The aim of the project is to help the residents of Toloha village, located in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania - district of Mwanga - with clean drinking water supply and thus enable a dramatic improvement of their living and income situation.
Toloha is a very remote village on the border with Kenya. The nearest paved road is about 25km away. Currently the residents of Toloha mainly live on small scale agriculture and animal husbandry. The dry, arid environment makes them 100 % dependent on the rainy seasons and the availability of water. Recurring droughts and the long distances to local water sources led to poorest living conditions with many diseases and rural depopulation.
Several attempts to drill for groundwater sources have failed repeatedly in the past years, since no water was found. On the other hand, the now configured system with the distribution by gravity only provides a cost effective and maintainable low cost alternative.
In 2012, as part of my work as an development aid advisor, I conducted together with the team of the District Water Engineer Office preliminary investigations for the renewal of the water supply of the village. Funding for the project was not given at this time. It was clear that the villagers would not make it alone on their own. In June 2013, finally, the key features of the pipeline route were determined on site by a team of the "Toloha Partnership" project, together with the villagers. For this purpose, GPS mapping was carried out from the mountain spring to the elevated tank and a pipe system was designed. In February 2014 first excavation work by the villagers shall begin.
The design consists of an 8km long supply line from a spring at the foot of the North Pare Mountains to a raiser tank in the Toloha plains. From there the water is directed to the scattered homes and cattle troughs. Other inhabitants of the region, such as the Maasai living there with their herds of cattle are expected to benefit from the project. In total an estimated number of more than 6000 people can be supplied by the new water line.
The village community has already established a "Toloha Water Organization" and registered in the district administration. This COWSO (Community Owned Water and Sanitation Organization) will take over the responsibility for the subsequent operation, maintenance and use of the fee revenue. Adequate training for the employees of the COWSO is part of the project as well.
In the medium term, the project will help with its follow-up activities in development of the local infrastructure, the establishment and maintenance of a hospital, an orphanage and to develop additional sources of income.
http://www.tolohapartnership.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8mi8l4rEC0
