LUBUNDI CATHOLIC CHURCH COMMUNITY
CHIBOMBO, ZAMBIA
FUNDED MAY 4, 2022
The community does not have access to safe water. They currently are collecting water from a contaminated stream that is at a distance from the community. Waterborne illnesses are common, diarrhea is common as well. Parasites are within the water and soil where people collect the water. You see young children with pot bellies full of worms. They can be treated but continue to return due to the contaminated water source.
Life is tough and learning is even harder when you don’t feel well. Children miss school often due to waterborne illnesses. Church members often miss church due to illnesses or needing to find time to collect water that is not near the community.
THE CURRENT WATER SOURCE FOR THE COMMUNITY
Living Water International will provide training and backstopping support to local water user committees and local government structures. Water users will pay small monthly water user fees by household and these funds will be collected and managed by the water user committee for future repairs and maintenance of the system.
COMPLETED NOVEMBER 4, 2022
The residents of Lubundi suffered from a severe water crisis that harmed individual health and many aspects of civic life. The only water source was a shallow stream. The women and children, the primary water collectors, made long walks from their homes to the stream. They had to wade into the contaminated water to fill their containers and then carry the heavy load home. They knew the water was unsafe to use, but this was the only way for them to fulfill their most basic human need.
Because it was difficult for the residents to obtain enough water for sanitation and hygiene, illnesses spread quickly. Many of these sicknesses were transmitted through the water itself, and so even practicing hygiene did not guarantee that the community members were safe. They were caught in an awful dilemma, trying to decide if using the water was worth depleting their supply.
Lubundi Catholic Church, a central part of community life, experienced diminished attendance because of its lack of access to safe water. The leaders knew that something needed to change.
“Before we had this new safe water well, we only used contaminated water. We had a lot of challenges: diarrhea [caused by consuming unsafe water,] the distance to the water source, and children missing school because they were fetching water. We also had a reduced number of church members because of lack of water near the church.”
| Construction Details | |
| Pump Type: | hand pump |
| Project Type: | new simple water system |
| Depth of Well: | 50 m |
| Coliform Bacteria: | absent |
| Community Details | |
| Previous Water Source: | stream |
| Location: | rural church |
| Total Users: | 210 |
| Main Water Collectors: | women and children |
The church leaders were familiar with work Living Water Zambia had done in other communities in the region. They contacted the staff, making a formal request for help, and Living Water Zambia responded by making a visit to the community. Once the staff arrived, spoke to some residents, and saw the water access situation firsthand, they agreed that a well project was imperative. The residents learned that Living Water could soon complete a new well at the church that would serve the whole community.
The Living Water Zambia staff soon returned to begin work. They drilled until they reached a safe water aquifer 50 meter deep. They flushed the borehole to remove rock debris. Next, the team cased the borehole with PVC piping and a stabilizing gravel pack. Once they installed the pump and platform, the well project was complete!
The Living Water staff wanted to help the community members learn how to manage their safe water sustainably. They therefore taught the residents how to pump their well properly to prevent damage and how to store water in a sanitary way. They also helped the community form a water committee that would oversee the care and upkeep of the well. The committee would remain in communication with Living Water International.
Your Impact
Living Water Zambia also led a sanitation and hygiene promotion activity for the community. The community members learned about germ spread and disease transmission through the use of visual aids. Additionally, they learned how to properly wash their hands with soap and safe water to prevent the spread of illness. The staff also explained how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and how to avoid
contracting parasites.
The team also joined with Lubundi Catholic Church to hold a well dedication ceremony. The participants gave thanks for the new safe water well and commissioned it to the Kingdom of God. The Living Water staff explained how this safe water well that cleanses and sustains its users serves as a reminder of the living water of Jesus Christ. This teaching is based on John 4:13-14 (NIV): “Everyone who
drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Ingomar Living Waters, thank you for blessing this community immeasurably through the gift of safe water. Lubundi Catholic Church is no longer dominated by scarcity and the patterns of rationing and suffering from illness. No one should experience so much stress acquiring their most basic need. Thanks to you, the community members are now confident that they can obtain plenty of safe water that will nourish them instead of harming them. The location of the new well on the grounds of the church also reinforces the church’s role as a safe haven for both physical and spiritual vitality.
Yet your gift of safe water not only benefited the community members, but also blessed the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40b (NIV), “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink… whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Thank you for giving the gift of safe water, for life, in Jesus’ name!
All projects are made possible by World Changers.