Water is Life

“Anyone can live without food for weeks but no one can live without water for more than a few days”.This is the first thing Mahmoud said in his interview. Mahmoud,48 years old, is the head of a family of nine that was living in the Idle countryside. Due to the conflict, the family was forced to flee Idleb and make the dangerous journey to A’zaz. 

The family has now lived in a pre-fabricated container in a camp in A’zaz district since 2013. 

“Like any other head of family, all I seek is to provide a stable and safe life for my family” Mahmoud shared. The family has received food aid and non-food items, such as matressess and blankets, from different organisations.

Mahmoud considers himself as “just another displaced” but the help that he received from others gave him the will to do something to help others himself, in coordination with the camp management, he gets involved in humanitarian activities within the camp.

Mahmoud spoke about the previous water system where people had to carry water from the tanks where they would wait in a line with the possibility of not getting any themselves. Due to the lack of surface water in the camp area, the camp management was trucking in water repeatedly which was an ineffective and expensive process. The daily arrival of trucks was 25 per day which was not even enough to cover the basic needs of the camp, not to mention the increasing number of displaced families arriving to the camp.

At that point, Mahmoud was appointed as camp team manger at the same time as World Vision (WV) began its rapid assessment of the water accessibility in the camp. After consulting with camp management, WV decided to build a cement water reservoir with a capacity of 145 M3 in the camp.

Mahmoud said: “what distinguished WV from other non-governmental organizations was the fast assessment and quick response to the situation which, along with their flexibility, made them feel like a family that understands the water challenges this community faced”.

The location of the reservoir was determined by the WV Water, Sanitation and Hygiene team in coordination with camp management. The team started working on construction in February 2015. After the construction was completed in July, a submersible pump was installed to pump the water through the water network into all facilities including bathrooms, showers and camp kitchens. 

Water has now been provided to all 80 tanks placed above camp facilities including showers, bathrooms, kitchen and water taps. Water is now readily available and easily reachable for all families living in the camp.

Mahmoud says: “The continuous availability and provision of water to all facilities looks like the return of the soul to the body, it is the great impact of the project”.

The availability of water has improved life in the camp by providing more than 7,000 displaced people with water access, Mothers now have ready access to water in which to bathe their children and for other household needs.

The camp management and residents of the camp; men, women and even children, are so glad and satisfied with the water reservoir and its impact which has reduced the suffering of people. The management and households thank WV’s team who implemented and operated this project.