The Africa team, Engineers Without Borders Israel - Tel Aviv recently returned from a two-week expedition in Tanzania. The project deals with the supply of clean drinking water to rural areas in Africa and has 20 volunteers from diverse fields who manage the project from end to end throughout the year
Written in collaboration with Ofir Inbar.
The water sources used by the local population The water sources used by the local population : members of the delegation. From right to left, top row: Noam Kochavi, Michal Shaham, Mor Vogshal, Or Filak, Ofir Inbar, Yuval Eshat. Sitting: Sharon Berkowitz, Assaf Nitzan, Guy Dan Building a collaboration with a local university for water quality testing. Building the system together with the local guys Transfer of education systems on water and hygiene issues Transfer of education systems on water and hygiene issues Ceremony for the completion of building a system at the school A rainwater harvesting system built by staff at a school in Babati District, Tanzania.
The Africa team, Engineers Without Borders Israel - Tel Aviv recently returned from a two-week expedition in Tanzania. The project deals with the supply of clean drinking water to rural areas in Africa and has 20 volunteers from diverse fields who manage the project from end to end throughout the year: from fundraising and marketing to construction and implementation of the systems in the field, and has been operating continuously since 2013 in the Babati district of northern Tanzania. The team is entirely composed of undergraduate students , and a third at Tel Aviv University, and maintains close cooperation with the Center for Water Research under the authority of Prof. Dror Avishar and with the International School at the university.
The Tanzania project began after an Israeli traveler traveled in the country and was exposed to the medical problems and day-to-day difficulties of those children and many residents in the village. In this area of Tanzania, the drinking water is saturated with an unusually high amount of fluoride, 10 times the standard of the World Health Organization, the fluoride in the drinking water causes severe developmental problems, especially in children, which are manifested in skeletal deformities, cleft lip, dental problems and more.
The systems built by the team over the years are currently managing to provide clean drinking water to more than 5000 children in six schools. The solution to the water problem is simple and sustainable: through proper use, the school's roof space can store enough water to meet the needs of school children throughout the dry season. The staff uses several simple filters and chlorine tablets to ensure that the children drink clean water.
Three of the nine members of the delegation, Yuval Eshet, Guy Dan, and Assaf Nitzan, say: "As part of the delegations, we go to the schools and build the systems together with the community, the teachers, and the students. Our vision is that the community and the educational staff will be responsible for maintaining the system from end to end."
The main goals of the delegation were to build two new rainwater collection systems in schools with a total volume of 75 cubic meters, one of which is in a completely new area, to sign a cooperation agreement with the heads of the districts that will define the division of responsibilities between the local community and the Israeli team, to deliver an expanded educational program on water and hygiene issues, and building a relationship with international organizations that work in Tanzania.
Guy Dan explains: "In September 2021, we mapped the specific areas and schools where our systems will create the most value for the community and the students. This is no small thing - there are many, many schools that need water, and building in a certain place means that other schools will need To wait for the next missions. Working together with the authorities, we decided that we will build one system in the Nekaiti area (the area where we have been working since 2013), and another system was built in Dabil - an area where we worked for the first time. Opening a new area requires a wide logistical organization from us: from lodging, to food, to making connections. with the local community. There is no doubt that this is an interesting challenge. The Dabil area is poor and remote, the authorities directed us there with the understanding that there are no water projects planned in the area, and that our solution is the right answer to the water problems of the place." In the last year, the team developed a water filtration system that means that the rainwater after a period of drought will not enter the system. "It is important to us to provide the children with safe water throughout the year. To this end, we have cooperation with university laboratories and water laboratories in the region, which once a quarter send a professional team on their behalf to our projects and perform tests for the water quality in the system."
According to Assaf Nitzan, many projects in Africa are quickly becoming white elephants. A foreign organization comes, pours money and goes home. Shortly after - the project was abandoned and goes out of use. "We want to avoid this, so it is important to us that the authorities and the community be part of the planning and construction of the systems from an early stage. More than that, we want it to be clear that the community is the one responsible for the project. We already have 8 systems in the field. Experience shows that their condition depends directly on the commitment of a house manager The book for maintaining and maintaining the water systems. The school principal changes from time to time, so this dependence is not healthy. In recent years, we have held dozens of meetings with the authorities in the area, from the district leaders to the members of parliament. In addition, we have built a close relationship with the local water authorities. At the meetings, we presented our demands from the community regarding the maintenance and operation of the systems. They asked us to prepare a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in which we would clearly write what we would bring to the project, and what we would like the authorities and the community to bring - before, during, and after the construction. The document was sent to the head several months ago The district, and he distributed the powers according to his vision. It is interesting to see that the heads of the district refrain from financing projects directly, but they are happy to allocate personnel, construction materials, and other indirect costs. In the current delegation, we signed the contract and so far the cooperation is outstanding. It is too early to know if the agreement will last for a long time, but this is undoubtedly a necessary step that will help the community maintain the project for years to come."
In our opinion, reaching the schools and building the water systems is only half the job, emphasizes Yuval Eshat. "Think about a girl who comes to school in the morning and sees a bunch of "whites" walking around between the classrooms and building water systems. Does she understand the purpose of the systems? How should they be maintained? Why is the water in the system good? And most importantly - can she replicate the system in her own home? In order to answer these questions, we spend a lot of time during the year and during the mission in delivering an educational program in the schools where we build systems Interesting and focused education that explains in a friendly and interactive way about the importance of drinking clean water, and about the systems themselves. We have published a children's book in English and Swahili, which tells the story of a drop of water, from the moment it forms in the cloud, through its arrival in the systems, to the glass of water that the child drinks at the end their fear of using the systems, and helps them understand the importance of maintaining them. In addition, the team prepares technical training for teachers in the school in order to teach them how to fix the faults and how to maintain the systems over time."
The team relies on fundraising from companies, philanthropic foundations such as the Kirsch Foundation, the Israeli Embassy in Kenya (which is responsible for Tanzania), and Tel Aviv University. For example, a few months ago we did a big project with Microsoft Israel, during which Microsoft employees contributed money to the project, and the company doubled the amount. Guy Dan elaborates: "Working in Tanzania shows us the great impact that the projects have in the local community. We are already looking ahead to the expansion of the activity and are already preparing for the next expedition that is expected to leave in September 2022. We are in the midst of raising a significant amount of money for the upcoming expeditions, in which we intend to build Water systems are upgraded in several areas in the district and to carry out several additional projects. We invite companies and people who are interested in donating and being partners in the project to contact us."
More of the topic in Hayadan: (Beresheet is the Hebrew name for the book of Genesis)
- This is how the clothes we donate from our closet go to Africa's landfills
- The lack of water in the Middle East and North Africa may harm food security
- Africa: preparing for a wave of water refugees/Dr. Assaf Rosenthal
- Adventures in Africa: Prof. Yoel Reck of Uni' Tel Aviv paid tribute to Richard Leakey, the naturalist who died this week
- The effect of warming on the rainfall in Africa/Dr. Assaf Rosenthal
3 תגובות
Where does excess fluoride come from in the stream or in the rainwater? By what means are the excesses eliminated? - Just an accommodation container on the roof in the open air?
A blessed project indeed!
but
Since all the information is written in Hebrew
It is appropriate that the writers and the editor learn and internalize
Because "project" in Hebrew = enterprise,
Hebrew is indeed a difficult language
But it is not appropriate to label it with unnecessary bravado...
Very nice, keep it up.