Deep Well Construction Project in Diourbel / Senegal

In 1992, TOOLS FOR LIFE partnered with Aid for Africa - Water for Senegal (Hilfe für Afrika – Wasser für Senegal e.V.), with the goal of helping provide remote villages in Senegal with sufficient water. The water situation in Senegalese villagies remains scarce and drastic measures are often taken just to have daily water. To collect water, women and children often have to walk kilometres to retrieve water so they can provide for their large families (8-10 people).

The initial idea of this project was to build accessible wells near villages to cut back on this cumbersome journey. The first deep wells were funded and built in 1993. They were dug by hand by local well builders -- a very difficult task because work is often halted during rainy season. At the same time, TOOLS FOR LIFE was working with a Aid for Africa to explore building wells using modern tools.

Since then, 65 wells have been built for over 50,000 villagers. More importantly, many of the villagers financially invested in 'their well' with a monetary contribution. This investment creates a sense of responsibility, which hopefully guarantees the villagers will appreciate the wells as 'their property' and will maintain them appropriately.

Aid for Africa - Water for Senegal has now identified very dry and drought-prone areas in Dakar, mainly around the Diourbel region. In Diourbel, there are 24 villages with approximately 10,000 inhabitants. Due to water shortages, many inhabitants are leaving in search of villages with better resources and most of the younger generations move away because they no longer have hope for perspective change. Enquiries about state support for a water supply remain unanswered for years.

TOOLS FOR LIFE Foundation and Aid for Africa - Water for Senegal have devised a new project which includes drilling to a depth of about 120 metres using special drilling equipment. By using a diesel power unit, water can be transported to a 25-metre high water tower and pumped by a pressure booster into the supply pipelines to the villages. The costs for the water tower, including the technology, infrastructure, security room and a safety fence, will be covered by donations from the TOOLS FOR LIFE fundraising campaign "End-year gift as a donation for Senegal" (Endjahresgeschenke als Spende für den Senegal).