Post By - Richard McGowan
A look back on Lupembelwasenga Water project 18 months later
Have you ever wondered how a village sustains a project once it is completed? EI Tanzania staff had the opportunity to return to Lupembelwasenga village in Iringa Rural District just 50km from Iringa, Tanzania to see how they are doing 18 months after the completion of their new water supply. Lupembelwasenga village has a population of almost 3,000 with a Primary School of over 650 students and a recently built Secondary School. Prior to the project commencement, water supply was unsafe, scarce, and far away, taking valuable time away from work and school. Villagers were also sick more often resulting in school absence and loss of work. The village leaders in Lupembelwasenga saw the success of a water and sanitation project in a nearby village and wanted to implement a similar project in their village. In 2016 they requested assistance from the Diocese of Ruaha and Emmanuel International Tanzania to do just that. The collective decision was made to use a gravity and solar pumping system to draw the water to the village from a freshwater spring 5km away. By the end of the project in mid 2018, 23 waterpoints, a solar pumping system and pumping main (to lift water to higher terrain) were installed. It is with great pleasure to announce that the system has been working trouble-free under the management of Lupembelwasenga’s village leadership. The collective decision was made to use a gravity and solar pumping system to draw the water to the village from a freshwater spring 5km away. By the end of the project in mid 2018, 23 waterpoints, a solar pumping system and pumping main (to lift water to higher terrain) were installed. It is with great pleasure to announce that the system has been working trouble-free under the management of Lupembelwasenga’s village leadership. It has been reported in a post-project survey, families are 70% healthier from the baseline when asked “Have you had a stomach upset in the last 3 months?” This result shows big improvements in hygiene practices for both school and at home. Many families were obtaining unsafe water from a variety of sources (river, digging in sand, shallow wells), and since the completion all families use a waterpoint. This improvement and the teaching of the importance on handwashing practices led to a significant decrease in sickness. Another notable achievement was the reduction of time spent in the collection of water. It has gone down from 2.8 hours/day to 19 min/day. That equates to 2.5 hours per household a day saved! A vast reduction of water collection has increased productivity as well as decreased time off due to sickness from unsafe water. Thanks to the initiative taken from the leadership of the Lupembelwasenga village they now have access to safe clean water. The Diocese of Ruaha and Emmanuel International Tanzania partnered together to combat this issue in this village, and over a year later they are still seeing the positives effects of the new water system. Finally, thanks to financial support from the UK and our Canadian donors another 3,000 people have clean safe water. A new water project in Ibumu village in Iringa, Tanzania is in the planning stages and will assist another 2500 people.
Philippines update on Ministries
EICanada currenly has staff working in Davao City PHilippines (Kena nd Ruth Copsey) Below they share what it is like during covid and how they are continuing to share the gospel.
Davao City now tops the most daily Covid cases in the Philippines! As of June 3 we have gone back to Emergency Community Quarantine due to the rising number of cases. Again! Our 3rd wave?? So this restricts our movements and ministry. We were doing so well with only about 200 active cases City wide; now we are back to over 4500 active and the hospital
and quarantine facilities are full. We were fortunate to get in the seniors line to receive our first vaccine dose. We might get the next one by July or August. But as a whole our country the Philippines is only about 3% vaccinated.
But the Lord gave us an opening from January to May, where we could continue our training ministry for Children’s Discipleship. During these months, many churches were interested. By June, 92 churches have participated in the teaching seminars of how to use the materials. Ruth and her team have traveled to as far away places as Sarangani – the southern most part of Mindanao, and Davao del Norte and Compostella Valley to the north of us. Then when travel restrictions began again our last training was held at our own home outdoors! So far 245 teachers have been trained and in turn they have started many children’s Bible clubs!
Mailbox Club
TMC - The Mailbox Club, Children’s Discipleship. Children are all eager to have something more in their lives other than stay at home modular school lessons. This whole pandemic children and even teens are not allowed in the malls, parks, or beaches… sad. So we trust that all the efforts of our training team is bearing fruit. Many, many kids Bible classes have started and already several have completed the first booklet. Churches have made it special by having a graduation ceremony. All the reports are not in yet but of the 245 teachers trained
they planned to teach over 7000 children. This is how many books they took home and its also the number of books we have distributed so far this year.
Some Testimonies
Hi. I learned so much from studying the Explorers booklet. I understood and appreciated the Creator and his creation. I accepted God’s greatest gift Jesus into my heart. I learned that
God is not looking into our pockets but our hearts. Very thankful. (This was translated from her dialect, like the Tagalog ang Dios hindi tumitingin sabulsa kundi sa aking puso. Meaning I’m
glad God doesn’t look at our status in life but at our hearts. Jeraziel Semillano, a B’laan from Mindanao
Jen a 14 year old writes “Hello! I am currently a grade 10 student. We all know that this pandemic has caused so many people to be hopeless and depressed. A lot of my friends are getting tired and some wanted to end their lives. I felt the same way, too. But I am glad that I know Jesus as my Savior and I know my purpose in life. I joined the Children’s Ministry team of our church but I was shy at the beginning and struggled as we really do not have any materials for the children. So, I was really blessed to be trained as one of the teachers for Explorers Club.
Now the lessons are more interesting and fun for our students. Kids love that their book is colorful and that they can read the stories and the lessons again and again from their very own
book! I love teaching children about Jesus! (Yes at 14 she is one of the younger teachers!)
Tanzania Ibumu Water project is underway
Emmanuel International Tanzania (EITZ) has been working with Ibumu village for more than a decade. The village is a participant of the IMARIKA project which is focused on improving the lives of subsistence farming families through mobilized churches, economic empowerment, and environmental restoration. Water is a big problem in this village and EITZ has been invited to assist with this need.
