Making Water Harvesting Matter
Water is one of the world’s most valuable commodities.
Without it we cannot exist. Nothing grows. Nothing lives. When you have it, you need to mind it.
Because when it is lacking, huge problems arise.
This year, Ireland experienced one of the hottest summers since the 1970’s and water was scarce. While we all enjoyed the sunshine farmers prayed for rain when it seemed like drought was imminent.
Think about how we get our water in Ireland. It’s a bit different to Africa.
Think about how we farm in Ireland.
It’s not so different in Africa, yet how they access their water is.
Think of all the knock-on effects of having little to no water. And no back-up.
It’s scary.
But this is the way of life for our farmers in Rwamagana. But it is not as scary to them, as farmers have been taking steps to manage minimal rainfall and protect their water reserves in a simple way.
In Rwamagana, rural Eastern Rwanda, running water is not an option in the dwellings of our farming families. It just does not exist there. Families normally gather their daily water from a local water source, usually a pump or well. Children will often fetch the water before school or in some cases they might pay a small fee to transport the water by bicycle. It’s a time-consuming exercise to fetch the daily supply and there’s no contingency for drier times.
While the climate in Rwamagana does yield a significant rainfall, there are times of the year when it may not be in as plentiful supply, so farmers need to think ahead to ensure that their animals and themselves have enough water at all times.
To this end, Bóthar is educating its farming families on the benefits of water harvesting, which is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for re-use, and giving them the means to do so.
Having a water source on demand transforms the daily life of the farmer. Bóthar’s pilot scheme has worked extraordinarily well so far, which is why we plan to roll this out with all our farming families in the future.
Every drop from the sky counts.
Will you help?
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Thank you.
