MOZAMBIQUE: On eve of World Water Day an entreprenueral project in northern Mozambique makes access to clean water easier for residents

Record ID: 858782

  • Title: MOZAMBIQUE: On eve of World Water Day an entreprenueral project in northern Mozambique makes access to clean water easier for residents
  • Date: 21st March 2006
  • Summary: ROSALINA ALY GIVING CHILDREN WATER TO DRINK CLOSE UP OF BOY DRINKING WATER
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mozambique
  • City:
  • Country: Mozambique
  • Topics: Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAE4675QND9LRL0GFXACEREQL5
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  • Story Text: Across Africa, more than 300 million people lack access to clean water. And on the eve of World Water Day (March 22) while the international community is working with a number of Africa governements to help change this, many rural communities are helping themselves.
    In the rural town of Lichinga, in northern Mozambique, most residents do not have access to clean water and are forced to draw untreated water from rivers to meet their domestic needs.
    "I would like to have a clean source of water like a water pump as the water (from a pump) is hygienic - unlike what I use here," says a Lichinga resident, Rosalina Aly.
    Like other villagers in Lichinga, Rosalina uses untreated water. She is well aware of the danger this poses to her and her family, but she has no alternative.
    A few kilometres from Rosalina's homestead, Sebastiao Chitime is making a difference; he makes manual rope pumps that use a pulley wheel and valves to push up water from a covered well. The pumps are fitted with filters that help distil water, making the water from his pumps safe for domestic consumption.
    The entrepreneur started out in 2002. With the help of NGO, Action Aid, he developed the pumps and has fitted over seventy of them in various parts of the country. The pumps produce water at a rate of 40 litres per minute, which makes them twice as fast compared to ordinary hand pumps. Chitime charges the equivalent of 26 U.S. dollars to install a pump.
    "The water is clean and not contaminated as it is covered with a lid and filtered. It is also installed near the homestead so people don't have to walk far in search of water," he explains.
    Only 25% of the Mozambique's 18 million people have access to safe drinking water, and even less have access to proper sanitation such as latrines, making the susceptible to poor health, and water borne diseases.
    Having no access to tapped water also lowers productivity due to the time spent fetching water, especially in the rural areas.
    Providing clean water is a critical step to enabling the community to recover from a 16-year civil war followed by disastrous flooding in 2002.
    Chitime's pumps are becoming extremely popular.
    "I am happy with the rope pump but would like to see more installed as too many people draw water from this one and it causes delays," explains one Lichinga resident, Yolinda Alifa.
    Mozambique's government is working to improve the situation, too. The government is privatizing the management of water services to five major towns.
    While Mozambique's economy is growing fast, it will be some time before the government is able to provide infrastructure in the rural areas. In the meantime, entrepreneurs like Chitime are helping fill the gap. But if Africa is to come close to reaching its Millenium goals by 2015, far more will beed to be done.
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