Rural Wells and Water Provision Program

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A great many of the small villages in the arid north of the Mid-Gorgol region of southern Mauritania have extremely poor access to water. Often that water is from temporary wells dug in distant riverbeds, where it is both difficult to extract and dirty. Frequently, the villagers have to travel 16-kilometre round trips to their nearest permanent water source.

Life is hard enough for these impoverished Peul and Harratin livestock-herder communities. They are amongst some of the most disadvantaged and unrepresented communities in the country. Traditionally, they are used to a semi-pastoral life of migrating seasonally from permanent settlements to find fodder and water for their animals. This lifestyle is becoming increasingly difficult to follow, however, due to climatic, economic and political reasons.

Water is a fundamental prerequisite let alone an UN-proclaimed human right for all people. Without decent access to water, and as sources are pushed ever further off by drought, communities like these must spend large amounts of time and energy extracting and ferrying it. Women have little time for other economic activities and damage their joints and strain their hearts carrying large containers from childhood. The men likewise must devote time to the business of extracting water from the holes dug in riverbeds instead of concentrating on other activities. Livestock herds are naturally restricted in size by availability of water and, most importantly, the poor quality of water taken from open holes or stagnant pools causes a great many health problems. Without decent water sources, the very existence of communities like these are in question.

The primary objective of our Rural Wells and Water Provision program is to provide reliable, safe and accessible supplies of both domestic water and water for vegetable gardens. But digging wells in this region is not easy. Often they can be as deep as 40 or even 50 metres and have to penetrate layers of hard rock. This is beyond the abilities of the villagers themselves and puts the cost of the wells’ construction high.

For our first well a site was chosen where a community of 1000 people grouped into three separate neighbouring villages could benefit. There was already a well here but this had been constructed so badly it had never provided a useful supply of water. A well committee was formed and a professional, local well technician was hired to oversee the well digging, design the all-important, hygienic well-top infrastructure and give organisational and safe-water-management training sessions to the community.

In the end the well has had to be dug to 55 metres, some of it through hard rock and all the time having to realign the shaft of the old well (whose filled-in course was followed) as well as remove the old reinforcing steel rods. It has not been an easy task and has been accomplished by a local artesanal team with tremendous commitment and courage despite taking much longer than anticipated. In the process, however, much has been learnt, a technique has been established and a team has been built up. For our next well, planned for late 2008, we hope to have purchased a pneumatic drill for the harder areas of rock.

All the wells that will be dug during this program will be wide access, long lasting wells. They are cement-lined and have a lifespan of 20 years or more.