Select Currency:

Muslim Charity begins construction of water borehole to end woes of pastoral and farmer communities in Faradero, Somaliland

Wednesday, 29th January 2014

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Faradero, Somaliland: “The journey towards prosperity, healthy community and education for children is about to begin” said the over-joyous 78-year old Halima Ibrahim Abdi. Her excitement could not be hidden which was due to watching the water springing out from the dry and sandy rock land of the Sahil region in Somaliland. She was witnessing the drilling of a borehole by Muslim Charity for vulnerable and pastoral communities to help in finding solutions to chronic challenges of access to water, climate change and poverty. By the traditional division of labour, women look after sheep and goats, while men look after the camels. If women lose their flock to drought (which happens not infrequently) they effectively lose their right to graze the tribal lands and are often forced into exile to the capital Hargeisa. There the only option is to labour in the markets. In the city, life is brutally tough, money is hard to come by, and home is usually a displaced persons’ camp or a shanty town.

In Sahil region water is a central concern year round. In Faradero the pastoral and semi-nomadic families move their flocks and herds to new pastures several times each year. The water borehole is located in a central location to ensure easy access for the surrounding communities.

Muslim Charity’s Safe Water programme has as its mission to help transform the lives of people through the provision of safe drinking water and in Faradero this mission will soon be achieved through the generosity of UK donors. Muslim Charity’s Country Director of Somalia, Shaykh Adam Hassan, commented, “The farmers and pastoralists have to search long and hard for small amounts of water, we used to dig a well; we dug really deep but we failed to find water, now the water borehole will help in ending the woes of the communities.” Faradero, also called Faradheere, is located in the region of Togdheer, Somaliland, with an estimated mortality rate of 114 per 1000 births. The area is populated by pastoral community and lacks fresh water. Every day women, men and children have to travel around 7-10 miles for bringing water even if it is brown and riddled with bacteria and deadly diseases like cholera.

Muslim Charity has already completed two former water boreholes in Somalia previously, the first was completed in the Burao region of Somaliland and currently caters for around 100,000 needy and vulnerable people in the surrounding 20 km radius area and the second was completed just last year in Baidoa, Bay region, South Somalia, which also caters for surrounding villages and regions. The borehole in Faradero is now the third water borehole being constructed thanks to Muslim Charity’s generous donors.

[ENDS][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories :