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Africa Projects

Burkina Faso, West Africa

Project Highlight: Deou, Burkina Faso

Women carrying water in Deou, Burkina Faso

Villagers in Deou face many basic challenges including limited infrastructure as there are few roads, no electricity, and no municipal water supply. Water is pumped, mostly by hand, from great depth via a few wells. Many of these wells have gone dry, forcing women and children to spend much of their day walking long distances, and waiting in long lines to fill their buckets from a trickle and then carry them on their heads for the long trek home. This process can take up to 24 hours during the dry season, so family members must take turns. When wells are on private land the water must be purchased at high fees.  

The village of Deou has requested WMGi's help to plan and implement their watershed activities, specifically with ensuring that erosion is limited and water catchments (called boulis) do not fill up with silt. WMGi will also assist with techniques to increase ground water recharge around wells so that people and animals have access to water year round. WMG is partnering with a non-government organization, AMURT, who has been in the community for over 20 years, and has worked with a WMG member in the past in neighboring Ghana.

WMGi is planning a trip to provide assistance to the village of Deou in early 2010. We are hoping to raise just $5000 to send two WMG members to the community for a month. The need in Deou is immeasurable – and we can have a direct impact.

WMG Partner: AMURT - Project leader

 

Ghana, West Africa

Project Highlight: Mafi Zongo, Ghana

WMG’s Engineer/Sanitation Specialist, Sowmya Somnath is a professional mentor for the University of Arizona Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) for a water project in Mafi Zongo, Ghana.  The project started in 2004 and was completed in June 2009. 

The project serves 10,000 people located in 30 villages and consists of designing and building a new roughing filter to repair an existing sand filter.  Sowmya was part of an assessment trip in August 2006 and an implementation/construction trip in Feb 2009 and worked on design and construction management of the filter.

Strong local community leadership and village investment were key factors in making this a successful project.

WMG Partner: Engineers Without Borders - University of Arizona Chapter - Project leader

 



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