May 2006 Update The African Well Fund has received photographs from the completed Angola projects. You can see them here. April 2006 Update The African Well Fund recently received word from Africare about the completion of the 2005 well project. The work has been completed. A total of 8 springs were constructed or protected. The springs serve approximately 340 families or about 1800 people. The springs project was part of a larger project that targeted malaria prevention and polio eradication. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this project possible!

The funds from this year’s Bono Birthday Fundraiser, along with other donations received by AWF, will be used to fund water projects in the Trumba comuna located in the Kuito municipality in the Bie province of Angola. Seven springs have been identified for protection. Each spring will supply water to about 50 families (250) people. One of the springs will also supply water to a school and a health post.

Africare has opted to construct or protect springs instead of wells in rural areas such as Trumba. As many of the wells have fallen into disrepair, villagers fetch water from rivers or springs, even if it means exceeding traveling distances of more than the international norm of 500 meters (none of the three proposed springs is more than 500 meters from the village). Even in the case where wells are functioning in the villages, the villages only use well water for plants, laundry and making mud blocks to construct their houses. They have a strong preference for spring or running water for cooking and drinking. In urban areas, in contrast to the rural zones, the populations have the possibility to buy buckets and ropes to draw water from wells so that the water is more potable. Africare’s experience in Bié shows that it is better to protect wells in the urban areas and construct springs in rural areas, because in the former case it is a question of ease of maintenance and cultural acceptability. The preference for spring water was the choice of the women, and approved by the elders and the village chiefs, in these targeted villages. The proposed construction of springs will be accompanied by an ongoing health, water and sanitation project that Africare is currently implementing in the project area.

 

Trumba is situated in the Central Highlands of Angola, almost in the middle of the country. Bie province shaded is presented in the map below. Trumba is 30 km north of Kuito (point next to Bié) which is the capital of Bié province. The province of Bié is surrounded in the north by Kwanza Sul, Malange and Sul provinces, in the North East by Lunda Sul, in the East by Moxico and Cuando Cubango province, in the South by Cuando Cubango province and in the West by Huambo and Cuando Cubango provinces. Trumba comuna is one of five comunas in Kuito municipality Municipalities of Bié Province: Trumba comuna is located in the dark shaded area of Kuito municipality. Trumba comuna is at a distance of 30km north of Kuito municipality. The comuna contains approximately 63 villages.

Partially constructed spring in Wongo Village (in Trumba comuna) that lacks proper protection. Note how this spring is unprotected: dirty water can enter, there is no fence and there is no separate area to do laundry.

The pictures on this page illustrate the current conditions.

Villagers looking for an acceptable site for a new spring in Trumba village

Two children transporting spring water in Chipuli village (one of the villages in Trumba comuna).

The proposed for this project will utilize approximately $31,000 in donations received by the African Well Fund to date in 2005.
The proposed four-month activity will identify sites and construct multiple water projects (gravitated spring tanks, rain water tanks and hand dug wells) for the provision of clean water, as well as facilitate the formation of and train water user committees.

In the coming months AWF will bring you updates as work progresses on these projects. We would like to thank our donors for their patience in waiting for these updates. AWF strives to achieve a balance in obtaining feedback for donors without unnecessarily burdening those working in the field. Making sure that donor dollars are used in the most effective way possible is a priority for both AWF and Africare.

To read the well report from 2004 please click here

To read the well report from 2003 please click here