In June 2020, the ALB Water Team helped to build 2 – 5,000 liter water tanks in Uma Sendi. Since then, we have developed a relationship with the local leaders and have heard of further water needs in the village. We are happy to see the enthusiasm of these leaders to help different areas of the village all have access to water. Working with the village leaders, our team identified 25 families that still needed assistance to have access to water.
Uma Sendi is a very dry and barren landscape and it has been a challenge for the village to have enough water for cooking, drinking, washing and bathing. Their one water source is approximately 300 meters down the mountain from the community. This means that the community has to use pumps to get the water from the source to their houses or they have to navigate a steep, slippery, rocky path to the water source at the bottom of a ravine and then carry huge water jugs that can hold 15-30 liters of water back up the ravine path to their homes.
The areas of the village that could pipe water closer to their homes used makeshift water reservoirs to store water. They would dig a hole in their yard and line it with a tarp. However, this solution didn’t really work because the plastic cracked and leaked pretty easily and had to be change every year.
At the water source, there was no holding tank, it was just one pipe of water for everyone to share. It can take up to 4 hours to pump water up to the homes which created problems. If there was a group pumping water, the other groups had to wait their turn to pump water, shower or wash clothes.
From May to July, the ALB Water Team and the local communities worked together to build 2 water tanks with a capacity of 5,000 liters near their homes and lay pipe. Each tank takes 4 days to build from making the foundation, to the tank wall, and the tank cover. The community was very excited to work together in making tanks.
Then in August, the ALB water team built a tank with a capacity of 15,000 liters to be used as a water storage tank near the water source. This is where the community showers, washes clothes, and pumps water up to their homes. Before having this water storage tank, people were constantly waiting in line for their time to have access to the water. Now that there is this holding tank, the community can connect 3 pumps at once and still have a place to shower and wash clothes at the same time. This helps provide water for 7 water groups in the village.
The community is very thankful for the positive impact this has made in their village. They hope that everything that the ALB water team has done for them will become a bridge for continued good community relationships. They are hopeful the water tanks and pipes will be able to be used for a long time. Since they now have a large storage tank, their needs for water are met and obtaining water is much easier since water is truly accessible. After the tanks were finished, the community hopes that they can store more water than before and enjoy clean water. The community feels that this water project has met their all their water needs - for drinking, bathing, cooking, raising livestock, and farming.