Tanzania

Solar & wind power water treatment systems and water enterprise in rural village

Tanzania is home to over 51 million people, with 70% of its residents living in rural areas and only 44% of rural residents with access to an improved water source. About 23 million people do not have access to safe water, nearly half of the Tanzania population. For people in rural Tanzania, just having a glass of water can be a dangerous thing. Children from neighboring villages travel over 5 miles to get access to contaminated water because they have no other option.  Access to safe water changes everything for these villages around Tanzania.

Wristsponsible is working with the AMSK and H2OpenDoors to implement sustainable water enterprise systems for communities in Northern Tanzania.  We implemented our first project in October 2017 and plan to return again in July 2018 for the famous Saba-Saba cultural festival.

Water for ShinYanga Village is taken from an open well that is highly contaminated from both human and animal waste. The majority of people don't have access to pit latrines and open defecation is common. Many people constantly live with stomach illness as access to safe water is limited and personal sanitation is not well understood or practiced. Children in particular are susceptible to getting sick from the water. The severity of these problems can be seen here in this video:


 

Instead of spending their income on improving their farms, starting small businesses or paying school fees, many families must use what little they have to pay for medicine and transportation to regional hospitals.  This could all be avoided with improved sanitation and safe water. In October 2017, we successfully installed a water treatment and enterprise system. The scope of this project and impact can be seen at video below.