Water supply from high altitude

Evas is a mother of 4children and a wife to Rober, in a family that lives on hilltop of Kagarama parish in Rukongoro village where instead of serving you water, they would rather serve you porridge because of water scarcity. Women and children often bear the greatest burden, spending valuable time walking for long distances collecting water. Evas is a member of Rukongoro Rainwater Harvesting group, which is helping families overcome a series of challenges because of cobweb effects of having reliable access to clean and safe water while improving their quality of life.

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Eva not only benefited from having a water tank in her house, but also gained knowledge that helped her improve sanitation and hygiene, as well as masonry skills for building a water tank, which she can use to repair many things in her house.

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Before the introduction of household rainwater harvesting, accessing water was a demanding part of daily life and a daily struggle. Like many households in the area, Evas depended on distant contaminated water sources, which could be inconvenient and unreliable, particularly during dry periods when water was so scarce. This created additional pressure on the household and made routine activities such as cooking, cleaning and maintaining hygiene more difficult. The rainwater harvesting tank installed at her home has brought a reliable source of water closer to her family, making household chores easier and improving hygiene and sanitation. 

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Eva now has access to water right outside her door, reducing the burden of searching for water and making household water management more convenient . This allows Eva and her family to better practice good hygiene and sanitation, including handwashing, cleaning kitchen utensils, and maintaining a clean home environment. The measure also helps reduce the time and energy spent searching for water, freeing up family members to dedicate more time to other productive household tasks.

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Eva's experience shows how simple, locally adapted water solutions can make a significant difference in rural households . Household rainwater harvesting not only improves access to water but also strengthens household resilience, supports hygienic practices, and promotes dignity and comfort.

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The experience in Rukongoro shows that when communities are supported in collecting and managing rainwater, every drop can become an opportunity for a healthier, more productive, and more dignified household – with immediate impacts such as increased water availability, shorter distances to water sources, improved sanitation and hygiene, reduced stress and time saved on water collection, and strengthened community capacity to plan, manage, maintain, lead, and participate in community work. This, in turn, enables them to better access other development opportunities. The children are also delighted; they have water at home for washing and can reliably attend school.

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According to Eva, a rainwater harvesting tank does more than just provide water for household tasks; it creates an environment where her family can regularly practice safe hygiene, especially by washing their hands after using the toilet and before eating or handling food. We have learned that clean hands protect not only the individual, but also the entire family and society from common waterborne and hygiene-related illnesses.

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She is grateful to KDWSP, its development partners and the other members of her community for their great commitment to this project, through which she has found a solution to the long-standing problems in her community.

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Compiled by Kenneth BT. – KDWSP