To celebrate a million dollars raised, we're taking the opportunity to
look back at the projects which your donations have made possible. Second in our series: Rwanda!
Known as "The Land of a Thousand Hills," Rwanda is a mountainous, temperate country in central Africa that boasts an enormous diversity of plant and animal life, including the critically endangered mountain gorillas. The population is young and predominately rural, with over 90 percent working in agriculture, producing the country's major cash crops tea and coffee. Continuously populated for at least 5,000 years, Rwanda is home to three major groups--the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, believed to have descended from Rwanda's earliest inhabitants.
Ethnic instability between these groups, particularly the Hutu and Tutsi, erupted in 1994. Within three months, 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed by organized government and rebel groups following the assassination of Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana. Two million others fled as refugees, though most have now returned. The conflict had devastating effects on the economic and social structure of Rwanda, and reconciliation is ongoing.
Rwanda possesses an innately fertile ecosystem with abundant rainfall; however, its population density (among the highest in Africa) and reliance on agriculture have taxed its natural water resources. Deforestation and erosion have reduced spring productivity, which is the main source of rural water supply. In addition, the civil war and genocide left up to half of rural water schemes inoperable in 2004, necessitating great infrastructure restoration.
Lack of water greatly affects the entire population, but women and children are especially hard-hit. In some regions, more than one in five households are more than an hour away from water, and even where water is available, waits of more than four hours at water sources are common.
The early 21st century saw increasing decentralization of the Rwandan government, giving local districts greater authority to develop and manage their own water infrastructure. Following success in neighboring Uganda, the local government in the Northern Byumba Province contracted out their service to the local private sector, leading to a private-public partnership that has since become the model supported by the national government for infrastructure investment in Rwanda.
Water access has since improved from approximately 41 percent in 2001 to 55 percent in 2005, and government figures show access continuing to rise to 71 percent in 2007. Despite the great gains in water access, sanitation access remains as low as 8 percent in rural areas. The Rwandan government has set a goal of universal access to water and sanitation by 2020, led by these public-private partnerships.
African Well Fund funded a project implemented by Africare that created a water point for the Kigeme Primary School in Nyamagabe District, with a goal of providing water for the 800 students at the school and 3,000 members of the local community. In addition, the project sought to improve hygiene through increased sanitation access.
To construct the well, water was tapped from a nearby refugee camp reservoir and directed to a newly constructed reservoir at Kigeme Primary School. Funds from AWF provided for the construction of the reservoir, and for the procurement of the booster pump, water pipes and fountains.
With a July 16, 2007 start date, the project was declared complete on Nov. 26, 2007.
Known as "The Land of a Thousand Hills," Rwanda is a mountainous, temperate country in central Africa that boasts an enormous diversity of plant and animal life, including the critically endangered mountain gorillas. The population is young and predominately rural, with over 90 percent working in agriculture, producing the country's major cash crops tea and coffee. Continuously populated for at least 5,000 years, Rwanda is home to three major groups--the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, believed to have descended from Rwanda's earliest inhabitants.
Ethnic instability between these groups, particularly the Hutu and Tutsi, erupted in 1994. Within three months, 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed by organized government and rebel groups following the assassination of Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana. Two million others fled as refugees, though most have now returned. The conflict had devastating effects on the economic and social structure of Rwanda, and reconciliation is ongoing.
Rwanda possesses an innately fertile ecosystem with abundant rainfall; however, its population density (among the highest in Africa) and reliance on agriculture have taxed its natural water resources. Deforestation and erosion have reduced spring productivity, which is the main source of rural water supply. In addition, the civil war and genocide left up to half of rural water schemes inoperable in 2004, necessitating great infrastructure restoration.
Lack of water greatly affects the entire population, but women and children are especially hard-hit. In some regions, more than one in five households are more than an hour away from water, and even where water is available, waits of more than four hours at water sources are common.
The early 21st century saw increasing decentralization of the Rwandan government, giving local districts greater authority to develop and manage their own water infrastructure. Following success in neighboring Uganda, the local government in the Northern Byumba Province contracted out their service to the local private sector, leading to a private-public partnership that has since become the model supported by the national government for infrastructure investment in Rwanda.
Water access has since improved from approximately 41 percent in 2001 to 55 percent in 2005, and government figures show access continuing to rise to 71 percent in 2007. Despite the great gains in water access, sanitation access remains as low as 8 percent in rural areas. The Rwandan government has set a goal of universal access to water and sanitation by 2020, led by these public-private partnerships.
African Well Fund funded a project implemented by Africare that created a water point for the Kigeme Primary School in Nyamagabe District, with a goal of providing water for the 800 students at the school and 3,000 members of the local community. In addition, the project sought to improve hygiene through increased sanitation access.
To construct the well, water was tapped from a nearby refugee camp reservoir and directed to a newly constructed reservoir at Kigeme Primary School. Funds from AWF provided for the construction of the reservoir, and for the procurement of the booster pump, water pipes and fountains.
With a July 16, 2007 start date, the project was declared complete on Nov. 26, 2007.
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