01.08.2023
Over Burundi wordt niet veel geschreven, we hebben het vaker opgemerkt. Relatief veel wordt er geschreven over wat er voor vele Burundezen niet is: schoon drinkwater. Gebrek aan schoon water zet mensen op achterstand, soms voor altijd. Denk aan besmettingen zoals cholera, uitdroging of de onmogelijkheid om te koken. Voor gebrek aan schoon water bestaan verschillende oorzaken, zoals open (of geen) riolen, slechte hygiëne, of bronnen die te ver weg zijn om erbij te komen.
Kennis zonder Grenzen is geen expert op gebied van water, maar vindt het belangrijk om er weer eens de aandacht op te vestigen. Lees maar eens op diverse internationale sites over deze levensvoorwaarde. Je zult lezen dat het percentage Burundezen dat bij schoon water kan komen nog erg onvoldoende is en ook niet stabiel is. Water gewoon uit een kraan is voor velen niet weggelegd; mensen moeten er afstanden voor lopen, hun jerrycans vullen en teruglopen. Dat kost tijd die je niet aan iets anders kunt besteden, zoals werken of studeren. Het zal je ook opvallen dat allerlei waterbronnen/pompen met hulp van externe organisaties zijn gerealiseerd en geen structureel vanuit Burundi zelf opgezette faciliteiten zijn. De vraag is wat dit betekent en of er een onderhoudsplan bestaat.
UNICEF publiceerde over Burundi het volgende:
Burundi is one of the few countries in which access to basic sanitation in urban areas is lower than in rural areas; Although 81 per cent of the population (78 per cent rural; 98 per cent urban) has had access to improved sources of drinking water in 2017, only 61 per cent of the population could obtain safe drinking water within a 30-minute round-trip from their households. Access to basic sanitation remains limited: only 46 per cent of the population (46 per cent rural; 42 per cent urban) were having access to at least basic sanitation facilities against 45 percent in 2000. Overall, the main barriers to access to basic sanitation services include low quality of sanitation infrastructure, lack of maintenance of existing infrastructure, and difficulty sustaining community mobilization to achieve open defecation-free (ODF) status.
While the proportion of the population using surface water has fallen to 5 per cent, the proportion resorting to unimproved sources remains at 15 per cent in rural areas. The main obstacle to accessing safe drinking water in rural areas is the shortage in service coverage. The lack of water points in public facilities, including schools and health centres, remains widespread: more than half of schools lack water points (MoE 2015-16) and, in rural areas, only 70 per cent of health facilities have access to an improved water source within a distance of 500 meters (MoH 2017).
Solutions
To address the issue of open defecation in rural areas, UNICEF supports the Government of Burundi in scaling up community-led total sanitation coverage (CLTS).
In 2018, 528 new sub-hills were evaluated as open defecation free (ODF), bringing the total number of people living in certified ODF communities to 639,990. The ODF status contributes to improved environmental hygiene and reduces the risk of cholera outbreaks.
UNICEF supports the Ministry of Health in activities to prevent epidemics: distribution of hand-washing stations and soap, hygiene promotion, access to water supply and distribution of household water treatment products are part of the response against cholera.
Now, millions of people can be reached with key good hygiene practices through mass media including television, radio campaigns and newspaper messages.
Verschillende media, waaronder Anadolu Agency, publiceerden eerder dit jaar over een project van Burundezen zelf. Uit het verhaal, dat we hierachter plaatsen, valt op te maken dat ook waterpompen niet altijd schoon water leveren. In de provincie Cibitoke is het Burundezen gelukt om hun kennis aan te wenden en water met chloride te reinigen. Wat zou het mooi zijn als er investeerders komen die dit kennisproject kunnen verbreden.
Lees hier het artikel uit Anadolu Agency:
A new project to install chlorine dispensers in parts of Burundi is helping to increase access to safe drinking water.
The project was initiated by Water for Development, a non-governmental organization, producing chlorine locally at a laboratory in western Burundi’s Cibitoke province to help purify the water.
A chlorine dispenser is installed next to a water point, helping residents to get the chlorine before drawing the water, according to Olivier Ndayihimbaze, the founder of Water for Development.
“When someone comes to fetch water, they first dispense a few drops of measured chlorine into the jerrycans and then draw the water. Within 30 minutes, the water is treated and protected against any further external recontamination,” Ndayihimbaze said in a video recording shared by the organization Sunday.
He said residents in this region have been experiencing the challenge of accessing clean drinking water.
Currently over 30 chlorine dispensers have been installed near water sources and schools, providing safe water to more than 50,000 people, he said.
Prosper Cishahayo, a chemist and head of chlorine production, explained that it takes about two hours to produce the chlorine, which is then distributed to the various water points.
The production process involves chemical transformation and electrolysis of salt water.
To get a homogeneous solution, salt and water are stirred before putting it in an apparatus that is used to produce the chlorine.
Nadine Umutoni, a mother of four, told Anadolu that their children no longer suffer from waterborne diseases thanks to the project’s initiative.
In 2019, UNICEF said that in countries like Burundi, nearly half of the population lacks access to clean, safe drinking water with a big challenge particularly for households in rural areas.
The lack of drinking water or the difficulty to access it are the primary causes of health problems among children under 5 years of age who are prone to waterborne diseases and malnutrition.
En uit een aanvullende bericht uit Africa News over dit onderwerp:
Burundi’s Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies said a quarter of children under the age of five suffer from illnesses related to dirty water, and diarrhoeal diseases are responsible for a third of their deaths.
In 2019, German international development agency, GIZ, said 25 per cent of Burundi’s water sources were contaminated with bacteria, with this figure rising to 75 per cent at household level.