. So, what they do is walk downhill approximately 100 m below the village to where there are ponds – three for bathing, one for washing clothes and one for water collection. When this water runs out (Jan to March) they go to another area, which is a further 100 metres down and 4 kilometres away.                                                  

To collect water, ladies spend most of their day, going up and down hill with bamboo vessels, so that they can provide water for their families.

Several solutions to the problem were discussed but, on the basis that simple is often best, we decided to install two one thousand litre rain harvesting tanks at each house. There is plentiful rainfall in the wet the season and the tanks will provide fresh water for drinking and cooking for all families. This is Phase 1, and Phase 2 will be to provide bathing and clothes washing facilities in the village. 

Given that much time is spent transporting water, NARUDA can also help to set up small businesses, such as cloth weaving, whereby the villagers can make a sustainable income to help bring themselves out of poverty.

There are 100 houses, so we are looking for 200 tanks. Each tank costs £50 and transport from Dimapur (100 km away on unmade-up roads) is £12.50. So total project cost is £12,500. This will make a huge difference to the 600 people who live there. Please make a contribution via our “Donate” page.

vvvvvv