Ruqiyo Mohammed from Somalia is holding one of her seven children in her arms with a content smile on her face. If you see her standing this relaxed in front of her water kiosk, you can hardly imagine what a burden obtaining water had been for her until recently. The next well, from which she and the other women of the Bulo Ajuran settlement had to collect the water for their families, was located four kilometers away. Now, this has changed.
At the beginning of 2016, arche noVa and our partner organization Action for Social and Economic Progress (ASEP) launched a project to improve the living conditions of the internally displaced people and the local inhabitants in the Gedo region of Somalia. Among other things, the project includes setting up five water kiosks. In most cases, they are run by women who thus receive their own income.
This is how the kiosks work: the water comes from a near well, transported through pipelines. At the kiosk, people can buy water for a small amount. The money is used to maintain the water system. The operators of the kiosks receive their income by selling additional goods. As a result, the water kiosks contribute to the water supply for the rural population, maintaining the female operators’ income as well.
Ruqiyo Mohamed is one of these women. Recently, we built a water tank in her village, the water of which she is now selling at her kiosk. "In the past, we had to get our water with donkeys from the well four kilometers away. Our children were left alone at home, which was very dangerous. When we came back, we were already exhausted, although many tasks still remained for us”, Ruqiyo Mohamed remembers. Fortunately, there is now the new tank at their front door. "The tank is of good quality. Every household now gets 60 liters of water per day for only 10 Kenyan shilling.“ 10 Kenya shilling convert to 8 Euro cents.
In current times of a persistent drought and the arrival of further families, the tank is a life necessity for the people of Bulo Ajuran. Ruqiyo Mohamed is well aware of that: "I thank ASEP and arche noVa for bringing water to our settlement!"
