Clean Water in Njiro!

In 2017, Empower Tanzania set out to provide clean water to the 1,750 people of the village of Njiro, Tanzania. Thanks to the funds from the Davenport Water Party and our staff on the ground in Tanzania, clean water is flowing!

Before the clean water solution…

>Women and children collected water from a source that was approximate 10–14 km away. Because they spent so much time walking for water, women were not able to work and children (mainly girls) were unable to attend school.

>Because so many people were using the water source miles away, only two to four buckets of water per household per week (sometimes per two weeks) were allowed. To supplement, people had to use puddles and/or hand-dug holes. Diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, typhoid and other water-borne illnesses make people sick. Children were especially vulnerable and often die of these conditions.

>Women and children were raped early in the morning and late in the evening when fetching water.

>Children were struggling academically because they were tired from walking far distances to look for water.

>Children did not receive a meal at school because there was no water for cooking.

>Women and children were attacked by wild animals while fetching water because of the village’s proximity to Mkomazi Game Park.

>Some of the Njiro Primary School classrooms needed repair, but new bricks could not be laid because of the lack of water.

>People could not build “modern houses” and the village cannot make progress with infrastructure because there is no water to lay bricks.

But now….

Empower Tanzania staff worked alongside government officials, well drilling companies trained by Empower Tanzania (made possible with past Water Party funds), and community members to engineer a new system, purchase a solar pump, solar panels, and control equipment, procure proper testing of functionality and water quality, purchase necessary tanks, pipes, and valves, administer civil work (foundation, new building, valve boxes), engineer and build six distribution points throughout the community, and engage with community for proper buy-in and train locals, enabling them to fix mechanical problems that should arise and establish a local management committee.

And today, clean water flows and life is much, much easier for the 1,750+ people of Njiro. Hooray!