A group devoted to working with developing countries has so far drilled 39 wells in the arid African nation of Namibia, providing water to thousands.
Namibia, like many sub-Saharan countries, has a shortage of potable water. The Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) has worked to combat this, Morgunblaðið reports, through the drilling of wells that now provide clean water to some 27,000 people. Specifically, the wells were drilled in the northwest of the country, where the Himba people live.
Vilhjálmur Wiium, an employee for ICEIDA, told reporters, “Now at the end of five years, the project seems to have taken off very well. All the wells are in working order, and we see residents and their livestock collecting long-needed clean water.”
Most residents in the region had been using polluted ground water containing cholera. Vilhjálmur said that at the start of the project, only 36% of those living in the region had access to clean water – as opposed to 87% of Namibians as a whole – and about 20% had to walk a kilometre or more to get clean water. With the first five years of this project complete, perhaps this will now change.
ICEIDA is an independent organisation working under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They have done, and continue to do, work in Namibia, Uganda, Mozambique, Malawi and Nicaragua.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
