Clear water for Carabane
USAID supports island’s first potable water supply
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Binta Seck (right) fills her water container at the end of a
day in the rice fields. The new pump on Carabane Island, guarded by Abdou Diatta
(left) is a welcome development - it is the first source of potable water for
islanders. Photo by R. Nyberg, USAID.
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Abdou Diatta has a new task on Senegal’s remote island of Carabane. He
guards the pump that brings the first clean drinking water for inhabitants of
the Casamance region’s former colonial capital. From morning to night, he
opens the gate and unlocks the pump to allow people to fill their buckets and
bottles. Some stop by just for a drink. It’s still hard for the people here
to believe, but this water doesn’t make them sick.
For decades, the 500 people living on Carabane Island – an old stopover
along a slave trade route to the Americas – have had to buy and transport
their drinking water from the mainland. Large, motorized canoes, called pirogues,
brought it in from Elinkine, a small town about a half hour away. Elinkine’s
water also comes as a result of USAID assistance; the Agency paid to rehabilitate
two wells and provided one pirogue for Carabane. Water obtained this way from
the mainland cost 60 cents for 20 liters. But rice farmers and fishermen with
limited means could not afford it and consequently have had to run the risk of
getting diarrhea and other stomach ills from contaminated sources. And many did.
Village chief Ibrahima Gueye was one of them. He searched for solutions for
a long time, and finally learned about the USAID-supported project in Ziguinchor
to train local pump manufacturers, implemented by EnterpriseWorks/Vita (EWV).
After collecting funds from the community and additional financial support from
the Rotary Club, he got in contact with EWV technicians and the local craftsmen
they trained in May 2005. The pump, which is constructed with an old motor scooter
wheel, plastic pipes, and other locally-available parts, was installed a month
later.
Good reports keep streaming in. “This water pump is something highly
valuable for us. This is why we fenced it and designated a person to take care
of it because our kids might break it,” Mr. Gueye said.
“Since we had this pump, diseases related to contaminated water have
disappeared and potable water is available for all without discrimination,”
noted Mr. Gueye, who said the pump has been his greatest success as a village
chief.
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Awa Badji draws in a refreshing drink of clear water at Carabane
Island’s new pump. Photo by R. Nyberg, USAID.
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But you don’t have to take his word for it. Binta Seck, a 40-year-old
mother of six, is equally pleased. “I’m very proud of this pump,”
she said after taking a long drink. “Before, my family couldn’t afford
to buy water from the mainland, but now we have good, clean water – for
free. My family comes here to fill up every day, and we’ve never had a stomach
ache drinking this water.”
The water was analyzed in a laboratory in the capital Dakar and tourist operators
also paid to have another sample tested in France: results indicate that the water
is potable. A customer survey conducted among 232 islanders also show high levels
of user satisfaction.
The savings mean a lot to the islanders. Pape Ndiaye, a tall teenager, fetches
40 liters of free drinking water a day for his family of 11. It would cost his
family $36 a month if they bought it in Elinkine.
The good news has traveled swiftly by pirogue to the nearby islands of Diogué,
Kassel, Saloulou, and Niomoune, which have also sent in their requests for the
locally-produced pumps. With the USAID-financed technical training, local craftsmen
have constructed and sold 90 pumps and 100 tube wells since 2004, benefiting over
7,000 people. With their new know-how, local manufacturers continue to help ensure
potable water supply for Senegalese villages.
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