Providing Clean Water During An Emergency

“The persistent drought has caused many wells to dry up, leaving us with few options,” said Sheikh, a local elder of the Qarsoodi village in Somalia. “We have been drinking and using water from the same wells camels and goats drink from.”

A small pastoral village located in the arid plains of central Somalia, Qarsoodi has struggled to survive under the pressures of drought. Four consecutive seasons of failed rainfalls have left livestock populations dwindling and underweight, and villagers do everything they can to protect their remaining herds. During dry seasons, some travel to nearby towns just to buy maize to cook for the camels.

With clean water scarce and livestock sharing open wells with villagers, Qarsoodi has experienced outbreaks of disease.

“There have been several cases of acute water diarrhea reported from this area and that has probably been caused by the unsafe drinking water from the open wells. Last year during the month of October there was an acute water diarrhea outbreak,” Sheikh said.

In response to the ongoing drought in Somalia, International Medical Corps has been providing primary health, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and protection services to vulnerable communities like Qarsoodi in the central Galkayo District. To help limit the spread of disease in Qarsoodi, International Medical Corps rehabilitated two previously dormant shallow wells on the village grounds to provide the community with a safe and accessible source of water.

In addition to reinforcing the well walls and digging a deeper base, International Medical Corps capped the wells with concrete slabs and installed hand pumps to ensure their safety. Now, debris can no longer fall into the wells and contaminate or dry up the water supply, and children are no longer at risk of falling in. The mothers in Qarsoodi are especially grateful for this improvement.

“Now we can easily and safely get clean water from these wells,” said one mother. “The hand pump is easy to use and very helpful, especially when you compare it with throwing a Jerry can into the well and pulling it out with very little water. Now I can send the children to get water while I do other chores.”

In addition to two wells at Qarsoodi, International Medical Corps has rehabilitated five communal wells throughout the central Galkacyo and Baidoa regions since June 2017. To reinforce this work, we are also training community members in water quality monitoring, spreading awareness of proper hygiene practices, and constructing latrines to further limit the spread of disease.

We thank the GlobalGiving community for their continued support of International Medical Corps as we provide clean water to drought affected communities throughout East and Central Africa, and the Middle East. For information about International Medical Corps work in Somalia, see https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/country/somalia/