Going Deeper: Investing in African Well Building Projects

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared access to clean water and sanitation as a basic human right, yet millions don’t have an opportunity to share in this human right. Water scarcity is on the rise, and in developing nations in particular, “unclean water is an immensely greater threat to human security than violent conflict.”

Poverty in Africa can be measured by lack of access to safe and adequate water supply—for sanitation and food production. Without clean water supplies, people are forced into unsanitary water use, which results in higher levels of communicable disease, which weakens communities even further. It is estimated that 2.2 million children die from diarrhea every year.

The solution is simple: build a well.

But wells cost money, as well as time and expertise to determine the best placement for those community wells. I’m proud to announce that the Zain Jaffer Foundation has invested with the Tanzanian non-profit WIPAHS to further the great efforts of providing potable water for entire communities in an area of the world where unclean water and poor sanitation are among the largest threats to humankind. For 30 years strong, WIPAHS has had had their eyes set on one of humanity’s biggest problems: the availability of safe drinking water. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the need has grown only more dire, and I’m grateful that the Zain Jaffer Foundation is contributing to the solution.

The arms of the WIPAHS organization encompass education, healthcare, orphans, economic development, social welfare, and other parts of Tanzanian society. But the work they’re doing for water infrastructure was impossible to get out of my mind. Tanzania is one of Africa’s largest countries, but the scarcity of clean drinking water has been a consistent reality for one in every six people. Women and children are particularly burdened, having to journey to natural streams that could be 10km away and lug back heavy containers of 25+ litres. This is time away from school, economy, and family—and the water doesn’t always come back clean.

The chronic water shortage is having an impact on multiple aspects of community life. Direct health results lead to epidemics of infectious disease and a mind-wrecking amount of premature fatality. It also affects the economic activity of the whole community. Poor sanitation limits services, resources, and the time the community has to engage in engineering, education, and trade.

WIPAHS has called their project ‘Give Water To The Thirsty,’ Their team takes two strategies: the Shallow Wells project and the Rota Sludge Wells project. Shallow Wells involves sending a team to dig wells in remote areas like Bagamoyo, Kilwa, Tempe, and Kibada, to name only a few.

Already, the WIPAHS team is responsible for 800 more wells and counting. To dig and maintain a shallow well requires roughly $1,500 US—it goes without saying that that’s money well spent and value quickly paid back toward the development of the community as a whole.

Rota Sludge is a new well drilling technique, and creates wells that are deeper than traditionally hand dug wells. Using a rope pump, the team has so far been able to drill 125 deep wells that have been a great boon to remote villages. These wells require no real upkeep or electricity and have a very long life time; installations have been dug near schools, hospitals, and villages that are otherwise without.

There’s an option for people to get involved at any level they see fit; whether they want to sponsor the building of one well in a specific area, contribute to their project as a donor, or join in as an investor. WIPAHS recognizes and appreciates all kinds of donations across their other focuses, too; you can contribute to medical assistance, sponsor a meal, a small-scale business, a social awareness program, and contribute financially to an orphan or a child’s education.

As we continue to wrap our minds around what we’ve all been through collectively throughout the course of the pandemic, it’s my guess that we’ll start to think on a more global scale. This was one of the first events most of us can remember in which the condition we were encountering was a global reality.

Now, we’re seeing how the burden of that global reality wasn’t distributed equally. For communities who are already without the necessary resource of fresh water, any other economic pressure—especially one that arrives out of thin air—can be the final straw. It’s important to take these periods between true crisis moments to focus our resources in supporting those communities in their recovery, which will no doubt be a steeper hill, and in their future to ensure that should another crisis come, it finds a more equitable, more connected, and more resilient world. Through the Zain Jaffer Foundation, I’m thrilled to be a part of that work and extend the great solutions that the WIPAHS has in place.