Water and Women's Rights in Kalima.

According to ChartsBin an average Dane uses 120.9 cubic meters water a year and the average person in DR Congo uses only 11.55 cubic meters.

What a big difference, but it is hardly surprising! 

If we had to walk long distances to find water and carry it home again, we too would reduce our water consumption.

In Kalima young girls fetch water for their families. They get up very early, every morning, 365 days a year and walk sometimes a long way to and from the nearest river or lake. A strenuous start to the day like that leaves them with very little energy for other activities. Even worse,  for the following reason, it can also be very dangerous.

Kalima, situated in one of the most unruly parts of the country, is still suffering from the aftermath of the war that started in 1998, which some people call 'Africa's first world war'. Many of the combatants tried to subdue their enemies by raping them. Rape is still very common, and these girls risk rape every morning. Etienne Katchelewa told me that it is a taboo subject so he does not have any statistics, but some of the girls have confided in him. When a rape results in a pregnancy the girl's family often shuns her.

The following video is shockingly informative.

 

Conclusion

 The successful implementation of Peasant Solidarity's clean-water project would also be a step in the 

right direction for women's rights in Kalima.

Please support the project.

Water is Life

Let's make a dream come true - Water Is Life - DR Congo

When I chose the slogan 'Water is Life' I did not realize that this was also the title of a video about the water situation in DR Congo. Although it was not made in Kalima, it shows the same kind of problems.

              

If you are a new reader you might care to read my two previous blogs about this topic. Water is hope and Dirty water is death, clean water is life.

Assuming that, as Peasant Solidarity had managed to solve the local hospital's water problems with the 3000 euros they received last year, 4000 euros from us would enable them to do even more. Some days ago I asked Etienne how 4000 euros would improve the water situation in Kalima.

Etienne Katchelewa's reply:

''What could we do with 4000 euros? Last year's donation of 3000 euros was enough to solve the hospital's problem, because there was an existing well. We bought a new pump and replaced the worn-out water pipes. The hospital's immediate neighbors benefited too, but if we tried to extend the network by merely adding new pipes, the hospital's well would be insufficient to satisfy the needs of the new consumers. So it would be a waste of your money to even try.

To tell you the truth, we need at least 240000 euros for a viable water project. However 4000 euros would benefit our fish-farming or our rice and maize projects. Thank you for trying, but we pray for a benefactor capable of giving us the 240000 euros.''

Not always, but often people start praying for a solution only when they have exhausted all other possibilities. I have not reached that point yet. Peasant Solidarity needs either the support of 24000 people willing and able to donate 10 euros or financial support from an established charity or socially conscious firm.

Clean water means a great deal  for their progress and well-being. My goal is to help raise money for Peasant Solidarity's water-project; but, if we cannot raise enough to do the job properly, then certainly it would  boost Peasant Solidarity's secondary projects: fish-farming and agriculture.

Peasant Solidarity's Committee. Etienne Katchelewa is sitting on the far right.

How is the campaign going?

30 euros so far. We need 497 donations of 10 euros and there are 138 days to go before the dead-line 1^st September.

One of my friends mailed me yesterday afternoon to say that she had not been able to make contribution,because of a technical fault on the Caremaker site. I immediately got in touch with the webmaster, who promised to look into the problem.
They have just got back to me, here is the explanation.
'' It happens when people use an old version of Internet Explorer. So either update it or use Firefox, Chrome or Safari'.

All contributions gratefully accepted. Please let other people know about this campaign, Let's make a dream come true!

Dirty Water Is Death - Clean Water is Life.

After writing my last post about Peasant Solidarity's water project I have launched a crowdfunding appeal, which I have called Water is Life.

Here is my appeal, which I am repeating below, mainly because the links disappeared when I uploaded the text.

''Dear known and unknown Friends,

I am a British born, retired teacher resident in Denmark, who apart from leading an active life as a grandmother, a soprano in an international women's choir, an esperantist, a blogger, a volunteer for DaneAge Association, has hundreds of international contacts mainly thanks to social media.

Recently, one of my Esperanto-speaking Facebook friends, Etienne Katchelewa from DR-Congo told me about the problems in his home-town, Kalima in the province of Maniema. Although I already knew the dry facts about high infant mortality rates, malnutrition, lack of clean drinking water, rape, illiteracy, corruption and desperation in DR Congo, hearing these from him brought the facts painfully to life. It left me with two possibilities: either to express polite sympathy before deleting him from my friendship list, or to help him raise money for a clean drinking water project that will make life very much easier and safer in his home-town.

I promised to try and help him, so that is why I am writing this appeal.

My first step was to edit and translate information about the town and its specific problems into English. Then I sent an application for funds to Danida and rang various charities. After a few days I got a sympathetic but negative mail from Danida and none of the charities were able to help. Etienne and his friends have sent applications to various organizations, but most of them have been turned down. In no way am I reproaching these organizations; they have their own projects and nobody can save the entire world.

Etienne is an agronomist. During his student days, he and some of his fellow students founded the association Peasant Solidarity whose aim was, is and will be to promote socio-economic and agricultural development in Kalima and the surrounding area. In spite of their very limited funds, they have promoted fish-farming, animal husbandry and courses on improved agricultural techniques. In 2013 a grant of 380 euros from Association of Green Esperantists enabled them to improve some of their fish-ponds, which have provided protein-rich food for local residents as well as a small profit that has helped cover other expenditure.

Peasant Solidarity's first priority for 2014 is to provide safe drinking water for the 136,000 residents of Kalima; at present only 2,6% have access to clean water and infant mortality due to waterborne diseases is about 35%. In most countries a governmental agency would take responsibility for this. REGIDESO has a monopoly for providing drinking water in DR Congo, but unfortunately it does not operate in Kalima or in Maniema Province.

So if Peasant Solidarity cannot solve the problem, in all probability nobody will.

Etienne has drawn up two plans with an estimated cost between 247,047 and 861,906 euros. The first plan would provide safe drinking water for part of the town and the second one would solve the problem for everybody.

In 2013 a German firm, Wasserkraft Volk AG gave Peasant Solidarity 3000 euros, which they spent on drinking water installations for Kalima General Hospital and the surrounding area. It was the first step towards completing their ambitious but absolutely essential project.

Now I am asking you to help them take the second step. It would be a dream come true, if this appeal went viral and 861,906 euros poured in, for their most ambitious plan. However I am a realist – an optimistic realist.

My primary, cautiously optimistic goal is to raise 4000 euros by 1st September 2014. Unrealistic? Well, this could be achieved, by for example, 400 donations of 10 euros. Just under three donations a day for the next 139 days would do it.

Perhaps you are a warm-hearted person who would love to help, but cannot afford to or you already contribute generously to other good causes. If so, please consider helping the campaign by forwarding this to your friends, Facebook, G+, Twitter etc.

All kinds of amazing things go viral online, why not this?

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I intend to keep you updated by writing more blog posts about this. ''

Dirty water is death, but clean Water is Life.