The current water supply in the village is a gravity system that was constructed by DANIDA in 1980. The water source is clean, being a spring, which rises in the mountains to the east. After nearly 40 years, population growth has vastly outstripped the water supply capacity, and only five water points and one cattle trough remain partly operational. The secondary school, being new and on the far edge of the village, does not have any water supply. Students at both the primary and secondary schools collect water from wherever they can to bring to school with them. The village leadership see the inadequate water supply as the biggest challenge facing them at present.
“Water is a big challenge for us in Ibumu. There are 2 subvillages that have no waterpoints at all and the other waterpoints often don‛t have water so women are having to walk for half an hour each time to get water. Students are carrying water to the secondary school every day, which is about 2 km from the nearest water source.” Village Chairman Kigula
The development of the village is held back by a lack of adequate water supply. The government currently has no plans to rehabilitate or construct a new water supply scheme for Ibumu village. Following successful water and sanitation projects elsewhere, the village leaders have requested assistance from the Diocese of Ruaha (DR), who has, in turn, asked EITZ to assist them with this.
The existing water supply system has continued working mainly due to its robust and easy to maintain design. The new water supply design has similar characteristics - a gravity supply system with no treatment process required, feeding adequate number of water points distributed throughout the village including the schools and dispensary and will include a water storage tank in the system to accommodate higher flow demand with more watering points.
It is important to include the community in the construction of the new water system to allow ownership and pride of their village. Workshops will be held with village leaders and community members to encourage them to identify their assets and take ownership of the project. Ajery Kahise, EITZ project manager, will work with the village and sub village leaders to coordinate labour to dig trenches for the pipes, all of which will be done by community members. The community will be charged a tariff for the operational costs of the water supply, expected to be around TZS10,000 ($5.40CDN) per person per year. At the primary and secondary schools an appointed group which includes staff and students, the school water committee, will be trained in the use and maintenance of the water point and sanitation facilities. This will help to ensure the school students understand the importance of good hygiene and sanitation and its practical application. In the community, an executive committee, who will form a legally registered Water Users Association, will be facilitated. The committee, together with village leaders and religious leaders, will be fully trained on all aspects of running the community water supply including national water law and policy.
As part of the project, construction will take place at both the primary and secondary schools. At the primary school 2 new latrine blocks will be built (one for boys, and one for girls) with handwashing stations and at the secondary school, handwashing stations at the latrine blocks will be constructed.
This project is started July 2021, providing clean water to Ibumu in 2022 to 2499 people! We are thankful to Guernsey Overseas Aid, a key funder of this project and EI donors like yourself to make this project a reality of clean water to the villagers of Ibumu.
Primary Health Care and First Aid Training in the Philippines
In the Philippines, many villages do not know basic health care practices to provide first aid and maintain a healthy well-being. With many of these villages being very remote, this knowledge is very important for them to have.
Emmanuel International Philippines (EIPH) has been able to develop a training program that addresses this need, through the knowledge of EIPH staff and previous nurse Ruth Copsey. The Primary Health Care and First Aid training provides individuals in a community training to equip them to be village health workers. They learn basic health care practices such as first aid as well as herbal medicine preparation. The program runs for 3-6 months in a village and trainings occur 1-2 times a week. During their graduation, we give them a simple first aid kit to start them on their journey of helping others in their community. These cost $15-$30 each and with donations from our Christmas catalogue, we have been able to provide 21 basic health care kits!
“I am Juvy Dagcom from the Manobo tribe of Carmen, Cotabato. I was privileged to attend and graduate from Level 1 and Level 2 of Primary Health Care facilitated by Emmanuel International with Kuya (brother) Ken and Ate (sister) Ruth. I am very grateful for all the knowledge and skill I have learned through these classes. I was able to do first aid for burns and treat minor wounds applying ‘butterfly’ bandage. But what I am most thankful for was learning how to take blood pressure as a lot from our tribe need to have their BP monitored. Thankful to the Lord for bringing people who love God and His people to our tribe. We will not forget what we have learned.”
Praise God for the work he is doing in the lives of the people in the Philippines through the hands of Emmanuel International Philippines!
God is at Work Through the Covid-19 Response in Brazil!
During Covid-19, the communities that Emmanuel International Brazil (EIBZ) serves began require greater support like many around the world. Many individuals held informal jobs, and when Covid-19 hit, they were left unemployed. This made it very difficult for families to pay for everyday essentials. Partner churches reached out to EIBZ asking for help in this area, and they were eager to respond.
Through their partnership with Montes Claros Church, EIBZ began with 200 bags of food which was split into 15,000 baskets to intended to benefit 200 families in the area of Montes Claros. Like the bible story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, the LORD was able to stretch the food available to feed hundreds of people. They were soon also helping 7 communities in the north of Minas Gerais State and two indigenous communities, now benefiting 800 families. The most common reaction from these families was “Praise the LORD”.
God used these baskets for even greater blessing beyond what was intended. One food basket was delivered to Louislane´s home, the mother of Pablo and Yasmim, two children with handicaps which prevent them from being able to walksince they were born.When EIBZ arrived at the family’s house to provide them with a basket of food, they noticed that the boys did not have wheelchairs.
This need weighed heavy on the team, and they felt God calling them to address it. After working with doctors, EIBZ was able to provide each of the boys with wheelchairs. In addition, EIBZ rebuilt their home to make it fully accessible for the boys in their new wheelchairs.
It is amazing to see what God could do through one basket of food and the blessing that this could produce. We praise the Lord for His blessings and the work He is doing in Brazil!