Auteur/autrice : Herve Doulat

After 5 days of intensive work, led by Ignacio Larrain and local teams, the water has reached the Sona school! This is a decisive stage in the progress of the school's construction, and in the development of the local community. It's a transitional stage, however, because a temporary system has been put in place, with the emphasis on speed of execution in order to supply the school site as quickly as possible.

Water installation video

Water, a vital issue in Simien too!

The Simien massif is also nicknamed " Africa's water tower"  "The Blue Nile has its source here, as well as a multitude of creeks and streams that make the Simien mountains very green despite their high altitude. The Blue Nile has its source there, as well as a multitude of streams and torrents that make the Simien mountains very green despite their high altitude. One can easily find, on certain slopes, numerous springs and resurgences. The plateau of Sona is richly endowed with them. But in spite of this, young girls and women spend hours every day to supply the family home with water. This difficulty in accessing water, despite the region's abundant resources, has many consequences.

First and foremost, it's a tiring task for the women, who from the age of 10 onwards have to go back and forth between the spring and their homes. Every day, they spend several hours fetching water.

The difficulties in obtaining water mean that its uses are of course limited. Drinking and feeding are naturally the priority. Sanitary use comes next and is inevitably limited, which is not without its problems.

Finally, the feeding of livestock and the watering of vegetable gardens are also very limited, playing negatively on the diversity of the diet, which remains essentially composed of barley.

Sona school: the place of water in the project

The Children in the Cloud Foundation is dedicating resources to the issue of water. We are pleased to have the support and highly qualified involvement of Cédric Egger (hydrogeologist) and Ignacio Larrain which has taken on the management of this aspect of the school project. Here is the Foundation's water action plan:

• December 2018: hydrogeological studies by Cédric Egger, Ignacio Larrain and Eric Collet.
• January 2019: implementation of the temporary catchment in a river 650m from the school. Installation of a pump powered by solar panels
• March-April 2019: provisional preparation of the remote source of 2 km to assess the flow of water at the end of the dry season
• June - September 2019: definition of the final installation and work planning
• October 2019 - February 2020: finalization of the spring catchment, installation of the underground piping after the harvest, installation of the tank at the school

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