April 8, 2008

KIBUNGO, Eastern Rwanda/GENEVA – Judith Mukurugwiza is among residents of Muganza village who are still celebrating "the arrival of water" in her locality. Yet the hilly, wet and evergreen neighborhood, abundant with banana crop has had plenty of water for as long as the 63-year-old grandmother can remember. Indeed as one approaches the village from the main highway, several clear water points are visible. But according to experts, most of it is unsuitable for human consumption.

"We are so happy! We have all reasons to celebrate," Mukurugwiza told Lutheran World Information (LWI), during a recent visit to the area. "What I now see here is clean water and safe too. I won't be climbing the hills again for water," she stressed.

Muganza is one of the villages in the Gatore sector of Rwanda's eastern district of Kirehe that recently benefitted from a piped water project initiated by the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) and its local partner, the Interfaith Commission of Rwanda. The project was inaugurated on 19 March by Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and president of IFAPA, together with Rwanda's Minister for Water, Environment and Natural Resources Mr Bikoro Munyanganizi, and Mr Niels Christiansen, Global Vice President of Public Affairs for the global nutrition company Nestlé. The Nestlé group provided financial and technical support for the project amounting to some USD 350,000. The LWF Department for World Service (DWS) program in Rwanda coordinates the project's implementation within its integrated rural development activities there focusing also on food security, sanitation and environmental protection.

Kirehe district has a topography rich in water resources ranging from rivers and springs to swamps, wetlands and lakes. The most common sources of domestic water supply are streams and mountain springs, many of which are currently unprotected and poorly accessible to the local population. A survey conducted by LWF/DWS Rwanda confirmed the water potential from the springs around Gatore sector based on a gravity supply system. The IFAPA water project serves an estimated 21,600 people with filtered clean water collected into concrete reservoirs, and distributed through 39 km of pipelines and 156 water points.

Increased School Enrollment

Pointing at the ochre-red color in the surrounding springs and streams Mukurugwiza recounted the community's struggles with unhygienic water, "which was all we had until now. Women and children spent countless hours looking for drinking water, and it was neither clean nor safe. We would often fall sick," she explained.

Another Muganza resident, Alexis Ngarukiyentwari, was already counting the gains his family would accrue from the new project. The frequent and strenuous trips to the stream nearly six kilometers away were finally over, as was the payment of around 100 Rwandan francs (approximately 20 cents – USD) for a 20-liter can of drinking water bought at a private supply point, he said. The 25 Rwandan francs charged per family per month to maintain the IFAPA water project is reasonable, considering also the supply point is less than one kilometer from his house, he remarked.

"The children will go to school in good time, and they will fall sick less frequently. We will also water our small gardens," he explained.

Health and Sanitation

Apart from the immediate availability of safe drinking water, other long-term objectives of the new project include higher primary school enrollment; increased poverty reduction activities especially among women; fewer cases of both child mortality and water-borne diseases; and increased maternal health.

"The practical effects and benefits will be immediately obvious to the women who no longer have to take lengthy and risky trips to collect water for their families, and the children who can go to school instead of carrying jerricans over the hills and valleys," stressed Noko at the project's launching. "The children can now enjoy water for drinking and cleaning in their schools. Families can now enjoy a little rest and leisure that they did not have before," he added.

The LWF general secretary led the initiative to establish IFAPA in October 2002. The continent-wide network of national and local interfaith groups of Africa major religious traditions – African Traditional Religions, Baha'i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism – promotes practical interfaith action for peace in the region. An IFAPA women's campaign titled "A Mother's Cry for a Healthy Africa," advocates access to safe drinking water as one of its major goals.

The project in Rwanda includes training on hygiene and sanitation and the manufacture of bricks to construct pit latrines. Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of the Anglican Church in Rwanda, chairperson of the country's Interfaith Commission, underscored its impact for community health and economic output. "We spend so much money on some diseases that could be avoided. This project is a preventive program," he said, pointing out that many children died from illnesses associated with non-availability of safe drinking water.

Community Reconciliation

Bishop George W. Kalisa, Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR), described the Gatore water supply initiative as a role model in strengthening interfaith collaboration in the country's reconciliation process after the 1994 genocide. He expressed the hope that community members' organization around the project's maintenance would provide opportunities for peace building activities and enhance conflict management mechanisms.

The LCR has been an LWF member church since 2002.

The Interfaith Commission of Rwanda will oversee the project's management through a water users' committee, identified by community members and local authorities, and trained by LWF/DWS Rwanda.

The committee of two women and two men, according to DWS Rwanda social worker Sammy Kalisa, includes representatives from all the major religious communities represented in the area. "They will receive reports from technicians, decide the requisite maintenance, and manage finances," he said.

The Gatore Primary School administration promotes a "stay-clean" policy, which was challenged by the shortage of clean water. "We asked the children to wash their hands after using the toilet, but we knew we did not have enough water," explained science teacher Pierre Karinganike.

"We are now relieved because we have this water. Before they used carry water from home, but this was too little. They could only wash their hands once a day, which was not enough. Many often got sick, and there were incidents of diarrhea," he said.

"Now the children are happy. They will have better health too," added Karinganike, to the sounds of school children playing around the new water tanks outside.

More about LWF/DWS Rwanda at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DWS/Country_Programs/DWS-Rwanda-DRChtml.

Lutheran World Information
By Nairobi-(Kenya) based LWI correspondent Fredrick Nzwili