This year Vopak has chosen to support Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders/ Artsen zonder Grenzen). Given the fact
that Vopak works with liquids, they have decided to support a water
project in Chad, one of the poorest and most underdeveloped
countries in Africa. Médecins Sans Frontières is in the process of
establishing sustainable water facilities for the population. Vopak
is contributing to this project.
Médecins Sans Frontières in Chad
Since 1981 Médecins Sans Frontières has been
active in Chad, one of the poorest and least developed countries in
Africa. We are mainly active in the very unstable (due to a civil
war) Eastern part of Chad near the Sudanese border. This area is
confronted with an ongoing inter-tribal war and fighting between
the government army and Chadian rebels. The violence is primarily
aimed at the population. Villages are attacked, looted and burned,
and civilians are often wounded or killed as a result of the
fighting. In this area Médecins Sans Frontières offers basic
healthcare to the population, and conducts emergency operations
when necessary.
Project in Adé
One of our projects is near the village of
Adé, on the border with Darfur. Our target population here consists
of the 2,000 native inhabitants of Adé as well as 12,000 Chadian
refugees, who fled to this village in 2006. Here we give medical
treatment to over 3,000 patients a month, we offer mother and child
care and assist in approximately 60 deliveries per month.
Furthermore, we have a therapeutic feeding center with 65 children
and perform regular immunization campaigns for children and
pregnant women. At this moment, together with the local population,
we are working on the placement of 650 latrines.
Activities with regard to water and sanitation
The old water pumps in Adé cannot cope with
the demand anymore, considering the presence of 12,000 refugees
and, in addition, 6,000 soldiers. In January 2008, only 4 liters of
water were available for each person per day (the international
minimum standards require 15 liters per person per day; the water
usage in Holland is 127,5 liters per person per day). In addition,
because of the presence of soldiers, the water is not always
equally shared. The lack of sufficient clean water is one of the
main causes of malnourishment and diseases in the area.
Despite the difficult and unsafe context (our
compound was looted several times and our teams were forced to
evacuate for two months last spring due to the insecurity) we were
able to significantly increase the amount of clean drinking water
available to the population. We achieved this with temporary
solutions that will have to be replaced by sustainable solutions.
In an effort to achieve more sustainability, we have planned to
place at least three motorized water pumps which will make it
easier for people to access the water.
Due to the considerable insecurity in the
area, the exact date and location for implementation of the water
pumps are not definite yet, but the project is tentatively planned
for this Fall. Working in Chad and, therewith, also planning in
Chad, continues to be a challenge.
November 2008
Result
Due to the security situation (robberies and
combat between governmental forces and rebels) Médecins Sans
Frontières was forced to look for alternative ways of increasing
the water quantity as no drilling agencies could be found who were
willing to come to Adé. Besides this, logistical constraints remain
a challenge; the east of Chad is 2,000 km away from the closest
seaport and it has no tarred roads.
Instead of drilling new deep bore holes,
Médecins Sans Frontières decided to install an emergency water
supply system of hand-dug wells, diesel-pumps and bladders (water
tanks) and to repair and expand the existing water supply. The main
activities with which we were able to increase the supply of clean
water were:
- Installation of an emergency water supply
system with a well, two diesel pumps, water tanks and distribution
points.
- Replacing the majority of the taps that were
leaking of the town supply system.
- Installation of several additional wells
- Installation and repair of pumps (both
electrical and hand pumps).
- Repairing two generators of the town water
supply system.
Also, we conducted a campaign of disinfecting
jerry cans.
We employed 8 community members to both guard
the tap-points and to educate the community about correct use of
the taps.
The chart hereunder shows the development of
the availability of liters clean water per person per day, as well
as the number of people per tap:
|
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
April
|
May
|
June
|
July
|
Aug
|
Sept
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
|
Potable water
|
7.2
|
-
|
-
|
4.2
|
4.2
|
5.6
|
11
|
13
|
12
|
12
|
18
|
19
|
|
People per tap
|
800
|
-
|
-
|
600
|
600
|
600
|
318
|
318
|
282
|
270
|
270
|
270
|
* In Feb/March the team was evacuated for two
months due to robberies & general insecurity.
** In June the team was evacuated due to
active combat between army and rebels.
*** In Sept/Oct/Nov the team was evacuated on
a regular base due to insecurity.
The total costs of this project were €
52,394.74, to which Vopak generously contributed.
The increased supply of clean water helps
reducing morbidity and mortality of most common diseases among
which malnutrition.
February 2009
Example water project in Chad: watch the webfilm Water in Chad
Vopak, thank you so much for your
support!
More information
Vopak:
Guy Keymolen, Commercial Manager Vopak
Belgium: guy.keymolen@vopak.com
or +31-78-652 83 17.
Médecins Sans Frontières:
Gerbren Deves, manager corporate relations:
gerbren.deves@amsterdam.msf.org
or +31-20-520 87 69.