WATER
AND SANITATION
WATER IS LIFE
Nearly half the population of Burundi does not have access to clean drinking water, many walking miles to fill containers with water from polluted sources. Grateful Village Savings and Loans (VSLs) participants are now digging trenches for a government pipeline to bring water from a well to a large holding tank.
CLEAN WATER
Impact Burundi believes that “water is life.” Communities with completed water systems have demonstrated how those are the beginning of increased quality in all aspects of life.
You can help us reach our goal of providing distribution systems from the central tank to smaller tanks and taps in two communities as well as providing water filters to make the water safe to drink. This costs $50,000 per community..
SANITATION
The 24 families from the Batwa community that received assistance to construct latrines are requesting help for other communities. The Batwa are a marginalized group that makes up only 1% Burundi’s population. They face more hunger and live in more challenging situations than any other group in the country,
COVID-19 RESPONSE
In spite of COVID-19, and the result of weekly virtual meetings, strong unity has developed in the team as they work together with communities. Staff member Alain shares "We are trusted and this helps to work with peace in our minds. Even when we make mistakes, we get treated fairly with respect and dignity."
Staff member Claude shares "The first thing that motivates me in my job is how BDS-IB leaders put participants’ interest first. I am not used to seeing that. What I am used to seeing and what seems common in our culture and in many organizations is that leaders put their own interest first. They take a big portion of the money that was supposed to help participants and use it for their interest. But that is not what I see here. Secondly, we are treated with respect and dignity with no gossip between employees as I see in other organization. We are not perfect, but when a mistake happens between us, we talk about them and resolve them ourselves."
About 1200 masks were delivered to new and existing community groups where women are also sewing masks for sale. This promotes safety in the community as well as income for those making them.