Never without water again
Yemen is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. More than 15 million Yemenis - more than half the population - do not have access to sufficient, safe, and acceptable water.
World Vision and Medair partner to implement projects to install water systems so that the communities can enjoy easy access to clean and safe water prioratising sanitation, and hygiene practices.
Medair experts conducted capacity building initiatives for communities to improve their knowledge and attitude toward hygiene practice in order to reduce morbidity and mortality through integrated Health and Nutrition project impacting around 115,000 lives in Lahj and Aden Governorate.
WASH activities have been carried out in Lahj's Al Milah district including:
- Provided emergency water supplies through water trucking efforts delivering over 1.5 million liters across Lahj and a construction of a construction of a water tank with a capacity of 103,000 liters.
- Installed solar-powered water desalination plant in Koud Baihan village in Tuban district, and installation of solar-powered water supply systems in Dar Shayban and Al Milah Al A'ala.
- Improved sanitation infrastructure in Al Hajar through rehabilitation works, and constructed six sanitation septic tanks in the Ateera IDP camp in Tuban district in Lahj.
- Reached over 15,000 individuals in Lahj governorate with Behavior Change Communication on good hygiene practices.
- Rehabilitated WASH facilities at 9 schools in Al Azariq and Al Dhale’e districts in Al Dhale governorate through adding gender-separated latrines, handwashing stations, and roof-mounted solar powered water storage tanks.
Water safety planning activities, such as FRC monitoring and chlorine dose administration for water treatment, were taught to school managers and representative teachers. This WASH service provision benefited a total of 7,127 people.
In the village of Dar Shiban rehabilitation of the water well and the old network is conducted. Solar energy station is installed to insure the well runs uninterrupted.
"This project is going to improve the quality of life of the people of Dar Shiban. The community health unit and the school with 300 students have access to clean water and latrines now. This project will not harm the environment due to applying solar system power station, which will also reduce the fuel cost, from the burden of the community," said Salem Medair WASH assistant.
Learn what the residents of Dar Shiban Village in Lahj Governorate share
“We always had a water well, but we couldn't afford the fuel or maintenance cost, which was really high. It was is an open well and many times animals were falling in it and dying, leaving us without clean water,“ said Ali Ahmed Saleh, one of the community leaders in the village of Dar Shiban.
"Now my children and I don’t have health issues because we are using clean water, which we didn't have before the rehabilitation. We don’t waste our time anymore fetching water for hours. My children are not missing school classes. I can see they are not tired anymore as they used to be while carrying water," said the village resident.
“The rehabilitation process for our village well and replacement of the water network had a very positive effect on our community. People can have clean water and extra time now. They can farm their lands without worrying about the water cost. Our dream came true. We don’t have to pay for fuel and maintenance anymore because we are using solar energy to power the pump. I am very thankful for this support which arrived so timely during the crisis,” said Awad Saleh, a member of the community leaders in Dar Shiban village.
"The water is clean now. We don’t get sick after drinking it as we used to when we were drinking from other not clean sources. It is near to our village; we are happy for that because it gives us more time to do other things. The most important is that the water is for free," said Omar, seven-years-old boy.
"I am glad that the elderly of the village donated the well to us and now, thanks to Medair, we have clean water for the first time near our houses. This is a luxury that we didn’t have for many years. We used to fetch water or carry it on our backs and donkeys but now everything is changed I can get the water just outside my house. I hope in the future all the villages will have clean water," said Om Khaled, a femail resident of the village.