BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BWAid n BW

SAFE At Last

drinking water B

aptist World Aid partnered with Baptists in Zambia to provide clean and potable water to nine communities in the Southern African country.

Boreholes were dug in communities spread across Chadiza,

Mbala, Mansa, Kasempa, Choma and Mongu districts. “Six Village Development Committees were formed, one in each of the project areas,” wrote Isaac Zulu, president of the Baptist Convention of Zambia (BCZ). “Each committee oversees the construction of three water supply boreholes and 50 ventilated latrines.”

Educational campaigns were also held on the importance of a

reliable water supply and sanitation, “as a way of reducing cases of diseases that result from lack of access to safe water,” the BCZ president said.

The sites were chosen by stakeholders within each community, which included

local church leaders,

traditional leaders such as chiefs and village headmen, political leaders such as councilors and Members of Parliament, and local councils. “The project is receiving massive support from government, traditional leaders and the primary beneficiaries themselves,” said Zulu. As a result of the support from BWAid, residents no

longer had to travel “several kilometers to fetch water for domestic use,” Zulu told the Baptist World Alliance. “Halleluiah, praise the lord!” declared Senior Chief Mphande, on the news that his community would receive six boreholes and 50 sanitary facilities. He expressed gratitude that the project would benefit all residents regardless of religious affiliation. “He urged

endemic in Kivuku area, would soon be a thing of the past. He added that the development would attract many people to Christ.” The Kaizya community is the largest settlement in Mbala

District with a population of 3,000 people. It is situated about three kilometers from Lake Tanganyika where inhabitants fetch water for domestic use. Over the years the Kaizya community pleaded with the government without success for the area to be

Above: Jubilant women harvesting water shortly after the hand-operated pump was installed

Left: Village Development Committee discussing salient issues of the project. Mapalo Sinkala, the female in yellow blouse (right) was elected chairperson of the VDC in Mbala

Right: Maureen Kapalu (on left) and Grace Kapalu, of Kasempa, are faced with either going to school or fetching water from a stream, three kilometers from their home

provided clean water. Kaizya community

headman, Simon The sites were chosen by stakeholders within each community.

Baptist pastors in the community to take advantage of the project to engage in Christian witnessing,” Zulu declared. “Headman Joshua Mupande of Kivuku area, which comprises

eight villages in Kasempa district, was delighted when he learned that his area would soon benefit from the Rural Water and Sanitation Project,” Zulu announced. “Mupande was hopeful that diarrheal diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which had become

Simbao, was confident that clean water and good sanitation would reduce incidences of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery that are associated with unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. At least one Baptist church was planted as a result of the Rural Water and Sanitation Project. In Kayosha settlement, the first converts were headman Simon Simbao and his family.

Headman Simon Simbao of Kaizya community