Money turns to water
TASTE Project Update
In April we were delighted to announce we had been able to donate £5000 from our first year’s profits to TASTE (Transfer of Appropriate Sustainable Technology & Expertise) and we have now had notification that the money is already being spent.
It was earmarked to help a village community in the Plateau State of Nigeria, which is a very militant area. The villagers had had no access to clean water for the last 7 years since their borehole broke down. Because of the dangers of ambush, no drilling company was willing to go into the village to repair it. A drilling company that did go in to drill a borehole had to abandon the work due to threats of violence from the Militants.
However, as you can see in the photos below, TASTE have now repaired the two boreholes and clean, fresh water is running in the village to the delight of all the villagers. Restoration of these boreholes significantly increases access by the village to clean drinking water and also gives them greater security as they do not have to leave the relative safety of the village in search of water.
The Community has asked for an additional borehole to be drilled as the borehole which had to be abandoned due to the troubles, dries up during the Dry Season. It was hurriedly carried out and so did not go deep enough. The TASTE Drilling Team have carried out a feasibility study and are happy that an additional borehole can be provided for the community from the original £5,000 donation.
The other aspect of TASTE’s work is education for the villagers, helping them understand the root causes of water related diseases. The village head agreed to a TASTE worker going on to provide a Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Workshop (WASH). This involved teaching the villagers the correct use of the water & sanitation facilities, and establishing a committee of local people to ensure the community puts into practice all the lessons learned about good basic hygiene practices delivered during the WASH Workshop. The committee also helped choose appropriate locations for the five latrines which TASTE started building on Monday 20 June for the community. A community led total sanitation programme focused on sustained behavioural change has a much greater degree of success in keeping the community healthy.