AFRICA/RWANDA - Clean safe water for hill people in Jamba thanks to twelve new fountains

Kigali (Agenzia Fides) - Also in the region of Byumba, northern Rwanda, difficult access to water renders life difficult for more than 65,000 people. Two years ago the Italian NGO Movimento Lotta Fame nel Mondo (MLFM) started work to find water sources and dig and build a 40 km waterway to solve at last the problems of water-shortage and deriving issues of poor hygiene, public health and environment protection. Two months ago in the hills Byumba water had been pumped at 1950 metres, this was followed by the implementation of the distribution network to the surrounding hill villages. Already 12 of the 57 planned pumps have been completed: this means the hill people of Jamba have clean and safe water. One of the pumps will serve the elementary school in Kagamba, which has 700 pupils. The remaining 45 pumps should be ready in the first three months of next year. However MLFM will continue to flank interventions of education to hygiene, public health and environment protection for the local people, fundamental for the success of the project. (AP) (23/7/2010 Agenzia Fides)