Water supply for a girls' school in Tanzania

The Baramba Girs Secondary School is located on a high plateau in approx. 1,600 metres height in the north of Tanzania near the borders to Rwanda and Burundi. The region was characterised by flows of refugees from the neighbouring countries in the 1980s and 1990s for whom the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) built the “Benaco Camp“ on the Tanzanian side. With the provision of approx. 750,000 refugees by several NGOs the school was integrated in a functioning water supply. After the return of the last refugees to Burundi by the end of 2008 and the abandoning of the region by the NGOs the school is dependent on itself. Responsible body is the NGO “Marafiki wa Africa Tanzania“, which as a partner organisation is closely involved in the project.

Our project aims to construct a drinking and domestic water supply for about 200 pupils who live on the school campus as well as for the school's teachers and their families. It is planned to build rain water supply with water tanks, which will be watered during the rainy season by the roof surfaces. This method is a common and well adapted technology for the region, characterised by low follow-up costs, independence from the public mains, and the need for a low level of maintenance.
Aim of the project is to improve the living and learning conditions as well as the hygienic situation of the girls by a reliable water supply and to reduce the physically demanding and time-consuming work of carrying water.

On the other hand the project has the aim to “help to self-help“, by which a development process in the school gets started, in which
self-responsibility is strengthened and other steps will be entailed in the long term. Furthermore the local economy and crafts will be supported by the purchase of building materials and the awarding of construction contracts. Read more