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CARINA (WATSAN) WELLS PROJECT TABORA TANZANIA Introduction:Re WATSAN: The Tabora Diocese has been running a water sanitation project (WATSAN) in the district since 1997. It was funded by IOCC a Dutch faith based organization which ended in December 2004. Water Aid in UK had also funded programs in the area. I volunteered to assist the diocese find additional donor funding, and filmed the project at Inonwela Village. It is basic survival, the villagers dig a hole and a hand pump is installed supplying fresh water which helps minimize diseases. The recommended use is for 250 people, 800 use it! They are also building latrines to encourage people in the use of safer sanitation methods. The villagers are subsistence farmers and contribute $1.00 out of their meager $10.00 average annual earnings towards the outhouses. This goes towards the concrete and wire mesh needed to build the bases for the latrines. Re TABORA: Dr. Livingstone the famous British explorer, who went in search for the source of the river Nile, spent several months in Tabora during the 1850's. He exposed the atrocities of slavery writing passionate letters to his friends and colleagues, some of which took many years to reach their destination. An Arab trader, afraid his involvement in the slave trade would be exposed vacated his home at Kwihala village, and Livingstone took up temporary residence. Now it is a museum with copies of his letters, photos, and maps. It is also the location where Livingstone said goodbye to the American reporter Stanley who had been sent out from the New York Post to find him. My father also filmed the museum in 1960 it remains almost the same, and depends on donations from visitors who pass through. However, without wildlife parks nearby or beaches to attract tourists it remains little known. I produced videos (dvd’s) of the WATSAN project, assisted by Mike Knowles of Millenium films Maui. I sent them to business contacts who had expressed an interest in the project. A couple donated money which was transferred with the assistance of an Episcopal church in Dallas on December 13th 2004. The well is dedicated in memory of my daughter Carina Chantal Madsen who died unexpectedly on August 4th 2004 in Denmark where she lived with her husband.
On January 5th 2005 I traveled to Tabora again to collect a receipt for the donors. The development officer Christopher Nyamwanji and I drove to Inonwela village for a presentation of the water program and a meeting with the village elders. This was followed by an introduction to me and the reason for my visit. I showed them two photos of Carina and I when she was a newborn in Tabora. A group of women put on an “ngoma", which is traditional dancing, drumming, singing, and whistle blowing!
We ate lunch at the village school it was served by the women who didn't eat with us, which is the custom in patriarchal societies. First they demonstrated their newly acquired hygiene methods, offering us a jug of water with soap for hand washing over a bowl. The meal consisted of very tough chicken with rice, and supplied us with plates and spoons to eat with which was a luxury! The village elders ate only rice with their hands from a big communal plate. The first Carina well was installed in February 2005, the villagers were all very grateful for the opportunity to have a 2nd water pump in their village of 2,000 people. The majority of villages in the district do not have any water. Women and children get up at dawn and walk up to 5 kilometers daily in search of it, which takes up half of their day. The women get into fights over water, and children often don't make it to school, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. To get involved in the Carina Water Wells Project please view the Executive Summary Proposal for details of the costs involved. The village is selected by the development officer Christopher Nyamwanji based on surveys of those most in need which is tough because they are all in need.. When you fund a well at a village & rain water harvesting tank at a school you can dedicate it to family, friends, or an organization. Without water there is no life. Asante! Thank you, Jacqueline Simone Ambrose Project
Coordinator USA Ph# 808-214-7607 ambrosenterprises@yahoo.com
www.carinawaterwells.org
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