Rwanda
In an age when water catchment and filtration technology exists in abundance, much of the drinking water in Rwanda is unsanitary. Consequently they have a high childhood mortality rate, about one in ten, which is closely linked to the prevalence of water-born disease.
Fly into Kigali, Rwanda on a clear day and you’ll see that the lower the altitude, the lower the income. The hilltops are the places for the newest, most expensive homes; in the valleys are the slums. It’s like this because here there are no sewers, and there’s a lot of rain. City runoff and drainage flows down from the hills to form valley streams—streams from which the poor collect their water.
This sad reality does not have to be. Three years ago 20 Liters in partnership with World Relief Rwanda took part in assessments with eight area churches in Masaka Rwanda. Through this process, inadequate access to clean water was identified as one of the major challenges facing their community. After this assessment, a Rwandan Water Team was formed from local church members and they have been addressing the issue of clean water in Masaka ever since.
Masaka Rwanda is located about 30 minutes outside of Kigali Rwanda and was selected as the initial place for 20 Liters to begin working due to a cholera outbreak that killed nearly 500 people during 2006.
Masaka Stats
- The average residence houses six people.
- 1 out of 7 children die in infancy.
- 2% have electricity.
- 89% attended primary school, but only 8% attended secondary school.
- 80% live on daily subsistence farming.
- Less than 1% have running water.
- 71% use the Nyabarongo River or local ponds as their primary source of water.