Water remains one of the most pressing concerns in the Dogon area. Last year there was only 200 mm of rainfall. Building wells (with or without a pump) and dams have always been an important aspect of our work because without water no life can be possible. This year we dug three wells, the deepest one at 47 meters depth! It sometimes takes more than a year of digging to reach a proper water level.
Repairing and maintaining the wells with a hand pump is a troubling issue for us. That is, we are running low on spare parts and the connection components for the almost 40 kilometers of new pipes that we already have are not purchasable anymore. The pipes often break due to the use of the hand pump. The coming years we will be looking into solutions together with Servaes Spiekerman, design engineer and teacher at the TU Delft. To solve the most pressing need for spare parts, he developed a couple of connection components together with a group of students that were created with a 3D-printer. A well in Sangha has been repaired with the first printed element. In March we will evaluate whether the correction meets our standards.
We want to find a more long-term solution for the water problem in the Dogon area by introducing water committees and perhaps a cooperation with Dutch water companies. Only when the issue of water supply in the Dogon area has been properly dealt with, will other developments within education and food safety pay off.