Annual Report & Financial Statements 2007
Islamic Relief Worldwide & Subsidiary Undertakings
WORKING FOR CLEAN WATER
In Kenya we are working to build new water pans in dry, arid areas. These have filtration systems and water tanks, giving people access to safe water
Each one of us relies on water for drinking, washing and for growing food. And yet for many people finding enough water for them and their families is a daily struggle. A lack of clean water can cause serious illness such as cholera and diarrhoea, which in communities with little healthcare can be fatal.
The burden of finding and collecting water often falls on women and children. They may have to walk for many hours to find a source of water, affecting their health and their ability to make a living and get an education.
We work to provide communities with sustainable sources of clean, safe water to help improve their health and overall development. We do this by building and rehabilitating wells, installing hand pumps and constructing traditional water collection systems. We also provide communities with training on how to maintain and repair the water sources to ensure their sustainability.
Malawi
In the densely populated country of Malawi, many people face a daily struggle to find water. When they do it is often from rivers or streams that are dirty and contaminated. To address this problem, we drilled 12 boreholes during 2007 in the southern districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje. Most of these were in rural, impoverished villages, and one was dug at the Chikwawa Prison. Each borehole was fitted with a hand-pump so that the local communities now have access to clean, safe water.
Cyclical drought
Most people in the Mandera region of Kenya are pastoralists who raise livestock for food and income. However, cyclical droughts in the region regularly decimate people’s herds of animals and create serious food shortages. A severe drought in 2006 wiped out around 70 per cent of people’s animals to which we responded by providing emergency water, food and nutritional support. Although the region was no longer in the grip of a drought in 2007, many people still had problems finding sources of water. Women and children have to walk for many hours to find water, and when they do it is often dirty putting them at risk of serious diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
To help local communities in Mandera access water, during 2007 we rehabilitated two river-based water supply systems and two water filtration systems. We also rehabilitated two water pans and wells that had fallen into disrepair. Local people were hired to dig the water pans and lay the pipes, providing them with a much needed source of income. Completed water pans have a filtration system and a tank to store clean water, meaning people no longer have to risk their health by drinking dirty water. Animals also have separate troughs to prevent contamination.
To ensure the water sources are sustainable, we trained 18 water committees that are now managing and maintaining the new facilities. 44 Community health workers, 22 village health committees and 22 hygiene and sanitation committees were also trained during 2007 on health and hygiene practices. This has improved the health of the local population and is helping to prevent incidences of waterborne diseases.
Somalia and the Somali region of Ethiopia also face regular drought and food shortages. To help tackle this problem, we provided internally displaced people in four camps in Afgooye, Somalia with 200,000 litres of water per day. This intervention has dramatically reduced the number of people suffering from waterborne diseases.
Working with UNICEF in Ethiopia, we also provided 18,500 people with access to safe water by digging new boreholes and installing hand pumps. We also constructed latrines that will benefit 500 people and organised sanitation and hygiene training for the local community.
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