People in Need completed an EC funded water supply project in Northern Afghanistan
Ondrej Horvath
Website: http://www.peopleinneed.cz
Mazar-e Sharif / Kabul, 19 October 2006 - People In Need (PIN) has completed a water and sanitation project in the district of Dar-i-Suf, Samangan province. The action combines sustainable provision of drinking water and improvement of household sanitation and personal hygiene for 80 communities in the district, reaching 22.000 families. The European Commission funded the project with a total of 650 thousand euro.
Decades of war and drought affected heavily this completely deforested mountain district. The lack of safe drinking water has contributed to the outbreak of water borne diseases.
The main project activities consisted of the construction of 170 new water sources and rehabilitation of existing ones. PIN was the first organization to introduce drilling in the district. The construction of 70 meters deep tube wells sprinkled parched lands with fresh water for the first time in years.
PIN involved the villagers in hygiene promotion training, improving rural household sanitation and latrine construction. To ensure smooth sustainable operation of the water points, the project includes a community based operation & maintenance component, establishing spare parts outlets in two main bazaars of the district. In every target community, Village Water Committees were trained to supervise the future use and maintenance of water sources.
A new pipe scheme delivering drinking water to 7000 inhabitants has been built in Bazare Suchta, the administrative centre of the district. A four kilometers pipe system with 40 new fountains supplies a heavily populated area with clean potable water.
"As a father, I am very happy for the pipe scheme - said Sheikh Hussain Alli, Head of local CDCs - because my children can drink clean water while attending our school. As a shopkeeper I don't have to transfer water from the river anymore and our bazaar becomes cleaner place for every visitor."
PIN staff conducted hygiene education trainings in 80 villages, bringing basic knowledge about safe water usage, excreta management and prevention of water born diseases. Special attention was paid on women and their hygiene habits during pregnancy. PIN built also 600 new latrines to improve hygienic conditions of private compounds, serving as an example for further replication.
PIN is a Czech NGO that provides humanitarian and development assistance in crisis regions. Since December 2001, PIN has been active in Afghanistan, focusing mainly on education, reintegration of refugees, water & sanitation and rural rehabilitation and development.
PIN has been working in Darai Suf, Samangan province, for over three years, being the only international NGO with permanent presence in the district since the fall of the Taliban regime.
For further Information please contact Ondrej Horvath or
Mario Ragazzi, EC Kabul press officer, mario.ragazzi@ec.europa.eu , mob +93 798 29 74 59
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
